Two QUT researchers are part of a global innovation network meeting in Denmark this month to accelerate the use of marine-based bio-materials, such as algae, seagrass and shellfish, as scalable solutions for low-carbon and future-focused building materials.
Professor Tim Schork and Associate Professor Muge Fialho Leandro Alves Teixeira, both from the School of Architecture and Built Environment, are members of the collaborative global research and industry network, Building with Blue Biomass, which is examining ways blue biomass can help reduce the carbon footprint of buildings and accelerate the building industry's transition towards circular and renewable bio-based materials.
"Amidst our global ecological challenges, growing housing crisis and resource scarcity, the urgency to find sustainable materials for the built environment is paramount," Professor Schork said.
"The built environment is one of the largest producers of carbon dioxide, and one of the largest consumers of energy and resources in the world, significantly contributing to the overconsumption of our world's resources.
"A net-zero carbon future depends on decarbonising buildings, however, this cannot be achieved using only the conventional building materials of today. Instead, it will require a shift to a circular bioeconomy in the building industry."
The Building with Biomass Network is a two-year project to identify state-of-the-art practices in Australia, Denmark and the UK as well as the opportunities and impediments.
Associate Professor Teixeira said there was significant potential in using locally sourced biogenic materials to create the buildings of the future.
"Construction consumes approximately 40 per cent of all raw materials and produces 40 per cent of the world's carbon emissions," she said.
"Transforming locally-sourced renewable biogenic resources into new materials and high added-value architectural products that can sequester carbon in the built environment requires interdisciplinary research."
The Building with Blue Biomass network involving QUT researchers Professor Schork and Dr Teixeira is led by the Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design, Conservation and includes 3XN/ GXN Architects, the Danish Technical University, Arup, University College London, and the University of Queensland.
Associate Professor Paul Nicholas, from the Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design, Conservation and head of Building with Blue Biomass said our future building culture would be one of bio construction and bio renovation.
"Marine-based materials and advanced manufacturing should play a key role, but we need to consolidate knowledge and translate research to speed up implementation," Associate Professor Nicholas said.
Professor Schork said Queensland was a national leader in aquaculture, which presented opportunities to repurpose blue-biomass.
"The Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games is set to be the world's first climate-positive Olympics, and building with blue biomass could be part of the means of achieving that," he said.
The Building with Blue Biomass global research network aims to access the latest research knowledge and innovation opportunities; identify, from research and industry, the required next steps and opportunities; and catalyse new research applications at the interfaces of architecture, engineering, material science, advanced manufacturing and biomaterials.
The meeting in Copenhagen this month is the first delegation visit of the research network. Early next year, QUT and UQ will jointly host the network in Queensland to explore Australian research innovations and market opportunities in this area, before meeting again in the UK at the end of 2025. The outcomes of the findings will be shared in a white paper.
"The project builds on our long-lasting close collaboration with the Royal Danish Academy and will help accelerate the building industry's transition towards circular biogenic material," Professor Schork said.
"I am very much looking forward to this upcoming delegation visit to Copenhagen, which will provide us with critical insights and new knowledge of the Danish context."
