The building material clay
Minimal energy consumption
Clay mortar and many other clay building materials can be produced, stored and processed completely undried. The natural moisture content of the raw material in the earth (“earth-moist”) is simply left as it is. An electric motor, driven by solar power for example, homogenizes the raw material and mixes it with sand and straw. It doesn’t get any more minimal than this.
The building material clay
No burning
For mineral binders, the water bound in the structure of the original rock, the so-called crystal water, is first burned out, then the rock is ground into powder. In order to enable plastic processing on the building site, water is added again and the material then hardens on the wall by chemically incorporating this water, turning it back into a type of rock. Clay does not undergo this energy-intensive loop; it hardens simply by drying out.
The building material clay
Low temperature drying
Clay mortar is only dried for some applications, mainly depending on the type of mixing and plastering machines used. However, unlike the firing process, this is possible at low temperatures. Clay mortar does not have to be heated to high temperatures during the production process; it can also be dried in the sun and in the air, using only a little time instead of fossil fuels.
