Biomass and Industrial Waste-based Printable Materials for Circular and Carbon-Free Construction

The construction sector is one of the world’s largest contributors to materials utilization, energy consumption, and climate change. The manufacturing of construction materials alone accounts for 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions per year. Another key challenge facing the resource-intensive construction industry is the recovery of materials at the end of their service life. The construction industry accounts for 75% of raw materials used for manufacturing in the U.S. As the world’s population living in urban areas is expected to increase by 2.5 billion people by 2050, the need for the construction of buildings and infrastructure to accommodate this growth in urban population is urgent. As such, addressing the carbon footprint of the construction sector and minimizing the environmental impact of raw material demand is crucial to mitigate the contributions to climate change effects. 

This project explores the development of convergent research ideas in three focus areas: carbon-free and printable construction materials, optimal design and manufacturing, and circularity assessment. The efforts in each of these research areas will be critical to incorporating the fundamental principles of circularity at each stage of 3D printing construction and developing strong proposals for external support. Irrespective of the increase in materials pricing, the United States uses more than a million tons of building materials per day and the country needs significant efforts to support a circular economy within this sector. It's expected that the integration of 3D printing with industrial and bio-based materials will allow to bring in the necessary infrastructural changes needed to reduce the environmental impacts of the construction industry.