Clay is a material that occurs naturally all over the world and was formed over millions of years through the weathering of rock material. When it has sufficient water content, clay can be easily molded and then fired to produce high-strength ceramics. This technique was used around 25,000 years ago to create the famous Venus of Věstonice. This was followed by a wide variety of pottery, artistic works, and countless Roman brick buildings with tiles and ceramic floor coverings.
Simple material composition and manufacturing processes
The long cultural history of ceramics in our part of the world is based not least on the fact that the main raw material, clay, is available in almost unlimited quantities and is also easy to extract and process. It is therefore no coincidence that the roots of the Agrob Buchtal and Deutsche Steinzeug companies, which date back to 1755, and their production sites are located precisely where natural clay deposits still exist today.
Contemporary ceramic products do not differ fundamentally from those of previous generations in terms of material composition or manufacturing. Ceramics are still a product made from a few natural ingredients, and even in the age of Industry 5.0, the firing process is based on principles whose simplicity reminds us of baking bread. This impression is not unfounded. The basics of clay processing date back to a time when the manufacture of highly processed, complex (and therefore potentially environmentally harmful) products would have been simply impossible. In today's world, where craftsmanship, regionality, sustainability, and responsible use of resources are becoming increasingly important, we are seeing a growing demand for ceramics. This demand has arisen not despite, but precisely because of this simplicity.
Durable and future-proof – in existing buildings and future structures
Ceramics are extremely durable. This is evidenced by the many ancient architectural monuments as well as the intensively used buildings of our time, such as swimming pools. The key factor is that the material does not wear out. The durability of ceramic elements, based on simple, archaic processes, offers major advantages for sustainable construction. For example, our products contribute significantly to the smooth, functional use of buildings, while at the same time eliminating the need for costly maintenance work. Today's technical means enable us to reproduce almost all older or even historical components with comparatively little effort. This aspect is essential when it comes to renovating or continuing to build existing buildings. In a sense, one could say that ceramic production is "backward compatible"—unlike, for example, the highly complex components used in the computer industry, which become impossible to reproduce after just a few years. Conversely, this means that building concepts developed tomorrow can still be adapted the day after tomorrow in terms of design sustainability.
Innovation and sustainability
Despite thousands of years of comparable material compositions and manufacturing processes, there is still potential for innovation in the field of ceramic materials. Of course, today we have more sophisticated, powerful, and efficient kilns. They enable more flexible production processes and more diverse surfaces.ßer, more powerful, and more efficient kilns. They enable more flexible production processes, more diverse surface treatments, and faster market readiness of prototypes. In addition, they often result in significant savings in energy, materials, and time, which in particular help to reduce CO2 emissions and waste volumes and establish more sustainable work processes. At the same time, however, we are also subject to the limitations and constraints of the market. As a German ceramics manufacturer with eleven million square meters of tile production per year, we unfortunately have little influence on changes in manufacturing technology compared to global players from China or Italy. Therefore, we can hardly exert any pressure on manufacturers—for example, to accelerate the development of innovative kilns that use hydrogen as an energy source.
However, there are innovations in the product area, such as the digital "printing" of glazes. This not only enables precise surfaces, smaller batch sizes, and more tile patterns, which lead to a pleasantly irregular appearance of the wall and floor surfaces, but also allows for a more flexible production process.and more tile patterns, which lead to a pleasantly irregular appearance of wall and floor surfaces. Rather, they simplify the already simple manufacturing process and help us to use even fewer raw materials. The regular future workshops with architects, which provide us with valuable external input, and the numerous collaborations with product designers such as Sebastian Herkner and Markus Bischof play an important role in product development.
Despite all our commitment in this area, however, we must always bear in mind that we have to utilize our four plants to full capacity, where it is not possible to consistently align all processes and products with sustainability aspects overnight. Added to this is the reality that price remains the key criterion in many product areas. At the same time, sustainability has increasingly established itself as a purchasing criterion in recent years. In other words, a new market requirement has emerged as the group of buyers who can and are willing to spend more money on sustainable products is growing steadily—both in the private sector and among commercial and public investors and builders. As a company operating in this area of tension, we must therefore do one thing without neglecting the other.
Material and processing intelligence
We are trying to reduce the amount of material used with newly developed formulas. Whereas standard wall tiles used to be 8 to 10.5 millimeters thick, our stoneware tiles now only need to be 6 millimeters thick without losing any of their strength or precision. In addition to reduced raw material consumption, this means, above all, reduced energy requirements, less packaging material, and lower fossil fuel consumption due to fewer raw material transports and more efficiently packed trucks. In addition, the tiles are lighter in weight and therefore easier for craftsmen to work with. In production, the firing time has been significantly reduced with the help of fast-firing kilns.
Ceramics – versatile, holistic, transformable
Ceramics are not only natural, durable, healthy, and innovative, but also incredibly versatile. Tiles are just as suitable as floor or wall coverings in conventional rooms as they are in all types of wet rooms and swimming pools, and in many different tile sizes, glaze colors, and surface finishes. In addition, ceramics can also be used in facades, for example, as custom-made molded parts or in round or angular shapes in a wide variety of colors and surface structures. The many international projects that are being created with ceramic tiles clearly show that, although they have historical origins, they still have a firm place in modern architecture and offer planners flexible adaptation options and great creative freedom. This scope facilitates the integration of buildings into the urban environment, enables transitionsbetween inside and outside, and support the consideration of user needs. The result: holistic architectural concepts that are sustainable simply because they focus on people and ensure the long-term, optimal use of buildings.
