Raise your hand if you have built castles, houses, cities, EVERYTHING with LEGO bricks (I have a friend who even built a stadium with them. And he is my age). There was something magical in that interlocking system that allowed me to create fantastic worlds, I tried to transmit the wonder to my little girl too, for now obtaining partial success. She plays with it willingly, but only in company. Okay, enough about me. Imagine transporting the idea behind the famous "play" bricks into the world of real construction. That's exactly what she did Jasper Vandenbempt together with his father with the invention of FacadeClick. What is it? It is a system based on ecological bricks that are assembled with others without mortar or glue.
At a time when the construction industry is under pressure to reduce its environmental impact, this Belgian innovation could represent a turning point: not only for the sustainability of the materials, but also for the speed of construction, the reduction of waste and the possibility of recovering and reusing the bricks at the end of the building's life.
The intelligence of the ecological brick
The idea behind Facadeclick? Simple, replace mortar and glue with PEHD (high density polyethylene) plastic connectors. The eco-bricks have two central holes through which they are fixed to each other, creating solid and resistant structures.
What strikes me is how this technology simultaneously solves several problems of traditional construction. Not only eliminates the use of the cement (one of the largest contributors to CO2 emissions in the industry), but it also makes the construction process significantly faster and cheaper. A single worker can quickly assemble a wall, drastically reducing labor costs. And if you think that these plastic connectors will compromise insulation, think again. Once the bricks are assembled, a special foam is injected that improves both thermal and acoustic insulation.
A real impact, not just theoretical
What excites me about Facadeclick is that it is not just a nice project on paper. In 2020, ten buildings (seven in Belgium and three in the Netherlands) have been built using this technology, for a total of approximately 10.000 m² of facades.
The numbers speak for themselves: building contractors are starting to recognise the advantages of ecological bricks (even the one in hemp, for example). And it’s not hard to see why: reusability of materials, cost-effective components, and speed of work are compelling arguments in a sector that is often resistant to innovation. Solutions like Facadeclick could prove crucial, looking to the future.
How many other elements of traditional construction could be rethought with the same logic? Simplify, reduce, reuse. And between one thing and another, also think back to when all this was just a damned fun game.
