Abstract

The building industry has a significant impact on the environment. The global construction industry is responsible for up to 50% of the climate change, 40% of the energy use globally, and 50% of landfill waste. The material used in building construction have a serious impact on the environment, associated with the extraction, production, transportation, consumption and end of life. The world target is to reduce the industry’s carbon emission with 50% by 2050. 

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This thesis will examine the possibilities of using locally excavated clay as a sustainable building material, by designing and developing a concept to replace an existing bulding element. The thesis is conducted in collaboration with Snøhetta and part of their larger research project examining clay as a building material, which aims to generate expanded knowledge on new ways of using materials like clay with zero emissions as a goal.

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In Gothenburg there is an ongoing building project, Västlänken, where one part is a large scale excavation of clay that will become waste. The thesis aims to use this clay to design a concept through material development and prototyping. Through interviews, observation and research, different building techniques with clay were examined and evaluated.  Based on the evaluation, the concept best suited for development was found to be clay panels. In order to fulfill the purpose the main focus of the project was to conduct a material development through workshops, resulting in physical clay panels. 11 smaller clay panels were manufactured, followed by one larger panel. These panels were then tested, to verify their durability and recycling possibilities.

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The final result of the thesis is a concept of an interior wall built up by clay panels that includes a variety of installation solutions, resulting in a more sustainable solution to replace an interior drywall. The clay panels consist of local materials which includes clay, hemp fibre and sand. This makes the panels sustainable and bio-degradable. The panels are moulded in wooden or metal frames, and air dried. 

The panels, when installed, create a healthy indoor climate with great moisture buffering and air cleanliness. The different clay-mixtures gives different aesthetics, combined with different installation solutions, which provides a large variety of user scenarios. When the panels have served their purpose as part of a wall, they can be recycled or repurposed since it is 100% bio-degradable and able to be re-moulded.