Property market has long been the lifeblood of Hong Kong’s economy. As property prices soar in recent years, developers are busy tearing down old houses and building new ones. As the urban renewal process picks up its pace, the problem of construction waste also gets more serious. Professor Poon Chi-sun, Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, thus came up with the idea of giving construction waste a new lease of life – reincarnated as construction material again. Appropriately named Eco-blocks, these sturdy bricks made out of glass aggregates and construction wastes, not only relieve the stress on overloaded landfills, but also absorb roadside air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides with their titanium oxide coating. Now a popular material for paving sidewalks, Eco-blocks also come in different formulae for different construction purposes. PolyU has built up a long term partnership with the industry on the development of this project.
The project won a Notable Mention, in the ECO-Products Award 2006 in Hong Kong; a Merit Award in the Green Building Award 2006 in Hong Kong; the Gold Award in the 6th International Exhibition of Inventions in Suzhou, China; and the Best Invention Award from Macao Foundation in 2008.
