FROM EARTH TO VALUE

Sustainability and Spatial Capacity Building, 2 research domains of the research group ArcK of the Faculty of Architecture and Arts (UHasselt), participate in the Living Lab. Sustainability has expertise on regenerative building materials, including earth building, and on supporting the design and decision-making process of building owners and architects regarding sustainable building. The Living Lab also connects closely with the Building Beyond Borders platform, which is embedded in the Sustainability research. The research of Spatial Capacity Building focuses on spatial participation processes, mainly through action research.

The research group CERG (UHasselt) carries out building mechanics research of structures and structural components through simulation, standards and experimental research. At CERG's structural lab, the Concrete and Construction Application Centre, building systems can be characterised at full size.

Democo is a Class 8 general contractor in full transition towards becoming a sustainable contractor with a strong focus on circular construction. This involves a constant search for alternative construction methods with a low impact on people and nature within a financial reality. The search for scaling up the application of earth blocks in the Flemish construction sector is therefore something Democo wants to contribute to with great enthusiasm by bringing in its own cases and helping to investigate the possibilities of applying earth blocks in these cases.

Sustainable building is not just a matter of acquiring knowledge, experience and skills for a2o-architects, but above all an attitude. When a2o-architects thinks about the use of materials, it is not just about appearance. Instead, they also consider a very low environmental impact. a2o-architects wants to be more than just a design and study agency. Through participation in this Living Lab, a2o-architects wants to deepen its knowledge of circular building materials and broaden its social responsibility as an architecture firm. The application of earth blocks will be researched and technically worked out in their own architectural projects together with the other project partners.

Buildwise brings extensive expertise on hygrothermal behaviour of building materials and the behaviour and properties of materials based on unfired earth to the Living Lab. They also have great expertise and experience with knowledge dissemination to the target group.

Start-up brickZ was created from and alongside the Vande Moortel brick factory. Within brickZ, the knowledge and experience from the factory are combined with sustainable, innovative initiatives and partnerships. This way, brickZ, a pioneer in Flanders in the field of industrial co-production of earth blocks, aims to greatly increase the supply and range of Belgian earth blocks on the market in the coming years, allowing prices to decrease.

BC Materials transforms soil from urban construction sites into earth- based building materials (products). BC Materials has an extensive European network on research regarding earth blocks and associated normative frameworks. As a subcontractor of brickZ, they contribute with their technical advice on earth blocks and their expertise in ecosystemic delivery of craft and knowledge to architects, contractors, building owners, ...