Walls made from coffee grounds
Resource-saving construction technology
Resource-saving construction technologies are being tested in an experimental building in Switzerland.
A wall made from coffee grounds and a staircase from a 3D printer: the module called “Step2” was opened at the end of August and will be used as a workplace in Dübendorf from now on, according to the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa). The new technologies are to be tested, researched and further developed under real conditions.
The wall panels of the two-storey building module were made from coffee grounds, used paper cups and fabric scraps. The use of these otherwise unused, renewable materials not only reduces the demand for new raw materials, but also the emission of greenhouse gases, Empa wrote.
Energy-optimized façade
The concrete staircase was constructed using reusable 3D-printed formwork. The building was also equipped with a new type of energy-optimized façade and a wafer-thin, perforated concrete ceiling that absorbs sound. According to Empa, the aim of all elements is to reduce resource consumption and CO2 emissions in the construction sector.
