Criaterra’s patent protected technology is targeted to impact the built environment by introducing precast products, including tiles and masonry blocks, that are manufactured in clean, low carbon emission processes. Criaterra’s 2-year innovation project expanded the product portfolio, industrialized the production method and reduced production costs, achieving competitive pricing and access to a broad market. During the project, Criaterra’s award-winning zero waste, fully circular tiles were successfully licensed for manufacturing and sales in Europe.
The RE-CREATE project accelerated the introduction of disruptive change in the area of construction by developing solutions to one of the biggest and most urgent climate challenges in the building industry: the process of kiln firing of materials, a process that is required in the manufacture of cement and ceramic products for buildings. Because of this process, the building industry is one of the biggest carbon emitters. Cement alone, which is the binder used to make concrete, is the source of 7.5% of global emissions.
Through a cross-disciplinary scientific approach, Criaterra developed an innovative low temperature patent-protected process for manufacturing products with constructive strength and outstanding insulation properties. The RE-CREATE project advanced Criaterra’s first product line of indoor wall tiles from TRL6 to TRL8, introducing functional, scalable and economical building materials designed to support the transformation of the building sector into a resource efficient, circular economy. The project also significantly advanced Criaterra’s innovative technological platform, which is the foundation for many future low-carbon, circular and nearly zero-energy precast materials, including exterior tiles (cladding) and masonry blocks. Criaterra products meet or exceed the constructive properties of widely used products, but Criaterra products do not contain any synthetic binder or cement, instead they contain Criaterra’s proprietary bio-binder.
To quantify the impact, Criaterra products are:
• 90% energy saving
• 92% GHG emissions saving for tiles, and over 80% savings for masonry blocks.
• 70% upcycled
• Zero-waste
The climate benefits are dramatic. First, at the manufacturing stage, pollution is reduced in 2 ways:
1-The current dependence on fossil fuel combustion to reach extremely high kiln temperatures can be avoided. Criaterra manufacturing saves 90% of the energy and can be powered from renewable sources.
2-The current harmful process of burning off the carbon that is naturally embedded in the raw materials, releasing it into the atmosphere, is avoided entirely. Avoiding the calcination process from the kiln firing saves 60% of the carbon emissions created in production of cement.
Criaterra products have many additional climate benefits. Because they are highly insulative, providing 6x the insulation of concrete blocks, they reduce the energy required to heat and cool buildings, over the buildings’ lifetime. At the end of the life cycle, Criaterra products are fully circular, without any downgrading. The products can be reclaimed and made into new Criaterra products. This reduces the depletion of natural resources for new production materials, and reduces waste, another big climate problem. Criaterra products can be reintegrated into the ground as natural materials that are compatible with agriculture and growth.
Criaterra products are suitable for industrial manufacturing at competitive costs.
