Climate change is challenging humanity. There is an increasing need to develop sustainable building systems for zero or negative carbon emissions. Innovation in ecologically sound materials and sustainable construction techniques could revolutionize the building industry, which in turn could enable the rapid construction of building envelopes using local and low-carbon materials. Robotic additive manufacturing’s versatility can be used to construct complex adaptive envelopes that actively support local ecosystems.
This course challenges traditional linear construction methods by introducing a circular economy approach. The “reduce-reuse-recycle” strategy promises a way to decrease embodied carbon emissions in building sectors. The research will explore the possibility of developing ecological tectonic (ecotectonic) constructions. Ecotectonic construction, which considers multispecies design, moves beyond anthropocentric tectonics. It combines upcycling waste materials with robotic 3D printing to reduce the negative impacts of building envelopes.
Students will design and construct eco-composite envelopes, which may include features to capture carbon, block heat radiation, or serve as an acoustic system. To promote sustainable construction, this studio will apply innovative methods to reuse recyclable plastic waste or repurpose local soil mixed with agricultural by-products. Repurposing these unconventional materials requires analyzing their characteristics and the use of additives to make them suitable for 3D printing. Robotic additive construction enables the addition of layers based on performance needs. Different layers—like green cover, insulation, and structural layers—can be 3D printed together to foster a proper ecology to maintain the structure as a living organism.
Students will explore the design-to-fabrication process by developing prototypes to evaluate each phase through an ecologically active material system, computational design, and robotic additive construction. Students will produce detailed drawings of a façade or envelope system, conceptual drawings of the implementation of this system on a building scale, and a 3D printed full-scale mock-up of the ecological envelope system.
MyCoLab: Robotic Fabrication of Architectured Mycelium Composites for Sustainable Construction
Description
Increasing awareness of the embodied carbon footprint of buildings has shifted interest in the construction industry towards the development of renewable and biodegradable materials to create a sustainable built environment and circular economy.
Mycelium, a subsurface system of fungal hyphae, has unique characteristics that can be leveraged to produce low carbon, energy-efficient, bio-based building materials. When combined with organic substrates such as sawdust, straw, or hemp, mycelium develops a network of extremely dense fibers and acts as a natural binder to create composite materials without a need for energy input or synthetic adhesives. Mycelium-bonded composites have been commonly fabricated by pouring the substrate and mycelium spawn into a mold and leaving it for the mycelium to grow.
Although molding is a simple process in fabrication, it bears two limitations that cripple the adoption of this approach for sustainable construction. First, this fabrication process limits the size, especially the depth, of end products. Fungal growth in the core of large-size components remains challenging due to the organism’s need for oxygen for optimal growth. Second, the shape and complexity of elements depend on the availability of molds, which limits design freedom. Novel strategies that eliminate the need for molds, whether single use or reusable, will lead to more sustainable construction practices.
Recent advances in additive manufacturing have enabled the design and fabrication of complex, innovative materials that are technologically and economically feasible. Linking these advantages offered by a new manufacturing technique with data-driven material design approaches will set the groundwork for achieving dramatic progress in the fabrication of large-scale circular mycelium composites.
This CoLab project brings together a cross-disciplinary team to develop the fundamental knowledge needed to exploit the unique properties of mycelium in the fabrication of high-performance composite materials for building applications. The team hypothesizes that by altering the inner makeup of mycelium composites, including composition and internal structure at the microlevel and at larger length scales, inventive materials with improved thermal, acoustic, and mechanical properties can be designed.
The goal of this pilot study is to develop an understanding of key factors that affect the performance of additively manufactured mycelium composites. The successful demonstration of these ideas will position the team to compete strongly in major external funding opportunities and emerge as leaders in the Sustainable Construction research program.
Project Team
Ehsan Baharlou (Assistant Professor, School of Architecture), Prasanna Balachandran (Assistant Professor, Dept. of Material Science & Engineering), Osman Ozbulut (Associate Professor, Dept. of Engineering Systems & Environment)
The Co-designing Circular Plastics project was a small initiative. As proof of concept, PI 3D printed a scaled chair (1:2) with an industrial robotic arm.
Development of a Co-designed Circular Interface
A user interface (UI) will be developed to integrate distinct aspects of user-friendly and circular economy.
Implementation of Co-designed Circular Construction
A design for fabrication method has been developed to integrate material properties and robotic fabrication into consideration. This integrated design method follows the principles of co-designing circular plastics. The process includes the preparation of recycled materials for printing a chair with an industrial robotic arm.
The Result of Co-designed Circular Plastics
A scaled model (1:2) of a chair was designed based on human ergonomics while considering material and fabrication capacities.
Since 2018, PI has developed an advanced technology curriculum that highlights the agency of materials in our built environment. Courses like ARCH5500-Computational design and construction, ARCH5500–Behavioral robotic fabrication, ARCH 5500-Cognitive design and fabrication, and ARCH5500-Robotic additive manufacturing focus on applying advanced technologies in design. This fund supported these ongoing curricula to advance UVA’s position in sustainability for design and construction. It helped students learn a new economic model in design and construction.
Author and Image Credit
Ehsan Baharlou
Image Credit
Ehsan Baharlou, CT .lab, University of Virginia, 2023
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