CASCO: CArbon Sink COnstruction

CASCO stands for CArbon Sink COnstruction and aims to reduce the enormous carbon footprint of the European construction sector. The current ‘European Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings’ (EPBD) focuses on reducing the operational CO₂ emissions of buildings.

From operational carbon to material-related carbon

Recent research (Xiaoyang Zhong et al. 2021) shows that a reduction in operational CO₂ emissions in buildings is often accompanied by an increase in material-related CO₂ emissions, due to the use of more materials or materials with high CO₂ emissions during production, as well as more and more complex installations.

Europe is currently working on a revision of the EPBD, which will take into account CO2 emissions across the entire life cycle of buildings. Local and natural raw materials such as wood, straw, hemp and grass clippings can significantly reduce the construction sector’s carbon footprint (UN, CTCN) but are scarcely used.

Developing an ecosystem for local and natural building materials

Through the CASCO project, the project partners aim to develop an ecosystem for the Flanders-Netherlands border region to scale up the use of local and natural building materials.

These materials, which have low embodied carbon during processing, store CO₂ during their growth phase (carbon sink) and thus significantly reduce the material-related CO₂ emissions of new buildings. Building with local and natural materials must become the most obvious choice for construction professionals. To achieve this goal, we aim to increase both the demand for and the supply of bio-based building materials.

What are we focusing on?

• Supply chain development for the local economy, focusing on the supply of natural raw materials, the production of building materials, components and elements, and their use on site. Specifically, this involves the raw materials wood (forest management waste, coppice wood, construction timber); straw, hemp, sorghum and miscanthus (residual and by-product streams from agriculture); and roadside cuttings (residual and by-product streams from landscape management). We always aim to upcycle these residual and by-product streams for local use within the programme area.
• Determining the building physics properties and hygrothermal behaviour of local and natural building materials (and building components) based on material performance data collected throughout the project, thereby making these materials credible and applicable. Specifically, this involves processing raw materials into insulation material (roadside grass clippings, hemp stalks, miscanthus), construction material (wood and straw), the use of fibres in reinforcement meshes and building boards (hemp, sorghum), lathwork (wood), hemp and sorghum in lime mixtures, and the construction of prefabricated elements using a combination of these materials.
• Analysis of CO2 emissions and environmental impact
• Determination of the net CO2 storage capacity for the developed building materials and elements. The aim here is to gather sufficient information for the creation of future revenue models for CO2 storage in buildings based on carbon credits (owners of a building that stores CO2 are compensated via a local carbon credits platform).
• Accelerating the establishment of a clear CO2 standard in the construction sector and a straightforward calculation methodology, through the introduction of local and natural building materials and elements and their specific CO2 impact (emissions and storage) into existing calculation tools such as TOTEM (VL) and MPG (NL).
• Disseminating knowledge among construction professionals and new entrants from construction engineering programmes, so that they can gather more and better information and know-how about the added value and application of local and natural materials.
• Making the project results accessible and informing the general public about the benefits of local and natural construction.
• Cross-border collaboration: together with CASCO, we will promote, integrate and use relevant research from other projects as a basis for research within this project. A number of the current partners are involved in most of these projects.

Partners

Pixii, Ghent University, Avans University of Applied Sciences, VIBE, Inagro, LabLand, Woonder, KiemKracht, Pitterz, Seedscope Insight, FRAAi architects and murmuur architecten.

Pixii, Ghent University, Avans University of Applied Sciences, VIBE and Inagro are applying their expertise as knowledge institutions within this project to:

• Analysing CO2, environmental impact and material performance based on data collected over the course of the project, with a view to their correct application in existing calculation tools.
• Developing and organising training courses for professional construction stakeholders (Pixii, Inagro, Avans) and further refining the education of the next generation of professionals (Ghent University and Avans University of Applied Sciences).
• Disseminating the project results within their own networks (construction professionals, educators, manufacturers, project developers, local authorities and other knowledge institutions) via, for example, seminars and lectures, but also by generating further research.

LabLand, Woonder, Inagro, Avans University of Applied Sciences, VIBE and Pixii are regarded as centres of expertise within the framework of this project and, in that capacity, will be the main partners in the advisory and professionalisation of business operations.

Woonder, KiemKracht, Pitterz and Seedscope Insight can be regarded as companies active in the supply chain. As designers, FRAAi architects and murmuur architecten both possess expertise in the application of natural raw materials and building materials in specific construction projects.

You can find more information about the project on this website.

Project Info

Research group: Building Physics
Duration: from 01-05-2024 to 01-05-2027
Funding: Interreg Flanders-Netherlands
Researchers: Marijke Steeman, Ruben Van den Bossche and Yanaika Decorte