Creation of a new construction material suitable for low to medium performance applications with the potential for widespread use and lower environmental impact compared to concrete.

The project aims to reduce the building industry's high CO₂ emissions by shifting to sustainable construction. It focuses on using local, low-CO₂ materials instead of standardized mass products, addressing the cement industry’s significant contribution to greenhouse gases—around 6-10% globally. 

We introduce non-impregnated (dry basalt textiles) into clay-based matrices to create sustainable building components with high environmental compatibility. Clay is increasingly being promoted as a low carbon material due to its global availability. Unlike cement, which has consistent properties, clays have variable chemical compositions, posing challenges in the mix design process. On a structural level, new technologies and reinforcement concepts are being introduced to reduce construction material use. We employ basalt textiles, because of their good mechanical properties while simultaneously having a low environmental impact. Besides looking into the composite behaviour of basalt textile-reinforced clays we investigate the durability of dry basalt yarns in clay-based materials.

The building material developed in this research will not be a one-to-one replacement for conventional concrete due to the lower performance of clay, but the overall objective of this project is to create a building material with a low environmental impact, while at the same time having adequate performance for a wide range of applications in modern construction.

Umdasch Group Technologies GmbH

Principal Investigator: Philipp, Preinstorfer (philipp.preinstorfer@tuwien.ac.at)
Researchers involved:
Delara, Etezad (delara.etezad@tuwien.ac.at)
Toni, Bakovic (toni.bakovic@tuwien.ac.at)
Teresa, Liberto (teresa.liberto@tuwien.ac.at)
Agathe Robisson (agathe.robisson@tuwien.ac.at, opens an external URL in a new window)