STONECORE · Stone conservation for the refurbishment of buildings

STONECORE is a project dealing with the development and application of nano materials for consolidation and conservation of natural and artificial stone. Six SMEs, four universities, one public research organisation and one public body from seven countries have jointed together in order to find a new approach for refurbishment. The idea is to develop and test nano materials compatible to the components originally used during construction together with non destructive stone assessment methods. Colloidal sols of calcium hydroxide, calcium / barium carbonate, calcium sulphate or related compounds will be in the centre of interest. These materials will be used also as new, biozide free agents for mildew removal. The project will lead from laboratory investigations and small scale applications on trial areas to the use of the developed materials on selected real objects. It is a project that aims on knowledge based refurbishment of buildings as well as monuments of cultural heritage and that combines natural sciences and the art of conservation. Thus, main subjects of STONECORE are: • The development of nano materials compatible to natural and artificial stone for refurbishment of buildings, monuments, fresco, plaster and mortar, • The development and test of suitable technologies for their application and • The development and test of non destructive assessment methods (such as georadar) in combination with traditional assessment methods (SEM, XRD, drilling resistance and other). The project will have duration of three years. The results will be presented to the public and interested companies in three workshops, in which interested parties are invited to test the developed materials and techniques on own objects. The project contributes to the EC objectives by the development of materials and technologies allowing a reduction of the material and energy consumption during refurbishment, creating new business opportunities for SMEs and protecting the cultural heritage.