Together to the recyclable house

NEST, the research and innovation building of Empa and Eawag, aims to accelerate the innovation process in the construction sector. A key aspect of this is that players from different disciplines come together, innovate with each other on an equal footing, and thus develop new solutions for the construction sector. The various NEST projects of the last few years have thus also already resulted in various industrial partnerships. The most recent: a strategic partnership between Stahlton Bauteile AG and zirkulit AG of Eberhard Unternehmungen. This was triggered by the joint work in the latest NEST unit STEP2, the construction of which will start soon. "I am extremely pleased that with the STEP2 unit, together with our partner BASF, we can offer suitable conditions for the formation of such partnerships," says Enrico Marchesi, Innovation Manager at NEST and project manager on the part of Empa.

Paving the way to a sustainable future

The partnership between the two companies is expected to make the vision of a circular house made of concrete a reality. In the STEP2 unit, Stahlton Bauteile AG and zirkulit AG will use the innovative ribbed filigree ceiling to show which resource-saving, innovative solutions can be realized by combining their expertise. The ceiling system was planned and developed by the architectural firm ROK, and the engineering firm WaltGalmarini was responsible for the structural analysis. The ceiling elements produced using mineral and high-resolution 3D printing technology are unique in Europe. Thanks to integrated acoustic modules equipped with the Cavipor® absorber foam from STEP2 partner BASF, they absorb sound and thus ensure pleasant room acoustics. Thanks to the prestressing technology, the ceiling elements can be dimensioned extremely slim. This saves around 40 to 50 percent of concrete compared to a conventional concrete flat slab with the same span.

Nevertheless, where concrete cannot be dispensed with, zirkulit® circular concrete is used. The two companies thus form the basis for circular buildings. Patrick Eberhard, member of the management board at Eberhard Unternehmungen, has been driving the development of circular building materials for years with his team around Reto Märki, managing director of zirkulit AG. He says of the new partnership: "We value developments on real projects together with pragmatic partners. NEST offered us the ideal environment for this. In this way, we get into concrete implementation together, which, also due to the consistent saving of primary resources, achieves the fastest and most sustainable progress". Samuel Suter, CTO at Stahlton Bauteile AG, adds: "We are already working on other projects so that we can further optimize our recyclable components in terms of resource consumption and CO2 balance.