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Rammed Earth improvements

I. SUMMARY INFORMATION
Project
300678
Status
Submitted
Award category
Shaping a circular industrial ecosystem and supporting life-cycle thinking
You want to submit
NEW EUROPEAN BAUHAUS AWARDS: existing completed examples
Project title
Rammed Earth improvements
Full project title
Waste of Raw Materials in The Circular Economy. The case of Rammed Earth building.
Description

This study refers to the use of forest and agricultural waste, such as bushes or tree bark, to improve the performance of compounds and the construction method with which to build with compressed earth in regions or geographical latitudes where, until now, it was possible. With up to 90% of local resources, the objective of this study is to demonstrate the viability of the Circular Economy, taking the construction of architecture with earth as a demonstrative example.

What was the geographical scope of your project?
Cross-border/international
Spain
Does your project address mainly urban or rural issues?
It addresses urban-rural linkages
Does your project refer to a physical transformation of the built environment or other types of transformations?
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment ('hard investment')
Has your project benefited from EU programmes or funds?
No
Has your project won an EU prize?
No
Your project is fully completed?
Yes
When was your project implemented?
How did you hear about the New European Bauhaus Prizes ?
Press
On whose behalf are you submitting the application?
As a representative of an organisation
II. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT
Please provide a summary of your project

At KS Consulting https://kmsstudio.net/ks-consulting we demonstrate that natural raw materials, specifically forest, agricultural and mineral wastes, are viable for producing products and consumer goods for a Local Economy. We reverse the use we make of these wastes so that, instead of throwing them in a landfill or burning them, we use them in the development of high-performance compounds with which to manufacture, for example, compressed earth houses with stable quality and sustainable over time.

Our methodology is aimed at generating local wealth and is based on updating traditional methods to implement them in the three production sectors.

Primary Sector.- Use of natural resources, diagnosing and collecting Natural Raw Material, including marine, forest and mineral waste, exclusively for a pre-established design.

Secondary Sector.- Handling of Natural Raw Material to manufacture specific compounds with which we will manufacture our prototype or demonstrative example.

Tertiary Sector.- Implementation in the market using tools such as a Business Plan (Canvas) and a standard WordPress web page.

Please indicate the main themes of your project with 5 key words
Circular Economy
Sustainable Development Goals
Local Wealth
Sustainable Housing
Cultural Learning
Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of sustainability (including circularity) and how these have been met.
Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context

In archeology we find numerous references to how natural resources were used to produce elements useful to society. Updating traditional methods by improving the production chain reaches a high level of inclusiveness of the different trades that participate in a project, even more so if the project refers to the architectural format, as it is the format that includes the most disciplines and trades in its realization.
This is how the artisans who developed the methods that we update today for the elaboration of the elements that make up architecture, create a blended social network whose dynamics generate communicating vessels between the different sectors of production. In this way, the choice and extraction of natural resources is optimized, the elaboration of compounds with which to build products and consumer goods for their subsequent commercialization in a network of collaborations at a glance that results in the generation of local or regional cultural wealth.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience beyond functionality and how these have been met.
Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context

The visual language of nature is clearly represented in our works. We develop detailed studies that combine texture, color and shape seeking the visual balance with which we will identify ourselves as observers.
Our goal is to bring the visual language of nature to our most intimate environment, in order to find our own space in which we can develop as a person, and also in our most social environment in order to share the same experiences that will help us to unite the social network.
The example that we present tries to build houses using the same earth of the place so that the architecture is integrated into the natural visual environment.
Likewise, we bring the possibility of sculpting, of shaping natural compounds, to a larger social group thanks to the implementation of technological aids that make processes easier and we can express ourselves through form.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of inclusion (equal opportunities, public participation, citizen engagement, co-design, universal design, accessibility, affordability, etc.) and how these have been met.
Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context

We have two lines of action that are clearly compatible. We start creating with our hands in the most austere way possible to recognize what our physical limitations are. During this process we realize that we can manufacture elements without the help of technology, such as bricks, cladding or furniture, on an individual scale. This process does not require a high energy effort, so individuals without or with few monetary resources can access its realization.
Once we have learned to generate elements on a domestic scale, in the process of which we have already learned a lot about the behavior of our natural matter, we can enrich our methods by incorporating different levels of technologies to help production. During this process, individuals who come from professional technical or engineering disciplines capable of developing from the simplest tool to complex machinery are incorporated.
Once both lines of action have merged into one, we will realize that farmers, lumberjacks or miners to mechanics, welders or robotics experts have taken part in the production line. All this thanks to the simplicity and austerity of the methods and the low monetary cost in the acquisition of technology.

