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Construction is underway in Houston on the first multistory 3D printed building in the United States. Designed by two assistant professors of architecture at Cornell’s College of Architecture, Art and Planning (AAP), the two-story, single-family home merges 3D printed... View full entry
A professor of architecture from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte has been awarded a $1 million grant for the development of windows that incorporate screens of microalgae. Professor Kyoung Hee Kim, who has spent decades researching the topic, believes her “biochromic windows”... View full entry
Engineers at RMIT University have developed a method to use disposable personal protective equipment (PPE) to make concrete stronger, providing an innovative way to significantly reduce pandemic-generated waste. [...]
Joint lead author, Dr Rajeev Roychand, said there was real potential for construction industries around the world to play a significant role in transforming this waste into a valuable resource.
— Science Daily
According to the RMIT researchers, an incredible 54,000 tons of PPE waste has been produced daily since the start of the pandemic. "With a circular economy approach, we could keep that waste out of landfill while squeezing the full value out of these materials to create better products &mdash... View full entry
Researchers at MIT have developed a type of 3D printed material that can sense how it is moving and interacting with its surrounding environment. The 3D printed lattice materials contain networks of air-filled channels, allowing engineers to detect when bending, squeezing, or stretching of the... View full entry
A team of Washington State University (WSU) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researchers has discovered a method to create stronger cement by putting nanoparticles from shrimp shells into cement paste. The innovation could lead to reduced seafood waste and lower carbon emissions from... View full entry
A research team out of the University of Virginia (UVA) has developed a new innovative and sustainable approach to building that utilizes the power of 3D printing to create structures made of soil implanted with seeds. The team consists of Ji Ma, an assistant professor of materials science... View full entry
A quartet of undergraduate engineering students at the American University in Cairo has developed self-luminescent concrete they say is a possible offset to the material’s poor environmental performance. Working under the stewardship of Professor Mohamed Nagib AbouZeid, the students were able to... View full entry
Prometheus Materials, a Colorado-based developer of zero-carbon building materials, has announced the securing of $8 million in funding from investors including Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, The Autodesk Foundation, and the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund. The funds form part of an effort by... View full entry
Research undertaken by NASA has found that rooftop gardens can offer substantial temperature reductions in cities during summer months. In a study published in the journal Sustainable Cities and Society, the group used satellite imagery to measure temperatures at three rooftop gardens in Chicago... View full entry
A team of students and faculty at Virginia Tech has completed an innovative observation tower in rural Virginia. The design and delivery of the project saw the development and certification of a new custom timber product, off-site prefabrication, and the discovery of the ruins of a historic... View full entry
The University of Virginia (UVA) campus has become the showground for an array of creative structures built from natural materials. The Biomaterial Building Exposition (Bio-Build Expo for short) was organized by the university’s architecture school and showcases the possibilities of organic... View full entry
Chemical engineering researchers at MIT have announced the creation of a new material that is “stronger than steel and as light as plastic, and can be easily manufactured in large quantities.” The material, for which the team has filed two patents, may one day be used as a structural material... View full entry
Sustainability startup ByFusion has developed what they describe as “the first construction-grade building material made entirely of recycled, and often un-recyclable, plastic waste.” Named ByBlock, the interlocking blocks use the same principles as LEGO with protrusions on the top surface... View full entry
ETH Zurich has unveiled details of their latest investigation into advanced building materials in construction. The project, titled FoamWork, explores how foam 3D printing can assist in creating concrete formworks. The initiative saw ETH Zurich’s Digital Building Technologies team work in... View full entry
If there’s one thing that 2021 has shown us, it is that, for better or for worse, the world is evolving faster than ever. While this is a natural phenomenon, it’s apparent that the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the level of uncertainty the world faces. Sociopolitical and... View full entry