Carbon-Negative Bricks That Cut Construction Cost By 50%

Roorkee and Visakhapatnam based social enterprise, GreenJams, venture is creating carbon-negative building material from agriculture biomass and hemp blocks. Called Agrocrete, the product is made of upcycled material and can reduce construction costs by 50%, increase

BY Realty Plus
Published - Monday, 19 Jul, 2021

Carbon-Negative Bricks That Cut Construction Cost By 50%

Roorkee and Visakhapatnam based social enterprise, GreenJams, venture is creating carbon-negative building material from agriculture biomass and hemp blocks. Called Agrocrete, the product is made of upcycled material and can reduce construction costs by 50%, increase thermal insulation by 50%, and cut down the time required for constructing buildings, founders say. To find a solution to this, created Agrocrete, made from agricultural residue and industrial by-products. “We collect residue from farmers and chop and process it. The residue is mixed with our innovative product BINDR, a 100% up-cycled low carbon replacement of Portland cement made from industrial by-products of steel, paper and power industries. As it comes in powder form, the material also becomes useful for masonry mortar and plastering,” stated Tarun Jami, Civil Engineer and Co-founder - GreenJams. The product has the strength equivalent to that of a conventional red brick from the kiln, but has better thermal conductivity, less water absorption tendency, captures tonnes of carbon emissions and has a life duration of at least 75 years. “The blocks are 30% lighter, making it convenient for masons to work on. They’re also bigger, which reduces the construction time and cost of labour,” he adds.