LORENZ is committed to local, national to international initiatives to manifest wood straw construction as a natural and climate-positive alternative in the public consciousness. Climate protection and high material availability are a plus for short delivery routes and active CO2 removal with this type of construction.
Across Europe and the country, LORENZ is involved in the trade associations Fachverband Strohballenbau Deutschland e.V. (FASBA) and European Straw Building Association.
Strohbau Vereinigung Europas
Likewise, LORENZ is a driving force at industry-related events when it comes to energy-efficient buildings, sustainable architecture or ecological construction. Together with customers, professional and cooperation partners, we strive for ecological innovation in building.
LORENZ has also set itself the goal of supporting a wide range of local (climate) activities and initiatives (e.g. Klimabündnis Taucha, Bauzirkel Leipzig, Klimaneutrale Stadt Leipzig) and providing impetus for ecological building in its immediate surroundings. As a co-initiator of the Klimabündnis Taucha (Taucha Climate Alliance), LORENZ moderates all activities and links players and activities with each other. At the Nordsächsiche Tag des Ehrenamtes (North Saxon Volunteer Day), LORENZ announced its commitment to local associations. One of the first results was the campaign to support the next generation of firefighters in the area with teaching materials.
LORENZ strives to sensitize local politicians (Member of the Bundestag Dr. Christiane Schenderlein, OB Taucha Tobias Meier) for climate-friendly building. In 2021, LORENZ hosted the 2nd Sustainability Summit initiated by the CDU North Saxony, where the Saxon Minister of State Thomas Schmidt for Regional Development was a guest.
Research institutions in the region (e.g. HTWK Leipzig, DBFZ Leipzig) work with us. We train local architects, students, carpenters – i.e. potential sales partners. The declared goal is to use materials wisely and to increase the efficiency of the products (e.g. as insulation). New product approaches are realized with the local economy.
Straw building references with LORENZ get attention. That is why we make an effort to present the construction projects in the media. A building built with straw can still be supplied with thermal energy for up to 70 years until it comes close to the ecological balance of an identical solid construction*. The choice of building material is therefore in itself an important contribution to meeting the climate policy framework (climate-neutral building sector EU-wide by 2050). Experts are becoming increasingly aware that this alternative exists. Now it is a matter of reducing fears of contact through simple applicability.
All company sites in Taucha, Kamenz and Gliebutow are supplied with green electricity to reduce the CO2 impact of company operations. Despite the positive CO2 balance of its actions, LORENZ continues to set environmental goals to reduce CO2 and waste. Since 2022, straw waste has been pressed into briquettes as part of a zero-waste strategy. To keep supply chains short, the straw is sourced specifically from local farms.
In the commercial area, paperless offices and resource-saving use in promotional activities (e.g. use of eco-materials, sales tours by public transport or electromobility) are specified.
So far, 450,000 kg of CO2 have been sequestered in ecological construction projects through our eco-balance climate-positive products.
The City of Oberhausen has created Europe’s largest municipal straw insulation project with our products.
Building with straw” is reported nationwide due to LORENZ references.
From returns and inquiries, reports about reference projects from the scene, LORENZ can note an increasing interest in ecological building in its environment.
This impulse also led to the VERDA-Haus (modern, high-energy eco-house) in cooperation with the Saxony-Anhalt-based EEHD GmbH.
The product idea of a solar-active straw façade was honored with the promotion award for “renewable raw materials”.
The Dresden architect Valérie Madoka Naito was able to win second place in the “Bauweise” competition of the “SachsenKreuz+ e.V.” association with a straw pavilion supported by LORENZ.
Taucha was the winner of the eku-zukunftspreis of the Free State of Saxony in 2021 thanks to the climate alliance.