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Breathe Bricks

2018-2019 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION Air has been source for our living planet to breathe. It is the mixture of gases that fills the atmosphere and gives life to plants and animals. But when the air is being polluted it affects larger proportion of our living system. Filtration of the breathing air has become important for the comfort and safety of the people inside the buildings. By the effective utilization of technical knowledge the pollution can be prevented in greaterextent. Commercial structures such as office buildings often have heating and air conditioning systems that pull in the air from outside the building. Most single family homes and many apartment buildings have no such air filtration systems, as outside air is introduced through screen windows which may block insect from screens. But it may be exposed to dust which may cause allergies . To prevent that these, breathe bricks are introduced to the exterior walls of the building .It has a cyclone separator technique which seperates solid particles from gases hence air will more healthier to breathe. Hence these type of systems are very helpul for average income families living in city centre.If this system is effectively taken into usage more people will be benifitted especially in indian region where cities like Delhi are prone to air pollution ,so people can easily afford since it doesn’t require electricity or other major energies to operate . Air filtration for domestic dwellings are usually carried out by pleated” flow through filter” system .

Fig 1 : Breathe Brick Department of Civil Engineering, GMIT, Bharathinagar

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LITERATURE REVIEW [1] Kate Hajash(2016) In this paper Breathe brick is conceptualized as an organ that can filter harmful particulates and protect people ,Breathe brick is a low cost solution to a worldwide issue of poor air quality .Replacing the standard CMU , breathe brick is both structural and improves building ventilation system through filteration .As a part of a two wall system ,the brick forms the exterior structural wall separated from a typical insulated partition by a ventilation gap . The brick has four variations that assemble together with help of the coupler which serves to complete the cyclone and align the bricks .

[2] Regan Dyer(2017) In this paper the details of CMU is designed to passively filter air using cyclone technology. Breathe brick modules are connected by a coupler unit that aids in collecting dirt and dust particles ,protects the cyclone and helps to align the modules during construction .A drawer found at the base of the wall collects the particles that can be easily emptied . In wind tunnel tests , the Breathe brick was able to collect 30% of fine particles (2.5 microns and smaller comparable to smoke) and 100% of coarse particles (10 microns or larger comparable to dust) . A breathe brick wall can operate as a façade system ,or a structural gravity and lateral load bearing wall.

[3] Jenny McGrath(2017) In this paper Breathe brick details are concentrated through which it can be used in homes . Basing the idea on vaccum cleaner ,Trudell and her team thought spinning the air as it passes through the brick could help remove particulates ,which would then be shunted through a shaft to a collection hopper at the base of the wall .The filtered air would feed into the HVAC system , and buildings without such a system would receive the cleaner air passively through vents . After the tests the results show that the brearthe brick is optimal for one or two story structures in areas with poor air quality .It is very energy efficient and passively filters outdoor air prior to introduction to an indoor environment. Department of Civil Engineering, GMIT, Bharathinagar

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HISTORY BEHIND THE INVENTION Breathe brick is the brainchild of American architect Carmen Trudell. She was an assistant professor in California State University of architecture. She and her team of researchers invented the “Breathe brick” in 2015.

CarmenTrudell

Fig 2 : Breathe brickPrototype

Architect and researcher Carmen Trudell was studying the air quality issue in Cairo ,the capital of Egypt . The major problem in Cairo was the biomass fog of dust called as Black cloud. She found that the air quality around urban regions across the city was poor and she also observed many residential buildings nearer to the city .This was the main inspiration behind the invention of Breathe bricks. Trudell wondered why a building couldn’t filter out toxins . Certainly there were many other ways to purify air ,but they are complex and expensive. She wanted a passive solution that could be installed into the building structure. The result was a faceted block called Breathe brick. The idea of Breathe brick is found to be simple but very sophisticated . Trudell and her team at San Luis architectural school designed the shape and other components of this brick that contained no filter, but the air would create the filter affect . Breathe Brick is designed to form a part of a building’s regular ventilation system. Hence it is very useful for residential structures in urban cities.

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Breathe Bricks

2018-2019 CHAPTER 4

METHODOLOGY 4.1 What is Breathebrick? Breathe brick is a concrete masonry system that filters polluted outdoor air so that it becomes healthy enough to bring directly into occupied spaces .It is mostly useful for urban residential buildings. Based on the principle of cyclonic technology ,in which physical particles are removed from a fluid via vortex separation. The modules which are vertically aligned via recycled polymer couplers and dust particulates fall into a collection hopper at the bottom coarse. Breathe brick doesn’t require any energy to operate as it works on pressure and temperature differentials. Breathe brick is optimal for one and two storey structures in areas with poor air quality.

