GREEN ENERGY BRICKS

K.V.S.RAJA PRAVEEN, 3rd b-tech, civil, rajapraveen143@yahoo.com 8143470946 K.VINAY KUMAR, 3rd b-tech, civil, vinaykondepudi@yahoo.com 9490883824

Abstract:
Green Energy Bricks introduce the latest innovation that is revolutionizing the way we think about building. They're New and exciting! They have been designed with a massive R8+ insulation rating, they cut down on construction time, save on construction costs, are load bearing, require NO core filling, are light weight, are easy to install, are fire resistant, can be used in ALL cyclonic zones and much, much more! Using the Energy Bricks, a wall can be constructed much faster than conventional brick laying, You can even do it yourself!

INTRODUCTION:
Green Energy Bricks is committed to energy savings, and this is the reason our bricks have been such a winner with home owners and builders alike. The external envelope of any building is the most important part of any structure when it comes to heat loss or heat gain. Up to 35% of heat can be lost through uninsulated walls, with a further 25% through single glazed windows. As we consider this in more detail, it is necessary to ensure that this is one of the first areas tackled in trying to reduce heat loss or heat gain. Simply put, the Energy Bricks are a revolutionary product that goes far beyond the energy saving performance values of any other brick or wall lining on the market today. Outstanding results were also achieved in the Heat Transfer Testconducted on the Green Energy Bricks by the CSIRO. When the surface of the Green Energy Bricks reached 900C, the opposite side surface only registered an average temperature of 28C. These results are amazing in terms of the insulation qualities of the Energy Brick. The Energy Bricks can be used in concrete slab or raised floor construction. No mortar is required, no core filling with concrete, and it's as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Using Green Energy Bricks will allow you to reach the requirements of 5 or 6 star homes much easier because of their energy efficiency. In fact, it will help you go far beyond this minimum standard! The Energy Brick replaces all of the following conventional building processes: The Energy Bricks become the external skin and they replace all other forms of standard clay bricks, concrete blocks, weather boards etc. Energy Bricks come with a 9mm Magnesium Oxide internal and external skin, already bonded ready for paint/texture or other applied finishes. The Energy Bricks can be laid directly onto the slab, which saves the concretor providing a rebated base. Building sislation or a foil vapor barrier is not required. The Energy Bricks closed cell foam resists any vapour transfer. The Energy Bricks replace the need for any separate structural frame, as the energy brick is load bearing. No further insulation is required as the foam core has an insulation rating of R8+. No requirement to tie together the internal and external skin as in conventional construction. Applying an interior finish like plaster is not required as it already comes with an interior skin, but is optional and will further increase the walls R rating value. The whole system is fire resistant because of the non-combustible Magnesium Oxide skins and the PIR foam core being self extinguishing. By combining the Energy Brick with double glazed windows from Green Energy Windows, you will have a home that has far superior energy savings than the standard design of homes today.

DESIGN CRITERIA:
he design criteria and objective in the development of the Energy Brick was to make a radical cost effective improvement in the thermal performance of buildings for both concrete slab and above ground construction. The Energy Brick was developed to avoid adding extra layers of materials and labour, which would add cost to conventional construction. Previous attempts to achieve super-insulated standards have always resulted in a fairly hefty COST penalty. This often prevents mainstream adoption of the higher building standards. The Energy Brick from Green Energy Bricks achieves 4 to 5 times the insulation rating of conventional housing in Australia, and is designed to massively REDUCE the labour content of wall construction. Over 5 processes, all with different materials and trades can be reduced to one or two processes, with skills that can be learned in a few hours.

