The exhibition Ode to the fronteers featured a scale model of the biobased house: The Nature Building Kit. In addition, the results of a study with TNO were shared. TNO investigated how nine innovative materials and building systems from ‘The Exploded View – Beyond Building’ can contribute to CO2 and nitrogen reduction. The results and insights obtained were presented during the exhibition. Lucas De Man, curator of the Embassy of Circular and Biobased Building, said of the exhibition: “With ‘An Ode to the Frontrunners’, we want to show what is already possible in the field of sustainable construction. At the same time, we are also able to reveal the challenges we are still facing, for example in scaling up”.
Read more about the ideas behind the Embassy of Circular & Biobased Building in this interview with curator Lucas De Man.
There are plenty of options. Affiliated with the Embassy of Circular & Biobased Building are various designers working on making our living environment more sustainable and circular. They focus on a variety of projects ranging from very practical plans to extremely abstract ideas. For example, Scape Agency produces a bioreceptive alternative to concrete. CO2-absorbing mosses grow on the concrete, making the environment more green instead of grey. Within TNO’s Field Lab for Zero-Emission Building, the idea arose to use dredged materials from waterways as a circular sediment. This material can replace finite raw materials such as sand.
Sustainable materials are also available for the facades of homes. Strotec, for example, makes a biobased and prefab facade system that consists mainly of straw. The system ensures a healthy indoor climate and it stores CO2. Exie’s insulation material, which is primarily composed of hemp, does the same.