The urgent need to reduce carbon emissions and achieve carbon neutrality in the built environment has become a global challenge and requires significant and radical changes in the construction industry. Bio-based materials are gaining attention due to their environmental benefits, most significantly their potential to store biogenic carbon, serving as ‘carbon sinks’ and reducing the overall building emissions. This is combined with their biodegradability, renewability, and non-toxicity, minimizing resource depletion and waste generation, while contributing to a high-quality indoor environment. However, building with these materials today has become challenging and effortful

The course explores relevant questions regarding a possible paradigm shift in the construction sector towards local and bio-based materials. What would be the size of a territory that is able to self-sustain the demand for such materials, considering both new construction and retrofit? What is the limit for transport distances for a construction to be considered ‘local’? To answer these questions, the material production cycles should be explored from resource availability to manufacturing and distribution, rethinking supply and demand chains in a circular economy approach. This is to be associated, on one hand, with the assessment of the local knowledge and skills (of the industry, designers, craftspeople, etc.); and, on the other, with analysis of local the building regulations and, if it is the case, with their amendment so to allow the employment of natural and bio-based materials – some of which may have been commonplace in local building traditions.

In presenza

Presentazione orale

P.D.2-2 - Marzo