Please explain how these three dimensions have been combined in your project.
Please highlight how this approach can be exemplary

Architecture is one of the pillars on which our civilizations are based because it protects us and our creations from the aggressive elements of the atmosphere.
Architectural construction is the professional format that brings together the most demonstrative examples of sustainability, demonstrating that built elements can maintain their quality for several generations with low-specialization maintenance.
In this format, the visual information of our natural environment is captured, integrating it into the ecosystem by avoiding contrasts and accents that distort our vision, or visual reading, of said natural environment.
For both reasons and with the support of simple technological innovations that favor being able to create by mixing various disciplines in the same architectural context, it encourages the participation of groups that until now were oblivious to the achievement or elaboration and commissioning of a design in which the different agents, individuals or groups have participated from the beginning.

Please give information on the results/impacts achieved by your project in relation to the category you apply for

From: https://kmsstudio.net/cases-study-basics

CASE STUDIES DEVELOPED AT NC&T Workshop BY JOAQUIM MELCHOR.

QUESTION:

IS NATURAL MATTER VIABLE TO GENERATE LOCAL WEALTH BY BUILDING STABLE AND SUSTAINABLE FORMS OVER TIME ?.

The references that support this work are, my own field experience in the restoration of modernist heritage, which I consider to be the last time formal art focused on the optimization of matter and its language, and the examples found in archaeological sites .

Our job is to diagnose the characteristics of natural raw materials and mix them looking for their compatibility. It is also our job to design the method that will allow us to produce complex designs as consumer goods. In this context, I put at your disposal examples of cases in which, not only is it demonstrated that natural matter is viable to create stable forms, but that it is possible to generate local wealth in terms of self-sufficiency.

Basic parameters on which to base each study: Km 0, Energy, Specialization, Method.

CASE STUDY 1 – Girona. https://kmsstudio.net/case-study-1-girona

TITLE.- Clay for 3D printing or Additive Manufacturing.

Problem to solve. Improve the living conditions and habitability of the inhabitants in the refugee camps by replacing the tents with non-ephemeral buildings with stable quality over time. This study also provides a solution in catastrophic areas.

CASE STUDY 2 – Malaga. https://kmsstudio.net/case-study-2-malaga

TITLE.- FOREST WASTE OF CORK IN NAUTICAL.

Problem to solve. The manufacture of floating artifacts is based almost exclusively on compounds derived from hydrocarbons or wood.

CASE STUDY 3 – Castellón. https://kmsstudio.net/case-study-3-castellon

TITLE.- Rammed Earth Wall. Tradition and evolution.

Problem to solve. If we study what is the best way to protect ourselves from the inclemencies of nature, it is easy to conclude that a cave is the best option......

Please explain how citizens and civil society were involved in the in the design and/or implementation of the project.
Please also explain the benefits that derived from their involvement.

An important characteristic as a consequence of executing the Circular Economy precepts at a local or regional level is that logistics does not depend on large corporations, becoming the responsibility of local agents who, although they already operated in a global market, in this new context they can develop more detailed and considerate protocols with the three sectors of production.
Likewise, by shortening the distance between the different logistical and commercial interests, it is easier to design exclusively for local use, so that the participation in the concept of all the groups to which the fabrications are directed becomes essential to carry out a coherent design with the use and function of the manufactured item.
For example, the interior architecture designer can easily start a conversation with the members of the first production sector to choose the material that he wants to see in his design put into service. This situation is almost impossible in a global market in which the interests remain in the possession of agents external to the specific Local or Regional Economy.

