Dübendorf ZH – The NEST research building in Dübendorf is undergoing further expansion. The new Urban Mining & Recycling unit is simultaneously an apartment, a material storage and a material lab. All resources used to build the unit must be fully recyclable.
Scientists from several international universities are
involved in the new NEST unit, contributing their
innovative technologies to ensure that all resources used to
construct the unit are fully reusable, recyclable or
compostable.
For example, the structure as well as large parts of the
façade are made of untreated wood. The key here is in the
connections: all of them can be easily undone, with adhesive
connections omitted in favour of plug and screw
connections.
The façade consists of aluminium and copper, both of which can
be melted and recycled according to type. The interior of the unit
features grown wall panels consisting of mushroom-based mycelium,
innovative recycling stones, recycled insulation materials, and
borrowed floor coverings.
By using new “material leasing concepts” such as these, the
unit “calls into question the existing economic concepts prevalent
in the construction industry”, according to a statement.
The official opening of the new NEST unit will take place in
early February 2018, at which time the first two tenants will move
into the residential unit and commence practical tests on the
materials.
NEST, a pilot project for sustainable construction, is the
living lab building of the Federal Laboratories for Materials
Science and Technology (Empa) and the Aquatic Research
Institute (Eawag). New forms of energy and
water management, as well as construction materials of the future,
are being tested in the modular research units. The goal is to
shorten the time to market launch and thus accelerate the
innovation process.