While the bricks are more expensive at present than the material components of conventional walls, the labour to assemble is considerably reduced, meaning we have a solution; Green Energy Bricks increase the insulation rating considerably, while at the same time massively reducing the labour complexity and costs. The end result is close to price competitive with conventional construction, with vastly superior thermal performance, reduced energy consumption and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Houses and buildings need to be designed on the block module of 300mm for wall lengths and opening location sizes for doors and windows. For example, a typical front door will need an opening 1.5 bricks or 900mm wide and 2100mm high which allows for a typical 820mm wide door and door frame. Windows can be made with increments of 300mm wide and 300mm high. A window size of 1200mm wide X 1800 high will fit the brickwork perfectly. Green Energy Windows - with their Lifetime Warranty can supply windows with a specially formulated flush fin, which makes installation even easier. This allows the windows to be the last thing to be installed prior to lockup stage. The chances of damage to the windows, which often happens during this conventional period of construction, will be greatly reduced. Initially builders may need onsite training. Architects and designers will also need to become familiar with the system. Green Energy Bricks can provide this training and also offer a service where we can bring the brick for viewing to answer any questions with the owner, builder, architect or designer. The Energy Brick is designed for the external wall envelope and not normally for internal walls except to insulate from unconditioned areas like garages. However, there have been some circumstances where designers or architects have included them as a continuing feature as an internal wall. The Energy Brick with its Magnesium Oxide board skin allows for all types of applied finishes, render and painting. The Energy Brick stands alone in being able to give a single, structural light weight wall that saves labour costs and initial construction time and then ongoing savings in reduced energy costs due to its massive R8+ energy rating.

ABOUT THE BRICK

The Energy Brick fulfills all the criteria to save time and cost yet gives the maximum energy savings when it comes to building a home. The finish offers an attractive appearance with minimal maintenance, high durability, high load bearing capacity coupled with the highest in acoustic and thermal performance. A single brick is 600mm long X 300mm high X 320mm wide and is equivalent in size to laying 18standard clay bricks in double brick. Yet so much quicker, cheaper and easier! The bricks unique formulation consists of a central core of rigid Polyisocyanurate Foam (PIR) with an external and internal skin of 9mm Magnesium Oxide Board. This makes it both light weight, yet load bearing and with an attractive finish. The Magnesium Oxide skins are non-combustible and the foam core self extinguishing. This makes the Energy Brick one of the most fire resistant building materials available on the market today. The bricks are available in 8 different models to suit straight runs, corners, openings and T junctions. There is therefore a style of brick to suit any application. With a massive R8+ energy rating the Energy Brick has a minimum of 4 times greater R rating than most other standard construction methods. The Energy Brick is light weight (see our comparison sheet) and its design allows for easy pick up, laying and handling. NO mortar is required! No filling with concrete! It is a Single wall system, but has superior properties and functions than a double brick wall. The design includes a 80mm diameter hole running vertically every 300mm to allow for running of electrical cabling, telephone lines, TV or sound cabling after the wall has been constructed.

This deletes the need to run conduits or install electrical metal boxes during the wall construction process. This also makes it easier to know where electrical cabling can be run if there is a need to add any electrical points at a future time. The Magnesium Oxide Board allows for easy screw fixings. It can be drilled and screwed making it ideal for all applications. The brick has special location lugs as part of the design which allows the brick to be located easily into its correct laying location or position. Its just like using building blocks when we were kids, yet so much more fun, when it is actually being done for real! Its bottom design allows for top hat steel sections, lintels and other sections to be placed easily into position as part of the construction process. Windows can be added after the energy bricks have been laid and with the Flush Fin design of double glazed windows fromGreen Energy Windows,installing them is a dream and adds to the overall energy efficiency of the home. Even though the brick comes with an interior finish, it is always possible to add a different internal finish to suit the style or dcor you desire for your home. All in all the brick has been well thought out to save labour costs, increase energy efficiency, faster construction times and of course, save money! You cant go wrong with the super energy efficient Energy Brick!

BUILDING MOVEMENT:
The purpose of this article is to briefly explain some of the most common reasons for building movement and explain why our Energy Brick stands as a super product that eliminates many of these issues. Building movement can be caused by a number of factors. We all have become very familiar with looking and seeing cracking in buildings where the drought or cold weather conditions have been blamed. This is particularly used where footings are blamed because of the expansion and contraction of the clay sub base soils. Even though the drought can be a valid reason, it is being blamed far too often, and other basic factors are being overlooked.

