Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English en
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Mimicking nature to valorise earth as a building resource

Objective

The earth below our feet may be the solution to decarbonise the building sector. This idea underpins the NAT-BUILD project, whose goal is to devise nature-inspired earth-based technologies to minimise the environmental impact of dwellings throughout their life cycle from construction to operation and end-of-life. Earth-based building technologies can reduce (i) depletion of raw natural resources, (ii) embodied energy for manufacture and transportation of materials, (iii) operational energy for indoor air conditioning and (iv) end-of life energy for disposal of demolition waste. In changing climatic environments, the adaptive water storage capacity of earth can also be exploited to design flexible green roofs and urban drainage systems. Despite their potential, earth technologies are not widely used in mainstream construction because of mechanical and durability concerns and because of the lack of robust methodologies for quantifying natural resources and carbon savings. NAT-BUILD will overcome these technical barriers and unlock the transformative potential of earth-based technologies as a sustainable building asset. This will be achieved through a nature-mimicking approach, combining experimental, numerical and analytical techniques in a multidisciplinary and intersectoral environment. As sustainable building practices gain momentum across Europe, there is a pressing demand for skilled professionals capable of addressing future challenges in civil engineering. To meet this need, NAT-BUILD will train a cohort of 15 Doctoral Candidates (DCs), each enrolled in a 3-year doctoral programme. The research work is divided into 15 interlinked activities corresponding to the PhD projects of each DC. The DCs will acquire a wide portfolio of skills, including research, transferable, innovation, outreach and inclusivity skills, through a unique integrated training programme.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

This project has not yet been classified with EuroSciVoc.
Be the first one to suggest relevant scientific fields and help us improve our classification service

You need to log in or register to use this function

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-DN - HORIZON TMA MSCA Doctoral Networks

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-DN-01

See all projects funded under this call

Coordinator

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI GENOVA
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 1 127 020,32
Address
VIA BALBI 5
16126 GENOVA
Italy

See on map

Region
Centro (IT) Lazio Roma
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

No data

Participants (10)

Partners (9)

My booklet 0 0