Decarbonization of construction sector – bringing zero carbon footprint natural building materials into thecircular economy

Description

The outcome of the project will give recommendations, based on circular economy, enabling development of this sector in Poland, certification path for natural construction materials, stimulate the producers and contractors market with professional trainings. Natural construction is an opportunity to reduce energy consumption and the environmental impact of construction processes and go in line with the idea of Circular Economy.

The project tasks are:

- a demonstration building in Poznan for trainings, workshops and promotion of natural and wooden building, - research and development activities, e.g. model of LCA (The Life Cycle of Product) and CO2 calculations, fire tests with thermal and humidity tests allowing the recommended natural technologies and wooden structures for residential and public construction, natural building road map;

- educational activities, e.g. Investor''s Guidebook, awareness building campaign, countrywide Natural Building Festival, teaching materials and workshops,

The project plans to enable the development of the natural and wooden construction sector in Poland by overcoming technical, market and educational barriers, to increase the share and awareness of natural construction and the goals of Circular Economy.

Final beneficiaries of the projects will be end-users and investors, and representatives of the Polish natural construction sector, incl. architects, planners, producers, contractors, as well as sciencists researching in this area.

Partners:

- The University of Life Science in Poznan are research facilites, experts and academic staff specialisted in the subject of the project, and own the land to build the demonstration building.

- The Polish Association for Natural Building associates experts and entities professionally involved in natural construction since 2012. Organises the Natural Building Festival with workshops and lectures, experienced in networking different stakeholders of natural building.

Summary of project results

The aim of the project was to provide an impulse for the development of the natural and timber building sector and to help implement the principles of circular economy in the construction sector in Poland in order to reduce CO2 emissions. The construction sector is responsible for 30-40 percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions, and energy consumption by construction consumes approximately 40 percent of global supplies. Additionally, construction currently operates according to a linear economic model, in which used resources are returned to circulation only to a small extent, and the re-use of construction or finishing materials is rare. This leads not only to generating ordinary waste, but also continuous greenhouse gas emissions – as new materials, the production of which generates emissions, are constantly being used. Hence, not taking advantage of  the existing, easily accessible benefits of using natural materials does great harm to climate protection.

The project was also intended to create a solid basis for the popularization of natural materials and technologies, to provide individual and commercial investors, contractors and architects with the knowledge about the benefits of using these materials and technologies , so that they decide to use them. These materials and technologies are at hand and can easily replace classic technologies – the problem is that awareness of them is not widespread. Hence, the identified problem was the lack of general awareness of existing solutions and the benefits resulting from using them.

This lack of awareness can be divided into two areas: professional and non-professional. The former includes people professionally involved in construction who need knowledge about the characteristics of technologies, know-how on their application, differences and similarities with classic materials. The non-professional area is a wide group of investors who do not need knowledge about the construction process, but information about its benefits for them as users: in terms of health, finances  etc.

Another obstacle is the paucity of analyses and research results confirming the advantages of natural materials and technologies, as well as reliable carbon footprint calculations. Generally speaking, natural materials are perceived as flammable (because they contain straw, timber, hemp etc.), and therefore dangerous and unsuitable for the construction of residential buildings. Another common and deep-seated belief is that timber and other natural materials can only be used to build small, single- or one-story structures.

These above-mentioned obstacles constitute another barrier: the lack of a structured strategy or even simple recommendations for public institutions, the implementation of which would bring about or initiate the desired change.

The main activities and products implemented were as follows:

1. A multimedia exhibition promoting natural construction technologies, materials and their applications, as well as the principles of circular economy in construction was developed. It was exhibited twice at construction fairs – InterDOM and LUBDOM, in Łódź and Lublin, respectively – met with great interest and won awards (along with the rest of the Project stand (workshops and presentations) at each of them. According to documentation provided by the organizers, a total of 18 028 guests attended both events.
2. A platform was developed, launched and implemented on the project website, connecting natural building stakeholders and allowing them to exchange knowledge, experience and construction materials.
3. An information campaign was carried out to raise awareness of the topic of construction
   – reaching a total of 1 700 365 people. This result consisted of:

a. Sponsored articles and PAP dispatches (total reach: 951 375 people);

b. Posts (both sponsored and non-sponsored) on the Facebook profile of IOŚ-PIB (total reach: 167 319 people)

c. Facebook posts on the profile of OSBN (project partner, total reach: 57 432 people);

d. Sponsored posts on the LinkedIn profile of IOŚ-PIB (total reach: 85 151 people);

e. Promotion of content on the project website in Google Ads (total reach: 148 567 people);

f. Publications in conventional and social media about the Natural Building Festival (total reach: 290 521 people).

