Episode 15: Should We Bin the Brick?

University of the Built Environment

Presenter: Mike Speight
Guests: Dr James Ritson, Cecilia Pesce, Jordan Turner
Jingles by: Matthew Smith, Programme Leader BSc Real Estate Management
Traditional brickmaking produces over 1.3 billion tonnes of CO₂ each year — more than the entire aviation industry. So should we cling to the comforting warmth of brick, or finally face up to the environmental cost of our most familiar building material?
In this episode of the University of the Built Environment's BE Sustainable podcast, presenter Mike Speight explores one of the built environment’s most provocative questions: Should we bin the brick?
Mike is joined by:
Dr James Ritson, Programme Leader for MSc Innovation in Sustainable Built Environments at the University of the Built Environment — who argues the problem isn’t how we make bricks, but whether we should use them at all.

Cecilia Pesce, Principal Research Engineer at earth4Earth — pioneers of a carbon-storing brick designed to turn waste soil into a climate-positive material.
Jordan Turner, Senior Lecturer at the University of the Built Environment, whose PhD examined sustainability in the housing sector and the policy barriers preventing greener construction.
Together, they tackle some of the key questions at the heart of the low-carbon construction debate:

• Can innovation make bricks part of a net-zero future, or are we stuck with a carbon-heavy habit?
• Why are sustainable alternatives like hempcrete still treated as niche?
• Are regulations, costs and cultural attachment to the 'look' of brick holding us back from genuine progress?

Hear Jordan Turner describe the M&S Cheshire Oaks project built with hempcrete and why developers struggle to use similar materials today. Listen as Dr James Ritson challenges the very necessity of brick, while Cecilia Pesce reveals how her team’s carbon-storing bricks transform waste into a building block for a circular economy.
From carbon emissions and cultural identity to policy, price and perception, this lively debate delves into the future of how we build - and what it will take for sustainable materials to move from pilot projects to mainstream adoption.
Click play to hear the full discussion and decide for yourself: Should we bin the traditional brick?