{"id":230537,"date":"2026-06-10T22:21:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T20:21:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/efecomunica.efe.com\/?p=230537"},"modified":"2026-06-10T23:40:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T21:40:08","slug":"european-union-building-homes-with-mud-sustainable-alternative-concrete","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/efecomunica.efe.com\/en\/european-union-building-homes-with-mud-sustainable-alternative-concrete\/","title":{"rendered":"Building homes with mud: a sustainable alternative to concrete?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels, Jun 10 (EFE).- The European Union<\/strong> wants to build more housing<\/strong> while ensuring it remains affordable and sustainable<\/strong>. However, it is also aware that cement, the bloc\u2019s most widely used construction material, is highly polluting. As a result, alternatives are emerging, ranging from low-carbon \u201ceco-cements\u201d to replacing cement altogether with mud and earth.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Wednesday at a session on how Europe can move towards a climate-neutral, circular and competitive construction model, held as part of the New European Bauhaus Festival<\/a> in Brussels, German architect Anna Heringer<\/strong> presented a proposal based on mud and rammed earth construction.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The technique, she explained, has been \u201cproven over thousands of years, is present on every continent and in almost all climate zones, and is used in billions of homes.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is one of the proposals aimed at addressing the environmental footprint of the concrete industry<\/strong>, which produces around 5% of global CO\u2082 emissions, due to the calcination process used to produce cement.<\/p>\n

\u201cCement, steel, and bricks require firing. Oil takes millions of years to form. Using earth in its natural state, without adding anything to it, is the most environmentally friendly and lowest-impact way to build<\/strong>,\u201d Heringer said, arguing that earth should no longer be treated as \u201cwaste\u201d but valued for being a 100% natural and recyclable material.<\/p>\n

\u201cScaling it up to billions of homes\u201d<\/h3>\n

The architect highlighted the accessibility of these materials across all regions, \u201cincluding the Global South,\u201d citing the recent use of the technique in the building she designed on the St. Michael Campus<\/strong> in Upper Bavaria, Germany.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat it can be scaled to billions of homes has already been demonstrated over thousands of years,\u201d she said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Heringer explained that rammed earth can provide sufficient structural stability for multi-storey buildings and argued that the concept has already proven its effectiveness. A similar idea earned Austrian architect Martin Rauch<\/strong> the first New European Bauhaus Prize in 2021 for his prefabricated raw-earth construction elements.<\/p>\n

However, she maintained that the approach \u201cis not aligned with our construction industry<\/strong>, nor with regulations and standards that are often influenced by that industry,\u201d even though it is consistent with \u201cintuition and common sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

The architect also stressed that under the current model \u201cit is cheaper to ship materials from China than to hire local craftsmen to build a house,\u201d which she described as unhealthy for both society and the environment.<\/p>\n

The local perspective and eco-cement<\/h3>\n

Carmen D\u00edaz<\/strong>, Chief People and Sustainability Officer at building materials company Holcim, agreed with Heringer that the industry must move towards a more \u201clocal approach\u201d<\/strong> and develop skills \u201cwithin local communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

From that perspective, D\u00edaz referred to the successful implementation of low-carbon cement and ready-mix concrete solutions that are also \u201caccessible to all markets.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition, we are focusing heavily on how to build more efficiently, how to build with less material, and with local materials, so that construction is more practical and less energy-intensive,\u201d she added.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The use of materials and the efficient management of natural resources were among the main topics discussed on Wednesday morning at the New European Bauhaus Festival, which is being held this week in Brussels<\/a> and is showcasing European projects focused on community-based and sustainable architectural design. EFE<\/p>\n

By Ignacio Blanco<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brussels, Jun 10 (EFE).- The European Union wants to build more housing while ensuring it remains affordable and sustainable. However, it is also aware that cement, the bloc\u2019s most widely […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":198164071,"featured_media":230538,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[123771,123782],"tags":[128680],"class_list":["post-230537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-sustainability","tag-new-european-bauhaus"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEuropean Union wants more affordable and sustainable housing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"European Union wants to build more housing while ensuring it remains affordable and sustainable. 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