Vecor Building Materials has been named as a finalist in Innovic's International Next Big Thing 2009 awards, for their ability to "lock up" fly ash and produce strong, lightweight tiles, bricks, pavers, aerated blocks and building aggregate.

Fly ash is an unavoidable by-product of burning coal to produce electricity. An environmental pollutant, the fine white powdery residue is typically dumped in nearby lakes or disused mine shafts to avoid its contaminating effects.

The four million tonnes of fly ash that is produced annually in NSW alone is enough to manufacture more than 700 million bricks.

Vecor is able to "lock up" the fly ash to produce strong building products that can be used in the construction industry. Vecor Building Materials, made of at least 95 per cent fly ash, have superior compressive strength, thermal and sound insulation properties, compared to traditional clay-based construction products.

Other building products that have incorporated a percentage of fly ash into their structure rely on a geopolymer or chemical binder to hold the minute particles together, usually resulting in lower strength, non weight-bearing characteristics. The University of New South Wales' (UNSW) technology used in Vecor Building Materials allows the fly ash to be sintered which changes the minute particles into light-weight, high strength products.

Vecor bricks are less dense, lighter and stronger than normal load bearing clay bricks and Vecor aggregate is 20 per cent lighter than granite aggregate. When used in concrete, it is, on average, 20 per cent stronger, shows 33 per cent less shrinkage and has excellent crack resistance. Vecor tiles require 30 per cent less energy and 14 per cent less water to make compared to clay tiles.

The winners of Innovic's Next Big Thing awards will be announced in Melbourne on July 2, 2009. The Melbourne Museum will host a special exhibition of the finalists' innovations from May 30 to July 12. The winning innovator will be presented with a $3,000 cheque, trophy and prizes.