Ekotekt company, which designs and builds houses with the help of a large-scale 3D robot printer, moved recently to PAKRI Science and Industry Park. Ekotekt uses oil shale ash in construction instead of cement, which means that houses are erected with a significantly smaller environmental footprint. The company is a focus customer of PAKRI green technology and facilitates the recovery of the region’s economy.
Today, Ekotekt is building the first demo house scheduled to be completed before summer. “Cement production accounts for 8% of total CO2 emissions. We will replace it with oil shale ash, which is one of the biggest environmental challenges in Estonia. In addition, we also use coal ash and steel scrap, “explained Abhishek Kumar, founder and architect of Ekotekt.
The production costs of a 3D printed house are 20-30% lower than using traditional construction techniques. In addition, according to Kumar, such houses have significantly higher energy efficiency, which helps owners save costs and at the same time they are more environmentally friendly.
When the company starts operating at full capacity, it will be possible to produce annually 50 three-room houses with a size of about 90 square meters. Ekotekt’s ambition is to embrace the world market but in reality it starts from the Nordic countries, where the company has both experience and a contact network.
“Ekotekt reached PAKRI through the Cleantech ForEst program, where they develop their ideas. They are very suitable for our science park with their environmentally friendly production. PAKRI, for its part, can contribute by providing various support services, and also PAKRI’s autonomous energy network is important enabling the production company to control energy costs, “said Enn Laansoo, Jr., CEO of PAKRI.
Ecotect founder Abhishek Kumar has worked as an architect in Stockholm, London and Denmark. He came to Estonia in February 2019, where he met his business partner Ville Hyyryläinen and started developing his business idea. Ekotekt joined the Cleantech ForEST program and with its idea is running on ClimateLaunchpad.
PAKRI Science and Industry Park has 65 hectares of uniquely smart industrial city under constant construction. Toda, in over 20,000 square meters of the production and development area in various condition, 27 production companies operate as well as more than 35 customers use the green technology business services in cooperation with Tehnopol. Renewable energy is produced in the park from the sun as well as from the wind.
For the third year in a row, PAKRI holds the silver level quality label of a responsible company, being the first responsible industrial park in Estonia.