Emissions in the construction industry are rising, as are raw material prices. Innovative approaches are necessary on the path to a circular economy and more environmentally conscious architecture. Architects at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) therefore combine digital design and production strategies with historical architecture and newly developed materials made from natural raw materials.
In a demonstrator project, researchers and students have reinterpreted half-timbered houses on this basis: They are presenting their combination of wood and a willow-clay composite at the State Garden Show, which will take place from April 26th to October 6th, 2024 in Wangen im Allgäu.
Construction accounts for more than 40+% of CO2 emissions worldwide
“Construction is responsible for more than 40 percent of CO2 emissions worldwide – in comparison, air traffic is only responsible for two to three percent,” explains Moritz Dörstelmann, tenure-track professor for Digital Design and Fabrication (DDF) at the Institute for Design and Construction Technology of KIT. Together with an international and interdisciplinary team, the architect is rethinking the historical craft digitally: “We don’t just automate and digitize, but create fundamentally new construction methods.”
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With newly interpreted half-timbered houses for a circular economy in construction
“One of our demonstrator projects consists of a hybrid supporting structure made of wood in combination with ceiling components made of a willow-clay composite. The facade is made of flax fibers,” explains Dörstelmann.
“This enabled us to constructively use an intelligent mix of local, quickly renewable materials as well as earth and wood.” A scalable use of these natural building materials in high-performance components is made possible by digital construction technologies. For example, with his team he has developed digital design and automated manufacturing processes for structural components made of willow-clay composites.
The researchers are also investigating what the material flow could look like when using willow as a building material. They are pursuing the approach of rewetting dry moorland areas and growing pastures there. “Both the re-wetted moors and the fast-growing pastures store large amounts of CO2,” explains Dörstelmann. “This allows us to process local materials with little energy and, above all, to diversify the use of renewable raw materials in construction.”
Research-oriented teaching: Students work in all project phases
Dörstelmann actively involves his students in all project phases. This starts with ideation and concept creation. “We open the funnel for new ideas very wide at the beginning in order to really take an unbiased and unfiltered look at what new circular digital construction methods could look like. The students here always bring in completely new perspectives,” says the architecture professor, who received the state teaching award in the Innovation/Transformation category in 2023.
Until the project is completed, students help check new concepts, create digital models and develop 1:1 prototypes.
KIT demonstrator project at the state horticultural show
Moritz Dörstelmann and his team will be exhibiting the demonstrator project at the State Garden Show in Wangen im Allgäu from April 26th to October 6th, 2024. (yeah)
Further information about the tenure-track professorship of Digital Design and Fabrication at KIT
Further information about the tenure-track professorship of Digital Design and Fabrication at KIT
Video about the state teaching award for Moritz Dörstelmann
KIT press release on the state teaching award for Moritz Dörstelmann
Caption: Following the example of the construction of half-timbered houses, the KIT researchers use local and quickly renewable raw materials. (Photo: DDF, KIT)