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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
Researchers from the University of Tokyo’s Department of Architecture have developed a promising new kind of concrete that has the potential to reduce emissions from the construction industry. Approximately 7% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions come from the manufacture and use of... View full entry
ICON has released photographs of their completed multi-family homes in Austin, Texas which make use of 3D printed construction methods. The four homes, situated in East Austin, were built for Kansas City developer 3Strands, and designed by Logan Architecture. Image via ICON The ground floors of... View full entry
Scientists at Rice University have published research which proposes repurposing waste tires in the production of concrete. By converting waste from rubber tires into graphene, the researchers believe the new composite can be used to strengthen concrete, and thus reduce the thickness of... View full entry
A team of researchers at Northeastern University has created a sustainable material that can cool buildings without the need for conventional AC systems. Led by associate professor Yi Zheng from the university’s College of Engineering, the team has developed a “cooling paper” made from... View full entry
The cases against concrete and its environmental impacts are prevalent in the AEC community. As a result, numerous attempts and research initiatives have been made to help mitigate the material's environmental impact. Research from firms like Snøhetta and their net-zero concrete to companies like... View full entry
Snøhetta has announced details of their partnership with Norwegian startup Saferock to develop net-zero concrete for the future of construction. To develop the product, the team has looked to exploit the vase residues and waste streams created by the world’s industrial processes. The result... View full entry
Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have published unique research into the idea of rechargeable batteries made from cement. The team, led by Doctor Emma Zhang and Professor Luping Tang at the institution’s Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, believes... View full entry
Materials engineer Nzambi Matee heads a recent start-up called Gjenge Makers, which creates low-cost lightweight building materials from recycled plastic and sand. Beginning with pavers, the company has introduced a product that is stronger and more flexible than concrete, heightening its... View full entry
The inaugural Material Lab Prize is an initiative that aims to foster the study of materials and material reuse. A $1k grant is given to the student that best exemplifies innovative ways to reuse and redesign waste. According to Pratt, "the prize seeks to celebrate and exhibit student work... View full entry
Material researchers from the United States Navy and Texas A&M University have developed a way to create 3d-printed steel that matches the tensile strength capabilities of traditional steel manufacturing. The approach relies on a mathematical model to, as Engineering.com reports, “optimize... View full entry
On a plot of land rented from a rural village on the Malaysian side of the island of Borneo, the group has proved it at small scale. Every six to 12 months, a farmer shaves off one foot of growth from these nickel-hyper-accumulating plants and either burns or squeezes the metal out. After a short purification, farmers could hold in their hands roughly 500 pounds of nickel citrate, potentially worth thousands of dollars on international markets. — The New York Times
A thought-provoking report from Ian Morse of The New York Times highlights a burgeoning approach for harvesting necessary (and toxic) metals like nickel from soil through "hyper-accumulating" plants. Morse checks in researchers from the University of Melbourne who are farming... View full entry
two-dimensional materials will be the linchpin of the internet of everything. They will be “painted” on bridges and form the sensors to watch for strain and cracks. They will cover windows with transparent layers that become visible only when information is displayed. And if his team’s radio wave-absorber succeeds, it will power those ever-present electronics. Increasingly, the future looks flat. — The New York Times
Amos Zeeberg of The New York Times takes a look at the wide world of super-thin materials, a growing class of substances that have the potential to reshape humanity's technological capabilities. The materials include graphene, an incredibly strong and conductive "2-D form of carbon"... View full entry
