Timber is a natural, renewable and biodegradable material as long as it’s sourced sustainably. However, when it’s used in construction, it can become ‘special waste’ that requires extra treatment before going to landfill.
Recycled plastic is also being used to design materials, saving trees and reducing the amount of lumber that goes into landfills. It’s a great way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and plastic pollution.
MDF
MDF is an engineered wood product made from sawdust, dried wood shavings and other wood mill byproducts bonded together with resins and pressed under heat and pressure. It’s a much cheaper alternative to solid wood, and it can be cut and machined easily for various applications.
Unfortunately, traditional MDF is not as sustainable as natural wood. According to a Cradle-to-Gate Life Cycle Assessment, MDF production requires a significant amount of energy from non-renewable sources and releases high levels of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It’s also a poor choice for indoor use, as it can emit toxic formaldehyde.
However, there are MDF panels that are derived from more renewable sources, including shredded cellulose and bamboo. They’re also moisture-resistant, which makes them a viable option for bathrooms, kitchens and other interior woodworking projects. These panels are a bit more expensive than standard MDF, but they’re more environmentally friendly and have a lower impact on indoor air quality.
When working with MDF, it’s important to use a dust extraction system that removes harmful particles from the air. Ideally, you should also use a sealant that is free of formaldehyde. Using these methods can help reduce formaldehyde emissions into the air, and they can even increase the lifespan of your MDF furniture. You can also try storing your MDF furniture outdoors to prevent off-gassing.
Mycelium
Fungi have a unique ability to transform discrete agricultural wastes into continuous composite materials. This is based on the mycelial network that binds and connects the materials together. This process can be applied to replace a variety of materials, such as Styrofoam, leather, and building material. In order to achieve these results, fungi are grown in a nutritious liquid or on a bed of solid materials. Depending on the type of fungus, these substrates may include agricultural raw materials, such as straw, coffee granules, or sawdust; or natural polymers that are not plant-based, including lignocelluloses from hardwood trees and cotton fibers.
The fungus contains chitin, which provides strength and reinforcement for the cell walls. It also produces chitosan, which has been used in wound healing. Chitin purified from crustacean shells is widely used in industrial applications, but fungi-derived chitosan has not yet achieved commercial success. Despite the promise of these bio-composites, there are several challenges that must be addressed to ensure their viability.
First, there is a need for greater mechanical understanding of mycelium materials. This requires research on their multiscale structure and material function. Currently, a finite element model is available for the macroscale mechanical behavior of mycelium-based bio composites, but it does not explain how environmental factors define their properties. Therefore, more studies are needed to quantitatively reveal the relationship between environmental conditions, microstructure, and material functions (Islam et al., 2017).
Timber
Timber is a green building material, as it doesn’t release harsh chemicals into the environment when broken down at the end of its life. It is also a natural insulator, preventing heat from escaping buildings and therefore saving energy. Timber can also be used to create unique architectural features that complement the natural environment. For example, the Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre uses a trendplank timber cladding profile made from Silver Top Ash, which grows in Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales.
Timber has a lower embodied carbon than many other materials, and it’s a renewable resource. Trees grow very quickly and absorb a large amount of carbon dioxide from the air through photosynthesis. This reduces harmful greenhouse gas emissions, and when timber is harvested, more trees are planted to make up for it. Furthermore, timber does not require the use of a lot of complex machinery to manufacture, and it takes less energy than other building materials to work with during construction.
It is important to note that the word timber is often used interchangeably with lumber. In the United States, milled wood is referred to as lumber, while in Britain and other Commonwealth nations, timber refers to standing or felled trees. However, both terms are used to describe the same thing: timber is a renewable material that’s available in abundance throughout the world. Nevertheless, there are still barriers to wider adoption of mass timber construction, including difficulties in obtaining insurance and negative perceptions around fire performance. However, there are many projects that seek to address these barriers through design innovation and cross-sector collaboration.
Algae
Algae are single or multi-cellular photosynthetic organisms that can fix atmospheric carbon into lipids, proteins, carbohydrates and fats. They can grow vigorously in a wide range of freshwater, brackish and wastewater streams with high nutrient uptake ability. This makes algae biofuel an ideal choice for many different applications including renewable fuel production, sewage treatment, CO2 sequestration and wastewater remediation.
Scientists are also using mycelium to create an alternative to conventional bricks. It can be molded into the form of bricks and other building elements, then used in place of concrete to construct buildings. While the technique is not yet in use at a large scale, it has been used in a number of projects. For example, the Kendeda Building at Georgia Tech was constructed from organic bricks made of mycelium and other waste materials.
Another potential biodegradable construction material is bamboo. This wood can be molded into a variety of shapes and is highly flexible. It is being used in places like Atlanta where builders are trying to replace traditional materials with more sustainable alternatives.
Despite its potential, algae biofuel is still in the research stage. Several obstacles must be overcome before it can compete with fossil fuels. For example, scientists must be able to produce large quantities of the organisms in an industrial setting. They must also make it easier to harvest the lipids that make up the fuel.