Building Office Towers with Bamboo and Hemp – A Sustainable Solution

Building Materials have a Massive Carbon Footprint

Much of the building and construction sector's progress toward sustainability has centred around reducing the "operational” carbon emissions of buildings such as heating and cooling, the UNEP explained. Solutions to mitigate "embodied" carbon emissions originating from the design, production, and deployment of materials such as cement, steel, and aluminium have lagged. While concrete is among the strongest building materials, for example, cement and concrete manufacturing accounts for up to 9 percent of carbon emissions.

A key reason, Unsustainable opined, is that the construction industry focuses more on speed than quality. The faster companies complete their work, the less they spend on labour and the more projects they can take on.

Using carbon-sequestering building materials could offer huge benefits for carbon storage, given the massive quantity of materials produced each year and the long lifetime and durability of these materials,” U.S. Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory researcher Elisabeth Van Roijen told Anthropocene. Van Roijen and her collaborators calculated how much carbon could potentially be stored in specialized carbon-sequestering forms of concrete, brick, asphalt, plastic, and wood building materials worldwide. Replacing all conventional building materials with carbon-sequestering versions could store as much as 16.6 gigatons of carbon dioxide each year.

Innovative Solutions Aim to Replace Traditional Materials

Despite construction firms’ focus on speed, demand for eco-friendly construction solutions is at an all-time high. The Verger Group said demand is driven by stringent regulations, consumer awareness and the need to reduce the built environment’s carbon footprint.

If you look at Vietnam, China and even Singapore, CapitaLand Development head of sustainability Giovanni Cossu told Eco-Business, decarbonisation is being approached beyond operational carbon to look at embodied carbon such as the content of cement, low-carbon concrete and low-carbon steel. “Five to eight years ago, nobody was even talking about these materials.”

In Singapore, for instance, 6W Research said the green building materials market is experiencing a notable shift as sustainability takes centre stage in the construction and design industry. Architects, builders and developers are increasingly integrating green materials such as recycled metal, bamboo, low-VOC paints and energy-efficient insulation into their projects. The market`s growth is driven by a combination of government incentives, environmental regulations and a heightened awareness of sustainable construction practices.

New Materials

Development and production of new materials that are more sustainable is underway, and newer firms in Southeast Asia have a multitude of solutions.

One example is bamboo, which CMS describes as a renewable material that grows quickly and has a high strength-to-weight ratio that can make it a suitable replacement for wood and steel. Bamboo is being used in structural elements, flooring, and decorative features.

Another is self-healing concrete, which automatically repairs cracks, extends the lifespan of concrete structures and reduces maintenance costs. The material contains bacteria or chemical agents that are activated when exposed to moisture, filling in the cracks and preventing further damage. These phase-change materials are designed to absorb, store, and release thermal energy, helping to regulate indoor temperatures, reducing the need for active heating and cooling systems and thereby reducing carbon emissions.

Verger Group said fungal mycelium, the root structure of mushrooms, is emerging as a versatile and sustainable building material. When combined with agricultural waste, it can be grown to create lightweight insulating panels and blocks. Also, plastic waste is being used to produce durable and cost-effective building materials. And geopolymer concrete, which uses industrial by-products like fly ash instead of Portland cement, is gaining traction.

Hemp-based products are also burgeoning, Unsustainable said. Hempcrete blends lime with hemp hurd - the plant’s woody core - and water. It is biodegradable and lightweight, making it an exceptional alternative to concrete. It actively absorbs CO2 during the hardening process and is five times stronger than standard Portland cement. Hemp is also sustainable, requires little water and energy, and actively sequesters carbon.

Start-ups in Southeast Asia Provide Solutions

Companies around the globe are working on producing these and other new materials for sustainable business construction. A variety of relatively new companies and start-ups in Southeast Asia are developing the materials as well.

Widuz is developing renewable and sustainable construction materials out of bamboo, such as a high-performance structural lumber synthesized from bamboo fibres. Its high-performance composite is up to 3 times stronger than timber, is not susceptible to decay or degradation, and is more stable. Due to its strength-to-weight ratio and durability, the composite is suitable for use as structural elements such as beams and columns in construction.

PT Indobamboo Lestari, in Bali, designs and manufactures structural engineered bamboo building products sourced from sustainable forest restoration programmes. It integrates community-based sustainable forestry with cutting-edge bamboo manufacturing technology to offer a carbon neutral building product. Its vertically integrated value chain enables Indobamboo to ensure product quality control and track socio-environmental benefits from harvest through manufacturing and to construction.

ceEntek in Singapore, says its Carbon Nano-Fiber enhanced Ultra-High-Performance Concrete provides improved hardened UHPC properties, ease of use, a lower carbon footprint and affordability. While UHPC has been under development globally for half a century, it is still a relatively new material technology. It is gaining acceptance in applications such as bridges, architectural products and buildings due to its durability and ductility.

In Indonesia, the Business Times said, Plana combines rice husks, single-use plastics and a proprietary binding material to create PlanaWood, a sustainable alternative to natural wood. PlanaWood is durable, mouldable, water- and fireproof, and resilient to termites, rot and extreme weather. Plana sources its raw materials from the local economy.

Clean Resources in Singapore produces ultra-low CO2 alternatives to cement that can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 88 percent compared to some traditional cements.​ Its ReCem is a geopolymer alternative to cement for precast concrete applications, and its ReCinis uses a proprietary technology to recycle fly ash from coal power stations into valuable materials.

JOE (Just One Earth) Green is a recycled lightweight wall panel precast manufacturer founded in 2006 by Boediman Widjaja, the Business Times said. One example is autoclaved aerated concrete walls, which contain air pockets to make them lighter. Widjaja said Joe Green’s Ligra panels prioritise density and firmness without compromising on being lightweight. With buildings made from Ligra, the dead load of the entire building will be 30 percent lighter, which means reinforcements can be lighter as well.

While these are just a few of the many start-ups and established firms producing eco-friendly building materials, the range of solutions exemplifies the alternatives that can make construction far more sustainable than it is today while also producing better buildings.