Please explain what kind of global challenges the project addressed by providing local solutions

In general, the problem that we encounter at the time of putting our solutions into service is a product and service standardization regulation that is very suitable for a global economy directed to large corporations. This regulation leaves civil liability in an "alegal" situation (legal but not standardized) so that the system is vulnerable to any design or manufacturing error.
Likewise, this regulation is very demanding in the technical parameters necessary for the legalization of the small industry that would manage a local market, so the monetary investment is very high, which prevents many initiatives from being curtailed from the beginning.
To solve this problem, it is necessary to legislate in favor of small economies that allow, for example, that small companies can collect and process the waste generated by nature at different levels of environmental catastrophes without waiting for a slow state bureaucracy that favors the seriousness of the event, and a subsidy system that recognizes small amounts, for example, in the last consultation carried out at the end of 2021, state subsidies for industry were managed from €350,000 when a small industry or professional only needs around €80,000 leaving the operation to the credit system.

Please highlight the innovative character of the project as compared to mainstream practices in the field of the project.

The innovation of this project is based on two aspects.
An innovation refers to the cultural and social aspect that is the empowerment of the individual before large corporations that do not have the waist or the flexibility to assess local cases. This situation results in the improvement of the social network by generating trust between neighbors united by a common and local interest.
Another innovation is technical, referring to the disruption that our solutions mean in current production chains, very accustomed to the use of hydrocarbon derivatives. The introduction of forest, agricultural and mineral wastes in the production chains sometimes represents a reduction of up to 90% of plastics as filler. In addition, the energy footprint decreases considerably by also reducing the logistics required for the import and export of materials by having local raw material.

Please explain to the potential of transferring the projects’ results or learnings to other interested parties and contexts.
Please provide clear documentation, communication of methodology and principles in this context.

Our solutions can be exported to any civilization or society that has natural resources, which means that they can be exported to different geographical areas and latitudes since our compounds can be designed to withstand extreme cold or hot, wet or dry environments.
For this we have developed a tool "TheKSFactory" https://kmsstudio.net/theksfactory that brings together a clear technical action protocol.

At TheKSFactory we develop high-performance compounds based on the use of up to 90% of marine, forest and natural mineral waste, destined for the development and production of local consumer goods, or “km0” according to a pre-established design.

TheKSFactory operates as a trademark of KS (Km's Studio), to franchise in the required global geographic area. Through this franchise, we offer support to companies or professional groups interested in implementing the solutions promoted in KS (Km's Studio).

Is an evaluation report or any relevant documentation available?
If you would like to upload additional documentation, please upload it or write it below
III. UPLOAD PICTURES
IV. VALIDATION
By ticking this box, you declare that you are not in in one or more of the exclusion situations foreseen under Article 136 of the Financial Regulation.
Yes
By ticking this box, you declare that all the information provided in this form is factually correct, that you assume sole liability in the event of a claim relating to the activities carried out in the framework of the contest, that the proposed project has not been proposed for the New European Bauhaus Prizes 2022 in any other category or strand and that it has not been subject to any type of investigation, which could lead to a financial correction because of irregularities or fraud.
Yes
By submitting your application, you guarantee that you are the author or have the rights to proceed with the application and to authorise the use of the project, concept, idea, and that you have obtained any necessary consents, licenses or assignments from third parties and included copyright notices when necessary.
Yes
By submitting your application, you understand that all the applications that meet the eligibility requirements will be shared for the purposes of the selection processes, and notably published on the secured platform https://prizes.new-european-bauhaus.eu/ and for the purposes of the promotion of these on the New European Bauhaus website and/or other European Commission communication channels. In this sense, the applications would be widely available. Applicants should ensure that they present their ideas, concepts, projects, in such a way that they could be shared without giving rise to intellectual property related concerns. If your submission is selected as one of the finalists, it will additionally be shared for the purpose of the public vote that will take place. The European Union is granted a licence to use and share your application with the general public and the official external experts for the purposes of the selection process, including the voting. The European Union has the right to use the images and visual materials and the description provided in the application for communication purposes related to the contest and beyond. Rights granted comprise the right to store, reproduce, display, publish and communicate or distribute copies in electronic or digital format, including, but not only, through the internet. Unless you have disclosed your name, the European Commission has no obligation to share your name when using or disseminating your contribution to the public. The European Union cannot be held responsible in case any submitted idea, project, concept is found to infringe third parties rights. The European Union shall be neither responsible for the use that third parties may do of the applications or related content.
Yes

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