ᐅ Develop a recycled construction material made from concrete, plaster, paint, wallpaper, and stone.

This approach is currently quite popular. Old bricks, preferably those with stamps, numbers, or other markings, are sometimes sold at high prices and then reused in new constructions as fireplace surrounds, feature walls, and similar applications.

Are there machines that clean bricks? I imagine it would be too labor-intensive.

Janniklas schrieb:

Are there machines that clean bricks? I imagine that would be too labor-intensive.

Sandblasting or similar.
It’s a tedious task, but genuine vintage bricks are currently sold for a lot of money. Starting at 50€ per square meter (around 80€ per square meter for vintage brick slips from, for example, Celina). Recycling is definitely worthwhile in this case.

11ant schrieb:

First of all, this does not answer my question whether you are asking just academically or if you are facing a specific demolition project. Secondly, you should look up "Trümmerfrauen" and also build some basic knowledge about recycling (including considering the ecological footprint of each method). The key difference between recycling and downcycling lies in the material purity of what goes into the process; in this sense, your hoped-for building material has the drawback of inhomogeneity – it could only be reprocessed at the next stage through downcycling with high (also energy) effort. Additionally, because of its poorly defined composition, it cannot be entered into U-value calculators and is practically unsuitable for any building subject to energy-saving regulations. It would therefore only be a material for sheds and detached garages. On closer examination, you would basically get the opposite of what you hoped for: planned solution, created problem :-(

I was just about to say exactly the same –

Janniklas schrieb:

Are there machines that clean bricks? I imagine the work would be too labor-intensive.

Ah... I already suspected that as soon as work was involved.
Using diesel-powered or electricity-guzzling machines just because you want to build an “eco-friendly” house without breaking a sweat or getting a scratch on your hands...
That sounds to me more like being spoiled than genuine ecological thinking.
If you search for "Trümmerfrauen," you will indeed find people who act ecologically, but without any allergy to manual labor... sorry, but what a pseudo-ecological nonsense!

Janniklas schrieb:

Are there machines that clean bricks? I imagine that would be very labor-intensive.

Do you mean pressure washing, perhaps? I've cleaned all sorts of things with our pressure washer—haven't tried it on bricks yet, but I have cleaned paint and construction-related stains off our driveway and walkway.

Honest wire brush, chisel, and muscle power