1. A model for LCA and CO2 calculations in the product life cycle was developed, along with an analysis and support mechanism for products with a low carbon footprint.
2. Fire tests were carried out along with thermal and humidity tests, allowing the recommended natural technologies and wooden structures to be used in residential and public buildings.
3. A road map for the implementation of basic, adopted practices for the construction of partitions and thermal modernization was developed based on available materials and technological capacity, along with preliminary tests confirming their thermal, humidity and structural properties.
4. Methods for assessing the quality of natural materials and strength parameters for construction timber were developed.
5. Recommendations were developed to support the development of the natural construction market, including recommendations for urban adaptation plans in the field of thermal modernization and housing construction.
6. Educational materials were developed in the form of:
   a. Investor''s guide with accompanying materials (catalogue of details and conceptual designs of typical houses, along with examples of solutions for construction and implementation designs).
   b. Translations of 8 chapters of the STEP program (Straw Bale Training for European Professionals), based on materials received from its creators, from English to Polish.
   c. Educational block for vocational schools - Additional Vocational Skills (DUZ) in the area of ​​natural construction, including timber construction, along with teaching materials.
   d. Educational block for universities - teaching program.
7. 70 practical workshops devoted to specific technologies and natural materials were conducted.
8. A guide for business, concerning business models in ​​natural and timber construction was developed to support the certification process.
9. Recommendations were developed for facilitating the development of the natural construction market, including recommendations for urban adaptation plans in the field of thermal modernization and housing construction - as a result, a package of recommendations was created, based on the involvement and knowledge of several key institutions in the Polish construction industry, architects, designers, etc.
10. The Natural Building Festival was organized in Wrocław - a three-day event combining lectures and expert panels with the participation of specialists from abroad presenting the latest solutions, trends and applications circular economy and natural materials, with practical workshops and a construction materials fair.

The following groups benefited from the outcomes and impact of the Project:

1. Teachers and students in vocational schools as well as at universities received practical educational support in the form of ready-made teaching aids, allowing for the transfer of knowledge about natural materials and technologies in an organized and effective way.
2. People looking for contractors skilled in natural technologies and wanting to purchase such materials - and on the other hand, professionals, contractors and producers of such materials received a platform for the transfer of knowledge, services and goods.
3. Architects and designers received the results of tests of natural thermal insulation materials, including the results of fire tests of walls made using natural technologies, confirming the surprisingly good parameters of these technologies – a wall made of a timber frame with a pressed straw filling covered with clay plaster lasted almost two hours before it burned out under the influence of a temperature of 1000 degrees Celsius. The research was carried out at the Institute of Building Technology.

The same group also received a model for LCA and CO2 calculations in the product life cycle, along with an analysis and support mechanism for products with a low carbon footprint, as well as methods for assessing the quality of natural materials and strength parameters for construction timber.

1. Investors - individual and institutional, designers and construction contractors received condensed knowledge introducing them to the world of natural materials and technologies in the form of a free "Investor''s Guide" - publicly available material in PDF format. containing knowledge useful for anyone interested in the topic, regardless of whether they are building a completely new building or just renovating an apartment built using traditional technologies.

The same groups became acquainted with techniques and materials during the presentation of a multimedia exhibition and workshops at the InterDOM and LUBDOM construction fairs. Participation in these  was the implementation of the concept of reaching with know-how about natural materials to the "lion''s den", i.e. to fairs focused on the use of traditional materials. We believed that we would meet representatives of all possible interested groups there, and we were proven right. The participation turned out to be a success not only in terms of content, but also organizationally and conceptually, because at both fairs the project received awards for exhibitors – for innovative solutions and the form of presentation, respectively.

Groups of contractors and individual investors benefited from participation in practical workshops and webinars. They were organized as part of the Summer Building School and concerned specific construction techniques and natural materials.

1. Entrepreneurs interested in entering the natural materials market received assistance regarding their certification and business models in general.
2. Local governments received knowledge regarding recommendations to be included in the urban adaptation plans in the field of thermal modernization and housing construction.