Silicon Valley now investing in bricks
By siliconindia   |   Thursday, 24 September 2009, 22:01 IST   |    1 Comments
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Silicon Valley now investing in bricks
Newark: Silicon Valley has now started funding brick makers as a company has found out a low energy production process which will help in making Silicon Valley green. Brick maker Calstar got $7 million funding from Foundation Capital and $8 million from EnerTech Capital. Currently, heating, cooling and general operation takes up to 40 percent energy. Now Silicon Valley is trying to find new ways of making bricks which will help in saving energy. New experiments are being conducted to find ways of making a brick which can absorb carbon-di-oxide, windows that insulate as well as wood substitutes. Bricks have been made pretty much the same way for 3,000 years, until Calstar's scientists came up with their new technique, said Chief Executive Michael Kane to Reuters. Ordinary bricks are fired for 24 hours at 1,100 degree celsius as part of a process that can last a week, while Calstar bricks are baked at temperatures below 100 degree celsius and take only 10 hours from start to finish, Kane said. The field is still new. Venture investments in green buildings have been affected by recession, but still in the last year 45 deals worth $350 million have been signed, according to Cleantech Group. These new bricks, which the Brick Industry Association says are not actually bricks, will sell for the same price as traditional clay bricks.

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