Towards an eco-compatible origin of construction materials. case study: Gypsum

Abstract

To be considered “sustainable”, a city must be built with materials whose extraction and processing are not very aggressive with the environment and its ecological footprint palliated as much as possible. One of the materials most used in construction is the plaster. The gypsum outcrops, although traditionally have been poorly valued, have geomorphological and especially floristic values. In fact, to the point that the bushes that are developed on them have been declared priority habitats No. 1520 of the EU. Given this dichotomy exploitation/conservation, intelligent management is imposed that tries to harmonize both interests: limit the number of mines and when they finish their activity, restore them. When restoring a quarry, avoid trying to “improve” nature and use highly artificial methods. We must comply with the modest (and at the same time very difficult task) that over the years the quarry resembles (biomimetics) the ecosystem there before the extractive work. This ecosystem is known as baseline ecosystem and must be adopted from the beginning. For a correct restoration, 14 points of good practice are proposed. Although focused on the flora (which gives structure to the escosystem) these do not forget landscape, microbiological, ornithological aspects, etc. In addition there is another area of work: education, we must make society aware of the values that be present in the gypsum outcrop.