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oyster mushrooms
Image by beauty_of_nature from Pixabay

Can we create 'living buildings' made of fungi? And could they help us adapt to climate change?

A team of Vancouver academics is spanning the boundary between microbiology and architecture, thanks to oyster mushrooms and other common fungi. It could help construction's environmental impact, and help with insulation and even air quality.
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buliding materials
Image by 652234 from Pixabay

CO2 carbon and construction: Recycling materials could cut emissions

New buildings account for more than one in every 10 tons of carbon emissions worldwide, forcing the industry to change its ways.
fungus carbon sustainability building
Big Stock Photo

Growing fungus in low carbon, sustainable building materials

Two new studies show how a lightweight construction material and a fire-retardant, both made from fungi, could be safe, sustainable alternatives to the chemicals, foams, and plastics in our homes.

white paint cools roofs

To ease global warming, the whitest of paints

Scientists at Purdue have created a white paint that, when applied, can reduce the surface temperature on a roof and cool the building beneath it.
embodied carbon building emissions
Photo by Tolu Olubode on Unsplash

Embodied carbon: An increasing focus of building emissions

In Massachusetts and elsewhere, advocates and policymakers are increasingly turning their attention to “embodied carbon” in building materials.
A notorious invasive plant shows promise in green construction

A notorious invasive plant shows promise in green construction

Imported from Japan in 1876, kudzu strangles forests and farmland throughout the South. Could it build cities instead?
structure deconstruction recycling practices

Why cities want old buildings taken down gently

A growing number of US cities are adopting “deconstruction” policies that involve taking structures apart by hand in the name of sustainability.
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