Figure 4.1.1 : Breathe Brick wall

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4.2 How does itwork? To help curb pollution ,this brick filters the air before it comes inside the building. When air enters into hollow cemented construction blocks it flows into cyclone separator coupler which is intern connected to cyclone separated chambers. As the air enters into cyclone separators it induces a circular swirling motion within cyclone chamber , As the particle laden air follows the wall contours of chamber it increases the velocity in the conical section where the diameter decreases . The centripetal forces separate the particles from the air ,and the filtered air exits up through the swirling air at the outer walls of chamber through passage within baffle .The waste particles are shunted through the shaft to a collection hopper at the base of the wall. Hence the purified air enters into thebuilding.

Fig 4.2.1 : Air flow through Breathebrick

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Fig 4.2.2 : Aerodynamics of Breathe bricks

Fig 4.2.3 : Cross section of breathe bricks

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The Breathe brick can function with both mechanical and passive ventilation systems ,at the brick simply delivers filtered air into the wall plenum, this air can then be into the building interior through mechanical equipment or through trickle vents driven by passive system such as stackventilation.

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4.3 Components of Breathe bricksystem Breathe brick is both structural and improves the building ventilation system through filtration. As part of a two wall system , the brick forms the exterior structural wall separated from a typical insulated partition by a ventilation gap . The breathe brick system consists of two major components. Those are as follows :

 ConcreteBricks Breathe Bricks unit is a structural masonry component within which a cyclone filter is embedded. The concrete bricks feature a faceted surface which helps to direct airflow into the system, and a separate cavity for inserting steel structure. The brick is designed in such a way that it can replace some exterior.

Fig 4.3.1 : component of breathe bricks

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 Cyclone separatorcoupler Coupler helps to align bricks and creates a route from the outside into the brick’s hollow center. It also serves to complete the cyclone and align the bricks. Coupler has the advantage that it can be moulded ,cast or machined from metals or plastics depended on required durability .This cyclone separator coupler is provided with the dirty air at the inlet and transfers pure air to outlet . It requires internal baffling to induce the required directional airflows in the cyclone chamber to which coupler is attached .The coupler further provides for connection to another cyclone chamber mounted above it, having a built in flow passage for disposing of the particle stream exiting the above mounted cyclonechamber.

Fig 4.3.2 : Cyclone separatorCoupler

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4.3.1 Breathe brickAssembly The brick has four variations that assemble together with the help of the coupler which serves to complete the cyclone and align the bricks. It primarily consist of form work assembly and surfacing.

Fig 4.3.1.1 Breathe brick assembly modules

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Fig 4.3.1.2 : Breathe Brick assemblyprototype

Fig 4.3.1.3 :Breathe brick structural arrangement Department of Civil Engineering, GMIT, Bharathinagar

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ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES 5.1 Advantages of BreatheBricks o o o

It is inexpensive and hence it is economicallyaffordable

o o

Passively filter outdoor air prior to introduction to an indoorenvironment

Environmental friendly Energy efficient since it operates without electricity and makes a part of the ventilationsystem

Breathe brick system can operate as active since it is integrated into existing HVAC system ,or passive as independentsystem.

5.2 Disadvantages of BreatheBricks o It takes longer time in construction compared to the normal brick because of its uniquedesign

o Sometimes there may be possibility of insect activity inside the bricks which may damage the internalchamber o Installation may be difficult compared to normal brick or stone masonry sinceit requires precise technical knowledge.

o It is not recommended for multi storey towers because it has very less tensile strength

o It cannot be used in high rainfall seismic zones since brick absorb watereasily o Breathe brick must be cleaned frequently and hence to maintain may bedifficult

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2018-2019 CHAPTER 6

CASE STUDY 6.1 Introduction Sustainable development principles in the built environment have encouraged researchers to focus on more efficient building envelopes .The result of this change is a home which is a small urban apartment in Port Melbourne ,Australia .The architect named Maeline Sewall used this concept of breathe brick and they observed that the schematic design and brief budget was cut to half . Inside ,the breathe brick emphasis on sustainably sourced materials creates form follows function aesthetic and double brick wall minimizing the need of plasterboard and applied finishes . Here multifunctional modular modular facades are introduced and their strength and weakness are highlighted inorder to encompass a number of solution derived from a wide variety of advanced integrated facades.

