Heidelberg Cement
Ecological and esthetic: new environmental education center in Mainz
The new environmental education center UmweltBildungs-Zentrum (UBZ) in Mainz, Germany, serves as an example of what’s possible with ecological architecture. “From the cradle to the grave, a building’s life begins with the production of raw materials and ends with recycling, or at the landfill,” says Holger Ries from Ries + Ries, the Budenheim-based architecture firm which planned the project. “Our approach was to create a building that won’t be a burden on future generations.” This approach has been realized by using building materials that are biodegradable or can be unproblematically...
