Building with waste
In Copenhagen’s Ørestad district, architect Niklas Nolsøe is admiring his handiwork. He’s looking at Resource Rows, Lendager Group’s latest project, which has just been completed. The 92 homes in the up-and-coming neighourhood have been snapped up but eco-conscious Danes who are drawn to the architects’ innovative practice: building new homes with old bricks. “People have chosen to live here because of its story, because the buildings show how it’s possible to take care of our society,” he says.
The architecture firm is just one of the many young, ambitious companies that is creating blueprints for how to build in a way that is kinder to the environment but without compromising on looks. Building from scratch can be massively polluting: a new-build can produce some 80,000 tonnes of CO2 and in many countries building construction accounts for nearly 40 per cent of all energy‐related CO2 emissions, as well as much of our waste, while natural resources such as sand, clay and gravel are becoming ever scarcer. Looking at ways to reuse – rather than simply throw away – materials is an appealing proposition for those who want to build better.
