Paper Bricks


Summary: This idea is for a new insulation product. More work needs to be done on the idea, but we think it useful to publish the idea and allow universities or other groups to develop the idea further. Since it’s partially our idea, we will encourage commercial groups to donate a portion of the profits, by giving a “Group Genie seal of approval to the enterprises that donate more than 2% of the profits to supercharity.” But the main point of giving the idea away is to promote competition and a quick entry of paper brick products into the marketplace. 

We thought up a new and cheap way to insulate homes. There are companies that spray in fiberglass insulation between walls to create insulation. There are also companies that spray in cellulose. Cellulose insulation is basically recycled cardboard, but treated in a way to make it fire-retardant and to keep termites from eating it.

On the Internet I found only two companies, German and Dutch, that make cellulose panels to insert in walls. I believe that they use jute fibers to give the cellulose panel some stability so it doesn’t fall apart. Their product gave me four other ideas for four other cellulose products.

Our first idea is to make a cellulose cardboard panel with a sticky strip that could be put on the inside of the walls next to the outside. These could then be painted over, or wallpapered over, for a very cheap retrofitting of a house.

Second, instead of straw bales which would be too wide for retrofitting, make blocks out of cellulose, and have one side coated with the cement, except for around the edges, where mortar could be put. I call these blocks “paper bricks.” They could be stacked against the outside of an already existing wall and quickly mortared. The cellulose is treated with a borate compound to keep bugs from eating it, and to also make it harder to burn.

Our third idea is for very poor people who lived in cool areas like Eastern Europe or up in the mountains of Chile or the Himalayas . I thought of making a kit where people could make their own cellulose panels in aluminum trays. That’s because recycled paper is available in many places. The kit contains the jute fibers, the glue, the borate compound, and the recipe for mixing and letting the panels air dry. I call this product “Wall in a Box.”

A variation of this for people who can get access to microwave ovens is to make the paper bricks in glass bread pans. Just microwave for four minute and let cool.

Our fourth product has to do with the problem of radium gas in basements. Radium gas is radioactive, and is the second leading source of lung cancer in the United States . So I thought of cellulose panels that could prevent the gas from entering the basement. Just a small piping system and tiny pump is needed to pull the gas out of the house.”

How useful is the Paper Brick idea?  If the insulation drops monthly heating costs 25% then the homes would be saving about $75 a month or roughly $300 over a four month heating season. For a rough number lets assume oil and gas contain the same amount of energy. At $3 a gallon, that would mean that each home saves 100 gallons of gas a year, which is about two barrels of oil per household. That amount, multiplied by 75 million households, is a lot of oil.

 

 

Plans and Needs:  Looking for public-spirited partners to do the technical work to develop recipes.

 

 

Potential Impact: Relative to all energy consumption, it could potentially help in a small way. Relative to Group Genie, it’s a more down-to-Earth visible project that practical “sensory” types can relate to.