Engineering Biology for Climate & Sustainability
Materials Production & Industrial Processes Goal:

Reduce the embodied carbon in the built environment.

Current State-of-the-Art

The manufacturing of building materials is energy and carbon intensive – steel and cement productions already account for roughly 13% of global GHG emissions and are projected to grow in the coming decades.1Fennell, P., Driver, J., Bataille, C., & Davis, S. J. (2022). Cement and steel—Nine steps to net zero. Nature, 603(7902), 574–577. View Publication. Engineering biology could enable the production of sustainable building materials to significantly reduce the amount of energy and emissions required of the built environment. By engineering biocementing bacteria to grow faster and at-scale, it may be possible to eventually replace building materials like bricks and concrete with biobased alternatives, which would consume much less energy and lower emissions. To achieve this, more research is needed to increase the growth rate and ‘curing’ time of the primary biomass-generating microbe in microbial concretes and to improve the structural, load-bearing properties of biocement by enabling the engineering of crystalline structure of biocement. Bacteria capable of biocementation have already been used to repair cracks in concrete structures.2Zhang, J., Zhou, A., Liu, Y., Zhao, B., Luan, Y., Wang, S., Yue, X., & Li, Z. (2017a). Microbial network of the carbonate precipitation process induced by microbial consortia and the potential application to crack healing in concrete. Scientific Reports, 7(1), 14600. View Publication. To increase the efficiency and scale of biocementation, we need to develop a more advanced understanding on biodeposition of calcium carbonate, advance genetic toolbox of naturally occurring calcium carbonate depositors, and engineer and optimize biosynthetic carbonate deposition pathways. Similarly, microbes that secrete other compounds like iron could be used to make self-repairing surface coatings.

Biomaterials can also be engineered to attain physical and structural properties that enable them to replace existing carbon-intensive materials. For example, engineering biology could be used to make wood stronger, enabling its use in more structures as an alternative to materials that embody more carbon.3Strain, L. & FAIA. (2022). 10 steps to reducing embodied carbon—AIA. View Publication. For example, trees could be engineered to produce denser wood for construction. Additionally, microbes could be engineered to produce cellulose and be used to repair and strengthen rotten wood. Mycelium-based products also have been successfully produced with desirable morphology and mechanical properties.4Haneef, M., Ceseracciu, L., Canale, C., Bayer, I. S., Heredia-Guerrero, J. A., & Athanassiou, A. (2017). Advanced Materials From Fungal Mycelium: Fabrication and Tuning of Physical Properties. Scientific Reports, 7(1), 41292. View Publication., 5Ecovative. (2022). Why Mycelium. Ecovative. View Publication. Mycelium biomaterials could be programmed to grow to sizes specified by boundaries in the built environment (e.g., building walls or ceilings).

Biobased coatings that capture CO2 can be applied to built surfaces to enhance carbon capture from the atmosphere (e.g., biofilms functionalized with CO2 capturing particles such as metal-organic frameworks). Smart materials that can regulate moisture and temperature will help buildings and building residents adapt better to the changing climate. Potential technologies include phase change materials from organic fatty acid esters or protein-based materials that can store and release heat reversibly helping to keep indoor temperatures more consistent.6Nazari, M., Jebrane, M., & Terziev, N. (2020). Bio-Based Phase Change Materials Incorporated in Lignocellulose Matrix for Energy Storage in Buildings—A Review. Energies, 13(12), 3065. View Publication. Buildings could even be outfitted with radiation-resistant biomaterials, such as materials that have incorporated Deinococcus radiodurans.7Daly, M. J., Gaidamakova, E. K., Matrosova, V. Y., Vasilenko, A., Zhai, M., Leapman, R. D., Lai, B., Ravel, B., Li, S.-M. W., Kemner, K. M., & Fredrickson, J. K. (2007). Protein Oxidation Implicated as the Primary Determinant of Bacterial Radioresistance. PLOS Biology, 5(4), e92. View Publication. Regardless of the biobased or bio-enabled material, biodegradability and recyclability should be considered; materials need to be designed for persistence during their functional period, but also with sustainable and climate-friendly reuse/recycling or degradation for end-of-life circumstances.

Breakthrough Capabilities & Milestones

Enable the production of biocement and bioconcrete.

*Castro-Alonso, M. J., Montañez-Hernandez, L. E., Sanchez-Muñoz, M. A., Macias Franco, M. R., Narayanasamy, R., & Balagurusamy, N. (2019). Microbially Induced Calcium Carbonate Precipitation (MICP) and Its Potential in Bioconcrete: Microbiological and Molecular Concepts. Frontiers in Materials, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmats.2019.00126

Enable the production of sustainable, non-concrete building materials.

*Nazari, M., Jebrane, M., & Terziev, N. (2020). Bio-Based Phase Change Materials Incorporated in Lignocellulose Matrix for Energy Storage in Buildings—A Review. Energies, 13(12), 3065. https://doi.org/10.3390/en13123065; Naresh, R., Parameshwaran, R., & Vinayaka Ram, V. (2020). 11—Bio-based phase-change materials. In F. Pacheco-Torgal, V. Ivanov, & D. C. W. Tsang (Eds.), Bio-Based Materials and Biotechnologies for Eco-Efficient Construction (pp. 203–242). Woodhead Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-819481-2.00011-8

**Living Architecture. (2020). LIAR Project – Living Architecture. https://livingarchitecture-h2020.eu/objective/

Footnotes

  1. Fennell, P., Driver, J., Bataille, C., & Davis, S. J. (2022). Cement and steel—Nine steps to net zero. Nature, 603(7902), 574–577. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00758-4
  2. Zhang, J., Zhou, A., Liu, Y., Zhao, B., Luan, Y., Wang, S., Yue, X., & Li, Z. (2017a). Microbial network of the carbonate precipitation process induced by microbial consortia and the potential application to crack healing in concrete. Scientific Reports, 7(1), 14600. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-15177-z
  3. Strain, L. & FAIA. (2022). 10 steps to reducing embodied carbon—AIA. Retrieved August 2, 2022, from https://www.aia.org/articles/70446-ten-steps-to-reducing-embodied-carbon
  4. Haneef, M., Ceseracciu, L., Canale, C., Bayer, I. S., Heredia-Guerrero, J. A., & Athanassiou, A. (2017). Advanced Materials From Fungal Mycelium: Fabrication and Tuning of Physical Properties. Scientific Reports, 7(1), 41292. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep41292
  5. Ecovative. (2022). Why Mycelium. Ecovative. Retrieved June 28, 2022, from https://www.ecovative.com/pages/why-mycelium
  6. Nazari, M., Jebrane, M., & Terziev, N. (2020). Bio-Based Phase Change Materials Incorporated in Lignocellulose Matrix for Energy Storage in Buildings—A Review. Energies, 13(12), 3065. https://doi.org/10.3390/en13123065
  7. Daly, M. J., Gaidamakova, E. K., Matrosova, V. Y., Vasilenko, A., Zhai, M., Leapman, R. D., Lai, B., Ravel, B., Li, S.-M. W., Kemner, K. M., & Fredrickson, J. K. (2007). Protein Oxidation Implicated as the Primary Determinant of Bacterial Radioresistance. PLOS Biology, 5(4), e92. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0050092
Last updated: September 19, 2022 Back