ME310B

Mission 12.5: Critical Experience Prototype

Team Volvo CE with BTH
Motivation for CEP based on insights from CFP

Currently recycled concrete cannot be used for new structural components would
really only be used for aesthetic type areas (e.g. Walkways, retaining walls)
Glass bricks look almost exactly the same as regular concrete bricks no reason to put
in the extra effort to remove the glass and mix into concrete
Current method for glass bricks doesnt take advantage of the transparent and/or
reflective properties of glass
Takes a lot of glass to make a brick most buildings glass will not be able to make
enough to keep properties and aesthetics consistent across the project

Critical Experience Prototype

Is it possible to create bricks using the crushed up glass uniquely aesthetic?

How can we use the visual characteristics of glass to make a useful end product?
Can the above happen in a way that is still economically viable onsite?

To test these questions we made bricks using the left over crushed up glass with white mortar,
Plaster of Paris, and Ultra Gloss Epoxy.

Results

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

Above are the pictures of the bricks we made: (a) original glass brick from CFP, (b) glass brick
with mortar, (c) glass brick with plaster, and (d) glass brick with epoxy and light shining through.

Cost Analysis
Concrete costs on average $80.00/cubic yard. This cost includes both aggregate and cement.
Our recycled bricks will make use of building glass as aggregate. The cost of the glass aggregate
will vary from project to project. Therefore, the table below contains the cost per cubic yard of
just the cement/adhesive.
Cement/Adhesive
Gray Portland Cement
White Portland Cement
Clear Epoxy

Cost/cubic yard
$19.96
$40.30
$1997.16

Calculated cost of cement/adhesive for one cubic yard of recycled glass concrete. The white mortar and Plaster of Paris
prototypes simulate the way White Portland cement would look

We asked test subjects what they would be willing to pay for the
glass bricks compared to a regular concrete brick, to see how
feasible these bricks actually are as an end product.
Cement/Adhesive
Grey Cement
Plaster of Paris
White Mortar
Clear Epoxy
Bought Concrete

Rank Willing to Pay Actual Increase

3.5
0.97
1
2.5
1.2025
2
4.5
0.932
2
1.7
1.94
100
2.8
1 (control)
1

Moving Forward: Dark Horse

Option 1: Storage
During our conversation with the general contractors Chuck Paley,
President & Operations Manager of Cahill Construction, and Howard
Carlson, Field Operations Manager of Cahill Construction, for the Kirkham
Project and Brian Scott, PE, Associate Project Manager at BkF, the civil engineer
on the Kirkham Project the issue of storage came up again. We think looking into
making a collapsible, portable container for onsite storage of dirt and crushed up
aggregate with greatly increase the potential for onsite material reuse.

Option 2: Denailing
After going on a site visit to The ReUse People and talking more in depth about their work with
President Ted Reiff, we are thinking about revisiting the denailing idea. However, in addition to
just denailing our end product would also cut off the last two inches of the wood board to aid in
the regarding process.