Digital material passports - K-Briq®

The K-BRIQ® is a resource-efficient facing brick made from inert recycled construction and demolition waste, offering an ultra-low carbon alternative to traditional masonry and architectural surfaces, with an embodied carbon less than 95% of that of a traditional clay brick (16.77g CO₂e per K-Briq). It is suitable for applications currently met by traditional facing bricks and blocks, above or below DPC, in exterior and interior environments. It is available in 13 standard colours with reaction to fire ratings of A2 and B across the range; a bespoke colour and shape development service offers further design flexibility.

The K-BRIQ won both the global public vote and the final judges’ vote in the Dezeen Awards for Sustainable Design in 2022 and has had audiences with HRH King Charles, UK, Scottish and international Ministers, and many international delegations when it formed part of a striking central exhibit in the Sustainability Zone at COP28. The company is a spin-out from Heriot Watt University and has its first commercial scale production facility based outside Edinburgh. The company’s scaling and growth strategy is to set up regional production across the UK and internationally, to provide a closed loop circular solution to construction and demolition waste locally, whilst supporting local job creation, local supply chains – and be a key contributor to driving down embodied carbon on the road to net zero.

DIGITAL MATERIAL PASSPORT

Product Name: K-Briq

Product Site: Kenoteq Ltd - Meet the world's most sustainable building materials.

Supplier: Kenoteq

Material Origin

• Manufacture Site:
  Edinburgh, Scotland
• Biogenic Content (i.e. natural material content/sequestered carbon info):
  0%
• Recycled Content:
  95%

Embodied Carbon

• Upfront Embodied Carbon:
  0.0022 kgCO₂e/m²
• Product Lifecycle Embodied Carbon:
  0.175 kgCO₂e/m²
• Life Span:
  30 years

Carbon Factor available online, EPD will be available End of 2024

Circularity

• Takeback schemes:
  In future Kenoteq will take back used products and demolition rubble of nearby projects for reuse at end of life.
• Reuse Potential:
  2.2kg K-Briq contains 2.1kg recycled waste, 1m² of K-Briqs recycles 126kg of waste. High reuse and repurpose potential.
• Warranties:
  Not available

Health & Wellbeing

• Material Emissions:
  Minimal VOC emissions (self-disclosed)
• Material Content:
  Not applicable
• Ingredient Transparency:
  Not available online
• Hazardous Materials:
  None found (self-disclosed)
• Alignment with WELL:
  Not applicable

Certifications

• None available. Agreement certification for certified exterior use in the UK market is due in summer 2024, with US and European product certifications also underway.

What is a digital material passport?

A material passport is a digital document listing all the materials that are included in a product or construction during its life cycle in order to facilitate circularity decisions in supply chain management at the end of the building life.

At Cundall, we want to create a passport to materials/products that will also provide information before its use so designers and contractors are capable of making conscious decisions of products that could affect the embodied carbon and health well-being of a project, facilitating the inclusion of the best low carbon and/ healthy materials that align with their design.