Anyone who wants to reduce CO₂ emissions in construction must explore new avenues and can even draw on old methods. This is precisely what DeFries does. "We focus on recycling old bricks, thereby helping to make construction projects sustainable," explains sales manager Jörg Lass. And this is proving popular – both for climate reasons and for aesthetic reasons. After all, reused building materials have a history and a character all of their own. This is especially true because the colours, surfaces and shapes are often the result of old-fashioned craftsmanship and create a natural look. The company obtains antique facing bricks, roof tiles and natural stones from regional demolition sites and from all over Europe. Once the building materials are in place, they are processed at the Garding and Ostrohe sites, where each brick is individually assessed and refurbished. In order to be able to handle larger quantities in the future, an expansion of capacity is planned – which will also benefit the environment: after all, DeFries bricks save around 87 per cent CO₂ compared to newly manufactured bricks. Taking a single-family home as an example, this means a saving of 22 tonnes of bricks and around 7.5 tonnes of CO₂. So much for the facts. In terms of appearance, completed projects such as the Suite & Breakfast Hotel in Büsum are impressive. Another speciality of the company is cutting bricks into brick slips. "In our own cutting facility, all bricks on offer can be cut into brick slips and further processed for various applications," says Lass. This makes it possible to create authentic brick slip façades for indoor and outdoor use. One example is the Lighthouse Hotel & Spa in Büsum. Over 700 m² of historic brick brick slips were used here – in the lobby, library, restaurant and stairwell, among other places. Characterful walls that create a cosy atmosphere and leave a good impression. In many ways.

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