Brick is one of the oldest building materials out there, and still remains one of the top choices for architects and designers looking to create a building exterior or styled interior room rich with traditional and classic elements.
But though the end result of using brick leads to a pleasing design aesthetic for building facades, the material itself no longer provides a structural benefit and can have a lot of drawbacks, like weight, cost, and installation time. So, West Warwick, R.I.-based Dryvit Systems, a manufacturer of exterior insulation and finishes, designed NewBrick, a lightweight insulated brick product that looks and feels just like the brick we all know, but is lighter, faster to install, and more energy efficient.
“For architects, brick has always been one of the top choices in cladding because building owners love its classic appearance,” said Winford “Buck” Lindsay, FAIA, a principal of the Atlanta-based architectural firm of Lindsay Pope Brayfield Clifford & Associates. “Yet traditional brick presents challenges when specified in taller buildings because of its heavy weight, which requires additional structural components to safely anchor brick to the upper floors of a building’s exterior.”
The NewBrick product weighs just 1/12th of what a traditional clay brick does and 1/4th the weight of a clay thin brick. NewBrick weights 2.45 pounds per square foot compared to a 4-inch face brick which is about 29 pounds per square foot. Though Dryvit was unable to provide details regarding the exact materials that make up the brick, the bricks consist of three layers—the first base layer consists of an insulated core, the second layer consists of material provides durability, impact resistance and protection to the insulated layer, and the third layer is made of a weather resistant material in a color and texture that can be customized.
NewBrick can be installed directly over tilt-wall, precast, and concrete masonry units, in either new construction projects or renovations. A built in horizontal alignment guide on the bricks eliminates the need for support pans and mortar joint spacers and also creates a 3/8-inch spacing for the mortar. The installation doesn’t require brick ties, reducing penetrations through the water resistive barrier, and the lightweight product reduces the amount of steel and concrete required overall on a building.
“Dryvit’s lightweight NewBrick reduces the need for structural reinforcement and also allows much faster installation. Both of these factors will translate into cost savings,” says Lindsay.
NewBrick also requires less equipment and handling on the jobsite due to its light weight—installers can load the bricks themselves and carry them up and down the scaffolding without the need for assistance from machines. The product can also be cut right on the jobsite with a knife for situations when a specific sized brick is needed. With traditional bricks, an installer would need to get down off the scaffolding and cut the brick with a saw to fit.
“Getting NewBrick to the wall itself is a much easier process than clay brick, which comes on pallets. You always have to be concerned with how much weight is being put on scaffolding,” said Bill Gatto, the Vice President of MGM Masonry, Inc. in Schenectady, N.Y., who recently installed 12,000 square feet of NewBrick on a new-build, multi-story, mixed-use project. “Loading a scaffold with clay brick takes a substantial amount of time, especially on multi-story buildings, and it involves significant lift equipment costs. [NewBrick is] lightweight and easy to move around the scaffold.”
The product also offers a higher insulation value and environmentally-friendly alternative to clay bricks, according to Dryvit. The bricks are insulated, whereas clay bricks are not and can easily allow cold air into buildings. NewBrick provides thermal insulation equal to a value of R-5 (R-1.4, when including the effect of the mortar joints), built right into the brick, which reduces energy bills and can contribute to LEED credits for construction projects.
The bricks are available in a number of sizes, colors, and finishes. Customers can choose from 16 colors in variations of classic reds or modern grays and four blended colors that stagger different colored bricks in a scheme. The bricks are also available in three textures—smooth, velour, and wire cut—and three effects—iron spot, flashed, and flashed with iron spot.
“Everyone involved in a project is always looking to save money while constructing a quality building, and there's a huge market for thin brick right now with mixed used buildings and hotels,” said Gatto. “If Dryvit can tap into that market and give you the same look for a lower cost and a higher R-value, I think NewBrick is going to crush the market.”
