50 What if, to encourage more sustainable construction, all we had to do was look under our feet? Excavated earth, the subsoil traditionally discarded as waste on building sites, turns out to be a valuable resource once we start thinking circularity. This innovative, ecological and economical construction solution deserves to be recognized. CIRCULARITY Is soil the new construction goldmine? 10 TIMES LESS CARBON EMISSIONS THAN CONCRETE BLOCKS The embedded carbon associated with producing the blocks – extracting the soil, transporting it to a manufacturer, transforming it into a block, and taking it back to the construction site to be implemented into the building – is one‑tenth of the embedded carbon of concrete blocks. However, changing the practice of an entire industry will not happen overnight. This requires adaptation by all stakeholders, trained in construction techniques using concrete, steel and glass. Subsoil offers the construction industry a hybrid solution; not only does it help reduce our reliance on natural resources – like sand and aggregates – but it also holds natural properties that can contribute to building efficient and comfortable environments – thermal inertia, hygrometric regulation, heat storage capacity, to name a few. Think about it this way: we can build walls, and floors, that keep our spaces cool in the summer and warm in the winter, regulate humidity levels, and purify the air, all while achieving significant carbon reductions. This durable product can be used for new constructions and renovations, and, at the end of its lifecycle, broken down and reused, or sent back to nature. Cost-wise, this alternative is in the end comparable to traditional blockwork construction. DISCOVER the full article in our online magazine Constructing a sustainable future SPoTLIGHT
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