Brickworks celebrate ten years of certified carbon neutral bricks

In our harsh and varied landscapes, they represent everything we need our homes to be - durable, low-maintenance, and aesthetically pleasing.

But what's now more important than ever, is their impact on the environment.

This is a consideration Brickworks made ten years ago at their operation in Longford, Tasmania - the first, and only, certified carbon neutral brick manufacturing plant in Australia.

"We transitioned to utilising a local waste product, which was sawdust," said Brett Ward, general manager of international marketing.

"We were able to replace natural gas predominately with sawdust, used as kiln-firing fuel, and that was the start of our journey to convert the entire operation to be carbon neutral."

Since 2013, the Longford operation has avoided over 70,000 tonnes of carbon emissions thanks to the use of sawdust as kiln-firing fuel.

"When you go carbon neutral though, you've got to measure the entire carbon emissions of an operation, from the material extraction, manufacturing, and the fuel used, to things like water, packaging, and even the flights that our general manager takes from Hobart to Sydney for meetings," Mr Ward said.

That's why, for the balance of carbon emissions they can't avoid, Brickworks buy carbon offsets.

The result of this process is their Daniel Robertson range of bricks, which are certified carbon neutral under the Australia government's Climate Active Certification.

"We manufacture a lot of bricks, and every smooth brick looks very similar to the next smooth brick, but the Daniel Robertson range looks like it's been handcrafted," Mr Ward said.

"Each brick is unique, it has a very textured surface on the face, and there is no singularity in colour. It's what we call a mottled brick."

Mr Ward says that while this product is often acquired for commercial builds, especially by those aiming to construct fully carbon neutral projects by 2050, the Daniel Robertson range is mainly used in residential dwellings.

It's proved particularly popular across Victoria.

In the last 12 to 18 months, however, Mr Ward has noticed more builders opting for carbon neutral alternatives nation wide.

"There's definitely an increase in appetite around Australia. I think builders and architects are looking for options that are more sustainable in the way they build and design," Mr Ward said.

Considering bricks are resilient, long-lasting, and have high thermal mass to help regulate the temperature inside your home, a carbon neutral alternative is really the ultimate sustainable building material.