Traditional Clay Bricks Could Store Energy
October 01, 2020
One of the biggest barriers to solar energy becoming cheap and ubiquitous as an alternative and/or supplement to “the grid” is the expense and inconvenience of installing a battery storage. A team of researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, is investigating a solution to allow traditional clay-fired bricks to store energy. although the […]
Façade Stabilization: Expect the Unexpected
August 01, 2019
By Stefan Nespoli, PEng Setting the Stage of Uncertainty Consider a nine-story high-rise multi-unit residential property constructed circa 1990 with a failing concrete brick façade. Due to areas of brick cracking and walls out of plumb, the owner had originally engaged a contractor to perform retrofit helical brick tie installation. For a variety of reasons—including […]