Development and characterisation of lime-based mortars incorporating coffee-based products for integrated seismic and energy retrofitting

The current conditions of the built heritage claim urgent solutions to face the inadequacies of many aged constructions. Recent earthquakes and increasingly extreme climate events have undoubtedly shown that it is not possible to postpone effective interventions to properly handle such issues. However, current retrofitting strategies seem unable to address the critical deficiencies of existing buildings, which regard both energy and structural aspects. Indeed, ordinary interventions in the last few years focused on solving episodic deficits or single issues and missed the opportunity for an integrated refurbishment. Within this context, the study and development of new materials with enhanced properties are of primary importance, also looking at sustainable concerns. In this work, innovative lime-based mortars incorporating sustainable aggregates have been developed and experimentally characterised for future applications in integrated retrofitting solutions. More specifically, coffee grounds subjected or not to a thermal treatment have been employed to improve the thermal performance of the mortar matrices. This waste material is considerably abundant around the world and may answer to the increasing need for more sustainable and renewable resources against the employment of virgin raw materials involving higher environmental impact. In this way, the benefits of integrated retrofitting approaches are further combined with natural-based solutions. The aim is to foster similar studies and applications, showing the great potential and opportunities of such eco-friendly systems that are not being adequately exploited.