Maria Stefanidou

The Laboratory of Building Materials (LBM), School of Civil Engineering AUTH, is one of the fundamental Laboratories of the Faculty of Engineering AUTH, functioning from its establishment. The multidisciplinary research team consists of scientists from various fields, conducting research on the development and testing of building materials for contemporary and historic structures. During the last 30 years, LBM focuses on the application of the principles of sustainability in the building sector, corresponding to the needs of protection of cultural heritage, apply cyclic economy, as well as of energy and natural resources savings. Under this prism, LBM has developed a methodology for the selection of suitable raw materials, as well as the development of alternative, low cost and environmentally friendly building materials that could be applied in contemporary and historic structures. The benefits arising from the application of such materials are multilevel, including: \- economic aspects: promotion of low-cost building materials, since alternative raw materials (i.e. industrial by-products, waste, recycled) are exploited \- technical: development of efficient final products with enhanced properties, tailor made for specific applications \- environmental: minimization of the negative effects of raw materials (binding agents, aggregates) extraction and processing, preserving natural resources and energy consumption.