Many building materials, of themselves, tend to expand with increase in moisture content and contract with loss of water. For some buildings materials, these movements are theoretically reversible; while for others they are irreversible or only partially reversible. The reality is that it is rarely reversible. As you can imagine, when it comes to the external wall structure of any building, the wall orientation, the type of materials used, and colour are the governing factors regarding building movement. Changes in building design have affected the design and behavior of many building components including masonry walls. The most significant change for brick masonry is the shift from load bearing masonry walls to skeleton frame construction. Other factors include the use of thinner walls, composite walls and insulated walls. The use of cement based mortars and the tendency to specify high compressive strength mortars have become common. Although stronger units and mortars increase the compressive strength of the masonry, they do so at the expense of other important properties. Thus, masonry walls are thinner and more brittle than their massive ancestors. These thinner walls are more susceptible to cracking and spalling if provisions for differential movement are not accounted for properly. Lets look at some of the most common material used. Clay products, such as clay bricks, expand slowly over time upon exposure to water or humid air. This expansion is not reversible by drying at atmospheric temperatures. A brick unit is smallest in size when it cools after coming from the kiln. The unit will increase in size due to moisture expansion from that time. Most of the expansion takes place quickly over the first few weeks, but expansion will continue at a much lower rate for several years depending mainly on orientation and stress of the building. The moisture expansion behavior of bricks depends primarily on the raw materials and secondarily on the firing temperatures. Bricks made from the same raw materials that are fired at lower temperatures will expand more than those fired at higher temperatures. This expansion of clay bricks is often called brick creep. There are a number of methods that have been introduced to lessen the impact of this, such as the use of articulation joints. Although this has been a step forward, the question arises Why not bypass this problem and associated costs by using a superior product such as the Energy Brick where brick creep is dramatically reduced, if not eliminated? Concrete masonry blocks experience shrinkage as a result of moisture loss and carbonation. Shrinkage of concrete masonry is affected by the method of curing, aggregate type, change in moisture content, cement content, and wetting and drying cycles. The size, weight, and orientation location in the building also play important roles.

When we look to the internal walls which form part of the external wall structure, we have a number of other different components which add to this push and pull effect against the exterior skin. The type and size of the timber or other material used in the inner skin of the wall, how much insulation, sislation and the size of air gap or lack of gap between internal and external components can also have an effect. All in all, the more building components used in the structure of the walls, the more chances there are of significant building movement due to this expansion and contraction process. This is where the Energy Brick comes into its own. Our superior building product, the Energy Brick, eliminates the need for the multi stage, multi trade, and multi material process of current wall construction. The superior quality Energy Brick delivers massive ongoing savings because of its structural capabilities, speed of construction, massive R8+ insulation, and lack of building movement.

The Green Building impact!

Green building is one of the most important trends in the construction industry today. When we build a house we cannot avoid impacting the environment, but we can work towards reducing that environmental impact. This incorporates a whole building design approach into every phase of the building process including Land development, resourcing efficient building designs to enhance the well-being of the occupants, improving construction techniques, increasing energy efficiency, water efficiency minimize the negative impacts on the community and natural environment.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF R8+

Let's review again the R ratingcomparisons below and you will again be impressed with the Energy Brick's performance! Standard Clay bricks..............................................................R0.078 Double brick with air space between........................................R0.316 Weatherboards.....................................................................R0.086 190mm hollow concrete blocks................................................R0.19 Double 90mm hollow concrete blocks with air space in between...R0.44 Cellular concrete with a density of 1,600kg/m3..........................R0.115 Cellular concrete with a density of 320kg/m3.............................R1.19 Green Energy Bricks...............................................................R8+ Our unique Energy Brick, gives the look and feel of brick construction and yet vastly improves the energy rating of homes with their massive R8+ energy rating, and so provides the very best in energy performance, in any climate.

Weight Comparisons:
Standard Wire Cut Clay Brick: (230mm long X 110mm wide X 76mm high) - Weight = 2.7kg Standard Solid Clay Brick: (230mm long X 110mm wide X 76mm high) - Weight = 3.8kg Concrete Hollow Core Block: (190mm long X 140mm wide X 190mm high) Weight = 6.8kg Concrete Hollow Core Block: (390mm long X 90mm wide X 190mm high) Weight = 11.6kg Concrete Hollow Core Block: (390mm long X 190mm wide X 190mm high) Weight = 16.8kg Standard Half Energy Brick: (300mm long X 320mm wide X 300mm high) Weight = 3.3kg Full Standard Energy Brick: (600mm long X 320mm wide X 300mm high) Weight = 6.6kg From the above comparisons it is obvious why bricklayers prefer not to lay concrete blocks!

CONCLUSION:
Green energy bricks are capable for sustainable development characterized by application of industrial wastes to reduce consumption of natural resources and energy and pollution of the environment.