A Miami-based company that is disrupting the construction industry by introducing a new way to build with real-life LEGO bricks has been honored with a global innovation award.
RENCO USA’s ( https://renco-usa.com/ ) innovative building system, which uses patented blocks made from a renewable composite material, secured first place for building innovations at the 2024 JEC Composites Innovation Awards in Paris, France. The annual competition highlights cutting-edge ideas in the composites industry worldwide based on value, project complexity and commercial potential. Past winners include a variety of top companies — from Porsche for its new lightweight roll cage, to Nanotures, for making a composite roof for the stadium of Real Madrid.
"For a century, the construction industry has relied on concrete, wood, and steel. RENCO marks a paradigm shift by introducing an entirely new material," said RENCO Co-Founder Thomas P. Murphy, Jr. "We’ve created user-friendly, connectable bricks and color-coded plans, so communities can construct more affordable buildings, more quickly. This award recognizes how the RENCO system is ushering in a new era of construction, with the power to lower housing costs, address the skilled labor shortage, and reduce the industry’s impact on the environment."
This marks RENCO USA’s second global award in a matter of months. In November, the company won an international honor for Best Construction Product Design of 2023 at the BLT Built Design Awards in Lucerne, Switzerland.
RENCO's innovative building system, utilizing interlocking molded blocks similar to LEGO bricks, surpasses concrete in strength, reduces costs significantly, and allows for rapid construction. Made with recycled glass fibers, resin, and stone, this renewable composite material is certified to withstand Category 5 hurricanes.
Following more than 12 years of research and development, RENCO USA successfully completed its inaugural apartment complex in Palm Springs, Florida, last November, having passed more than 400 safety tests for U.S. building approval.
"The global demand for affordable and resilient housing has never been more urgent. That’s driving enthusiasm for the transformative impact RENCO is making in simplifying and revolutionizing construction," said Patrick E. Murphy, RENCO Government Relations Lead.
This innovation addresses the affordable housing crisis by using renewable materials, eliminating construction waste, and reducing labor costs—no specialized workers or heavy machinery are required to build with the blocks, which are stronger but 75% lighter than concrete. In Palm Springs, 11 unskilled workers assembled each three-story building in about eight weeks, following color-coded plans.
As climate change worsens, RENCO is easier to insure because it has a longer lifespan than typical construction; it’s rated to be hurricane and earthquake resistant and is resistant to fire, water, mold and pests. To meet growing demand, a manufacturing facility in South Florida is set to open this spring, producing blocks for nationwide distribution.