Fig 6.1.1 : Urban apartment in Melbourne using Breathe brick

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Fig6.1.2:

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The aerodynamics ofbrick

6.2 Researchmethod In determining which methods to adopt ,the research design the priority is to ensure that the methods maximize the chance of realizing its aim . This research uses the descriptive analysis method and it was carried out through the combination of literaturereview . The paper mainly discusses the sustainably goals of energy efficiency in buildings modules combined designed stratergies for facades .Therefore this design investigates façade design and energy consumption in recently designed advanced integrate facades and aims to revise an innovative integrated façade that responds to the exterior and interior requirements at the same time. In the formwork of integrated façade systems the most concerning functions include as follows 

Responding to variations of the indoor and outdoorenvironment



Maintaining comfortconditions



Requiring low energydemand

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6.3 Combined Design Stratergies Building facades are inevitably be influenced by the use of smart and low energy systems. They comprise of number of adaptive ,active and responsible facades that can completely tackle the energy and environment problems . Recent studies consider the facades a living skin that can ventilate de humidity and absorb energy self sufficiently .For example simple material combination such as silica and titanium dioxide coatings are added to enhance surface performance .Promising research innovations such as breathe brick is another example .This project involves the use of mini cyclones inside the exterior wall cavity to remove particulates from theair.

Fig6.3 Breath brick airfiltration Other innovations us low tech stratergies to provide shade and promote breeze in adjacent areas while filtering air through the structure . They are developing a building façade in which the surface forms specific types of fluid motion of the air and simultaneously attract pollution particulates . In the case , hot air collected in solar chimneys by thermos bimetal solar collectors rises to escape , letting in cooler air below .These combination of stratergies can result in reduction of massive energy consumption inbuilding Department of Civil Engineering, GMIT, Bharathinagar

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2018-2019 CHAPTER 7

AWARDS AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENT 7.1 Awards for Breathebricks  Award for Best Construction material that could revolutionizeIndustry-2016  R & D Award for best innovative Architecture by Architect Magazine -2015  C3 Green innovation Award-2013

7.2 Future Development Breathe brick could become an inexpensive , effective way for the masses to improve indoor air quality . Its smart but relatively low tech and that helps the technology affordable. Thus that is important for tackling a problem in developing countries . If the funds is properly sanctioned that in mass scale these bricks can be produced based on requirement in the cities. Inventions such as a brick that turns a building into its own air filter exemplify both the importance and broad reach that the architects can have on humanity .This is one of the many examples of the why advances in these type of environmental friendly architecture is so important . Further work on this project includes the design of prototype multi family dwelling for Cairo to show how the Breathe brick walls can be architecturally integrated into a livable structure ,and how building form and planning can contribute to a natural ventilation stratergy that allows the breathe brick to perform in a number of scenarios .This work will be completed over the future and would be ready for presentation at the indoor air 2014 conference in addition to the design , research , and experimentation work included in the paper .

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CONCLUSION The Breathe brick is a capable of capturing particles above PM 5 at a variety of pressures , and therefore and demonstrated viability of the component .When compared to the performance of HEPA filter or a mechanically supported air cleaning system . The breathe bricks performance is nit stellar .However the applications for this building system would be in the locations where the currently no air filtration is used ,and therefore the removal of large particles without an input of fossil fuel energy will improve the living conditions for people in these homes. The Breathe brick may be modified to provide surface articulation and ornamentation ,or may be modified to improve the velocity and quantity of air entering the internal cyclone chamber. The surface detail possibilities allow the developments of a craft and beauty in making these modules .One of the most sustainable things that we can do is to build for its longevity and maintainence is a key factor in the life of the building or architectural component . Beauty has been known to inspire care. If architect and contractors are encouraged to create beauty in their dwellings ,the chances of them surviving is improved and they will be worth the materials mined for them and for the human energy embedded in the process.

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2018-2019 REFERENCES

[1] R . Mattock & H. Straif – IARC monograph on the evaluation of carcinogenic risks to humans-2013 [2] H. M Shalaby and ElfRaey – Study of the formation of the Black cloud and its dynamics over Cairo ,Egypt using MODISpangule [3] U. S department of Energy – Building energy data book-2012 [4] MadehIzatHamakareem – Building technology guide by editing atconstructor.org [5] Scott Rory – The innovative pollution absorbing brick from Arch daily-2015 [6] Kate hajash –design and research of breathe brick book-2015 [7] Barbosa .S – Perspective of double skin facades for ventilated buildings-2017 [8] Peng L Yan - An experimental study of thermal performance of double skinfac

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