Summary

Loam construction has an old tradition – in many ancient cultures impressive examples of loam architecture were built; some of them still exist today. It is only in the recent past – approx. since World War II – that loam construction has been driven out of the industrial building sector. Today it is only very seldom used in Europe as a niche product in the handicraft sector. The old building material loam, its ecological and healthy properties, especially the improved living quality, is re-discovered by many architects and house builders, the demand is increasing steadily. Unfortunately there are no industrial building systems for loam construction available on the market at the moment. The market is restricted to some small providers of loam products, primarily loam plaster. WIENERBERGER AG, the world market leader in bricks, has now reacted to this development and has initiated a research project together with Lower Austria’s Green Building Cluster and other partners from industry, science and building practice, which has the target to develop an industrial building system on the basis of unfired clay blocks to reach a highest possible level of sustainability