Living in a house made of fungi and bacteria may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but researchers are now one step closer to eventually making it a reality, according to a new study.
The ability to create durable, load-bearing structures with living material is still many years away. However, this discovery is an important step toward creating a sustainable alternative to cement, the binding agent in concrete, said Chelsea Heveran, senior author of the study published in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science.
More than 4 billion metric tons (4.4 billion tons) of cement is manufactured annually, contributing about 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions, according to London-based think tank Chatham House. This means if cement production were a country, it would rank third after China and the United States based on 2023 emissions.
"We asked 'what if we could do it a different way using biology?' That's the vision," said Heveran.
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📸: Maren Stubenvoll
Sustainable construction is accelerating towards measurable decarbonisation as innovation, policy, and supply chain governance begin to align. In London, bio‑based wallboards such as Adaptavate’s Breathaboard—used in Legal & General’s new headquarters—demonstrate how low embodied carbon materials with environmental product declarations (EPDs) are entering large‑scale deployment. This marks a shift from theory to delivery in eco‑friendly construction and underscores the importance of Whole Life Carbon Assessment across sustainable building design.
UK policy now links agriculture and the built environment through a £240 million expansion of the Sustainable Farming Incentive, improving soil health and cutting reliance on high‑carbon fertilisers. These measures support decarbonising the built environment and address the embodied carbon in materials central to net zero Whole Life Carbon targets. As scrutiny of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol exposes inconsistencies in corporate carbon reporting, reliable lifecycle assessment frameworks are becoming critical to verifying low carbon building outcomes and aligning procurement with sustainable material specification.
Growth in renewables, driven by projections of a fourfold expansion in offshore wind capacity by 2035, is reshaping operational emissions and strengthening the foundation for carbon neutral construction and energy‑efficient buildings designed under BREEAM V7 guidelines. This integration of renewable building materials and design principles reflects a more mature phase in the industry’s evolution towards net zero carbon buildings and a functioning Circular Economy in construction.
The sector’s trajectory points towards verified performance, where Whole Life Carbon, Life Cycle Cost, and transparent building lifecycle performance replace aspirations with measurable delivery. The transition from demonstration to large‑scale adaptation defines modern environmental sustainability in construction, confirming that the next decade will test implementation rather than intent across every level of sustainable building practices and green construction worldwide.
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