wienerberger starts up its first 100% electric kiln

The new facility in Uttendorf, Austria, was officially opened last November and will become fully operational in 2025.

wienerberger’s commitment to green investments continues unabated. The Austrian giant, a leading international provider of innovative solutions for the entire building envelope, remains focused on enhancing production efficiency and reducing environmental impact through significant capital investments and cutting-edge technologies.

Its latest mega-project, GreenBricks, was carried out at its site in Uttendorf, Austria, where it installed the world’s largest industrial electric kiln powered by green energy, alongside a revolutionary system that sets new standards for sustainable brick production. A similar technology, albeit on a considerably smaller scale, was successfully implemented in 2020 at the Belgian plant in Kortemark, which specialises in brick slip production.

Renovation work in Uttendorf began in spring 2022 and was completed in autumn 2024 with the production of the world’s first nearly zero-carbon brick. The new facility, which will become fully operational in 2025, was officially opened last November.

Through the GreenBricks project, wienerberger is developing innovative solutions for eco-friendly, resource-efficient construction and testing them in Uttendorf, which has emerged as a key hub for its sustainable innovation efforts.

The new site, designed to manufacture Porotherm Plan E blocks (the “E” stands for “electric”) has also prioritised the circular economy: materials from demolition have been repurposed to build the plant’s access road, and most of the equipment from the dismantled gas-fired kiln and the existing heat pump will be put back into operation at other wienerberger facilities.

The modernised factory stands as a benchmark for state-of-the-art technology and sustainability and is expected to maintain energy consumption below 200 kWh per ton of bricks.

A €30 million investment

With a length of 90 metres and a daily production capacity of 270 tons of blocks, the new electric kiln alone required an investment of around €30 million. The project was partially funded by the New Energy for Industry (NEFI) programme, with the majority of the investment covered directly by the company.

By running on green electricity, including power from the facility’s own photovoltaic system, wienerberger will cut brick production emissions by around 90% (7,340 tons less CO₂ per year) while reducing overall energy consumption by about a third. To achieve this, the rooftop PV system’s capacity has been doubled to 1,000 kWp, and a five-kilometre electric line has been constructed to transport solar-generated power to the production process.

To further improve energy efficiency, the dryer has been extended by 25% and three new heat pumps have been installed to replace the gas burners. The Uttendorf technical team was already familiar with this technology as a pioneering high-temperature compression heat pump had been installed at the facility in 2019.

The company is also experimenting with new clay mixtures, replacing traditional components such as coal or paper fibres with sawdust, a by-product of the local timber industry which is processed on site ready for reuse.

Thanks to these and other innovations, wienerberger now operates Europe’s most sustainable brick production facility in Uttendorf, setting a new benchmark for the entire construction materials industry.

“We have a responsibility to ensure a future worth living for coming generations. The construction sector plays a key role in this, as buildings account for a third of energy consumption and almost 40% of CO₂ emissions worldwide,” commented Heimo Scheuch. “I am therefore delighted that we have reached a decisive milestone on the road to climate neutrality with the reopening of our modernized brick plant in Uttendorf. Of course, this success only motivates us to go even further. With innovative solutions for affordable and resource-efficient construction, we are making an active contribution to achieving the goals of the European Green Deal.”