| Project Detail |
Predictions of a global doubling of buildings and infrastructure by 2050 (1 million people per week from now until 2050 joining urban communities) present an intractable material supply and processing problem. Many current materials used in buildings are highly energy intensive. Fossil fuels provide the energy to mine, transport, and manufacture these earth-surface minerals and metals into heavy, multi-material, many-jointed building envelopes. Such buildings require significant heating and cooling. The energy consumption of buildings and consequent pollution demands a new material paradigm. Low energy-intensity and low-mass building materials and building envelopes that are highly insulating with few joints are required.
Project Innovation + Advantages:
This CarbonHouse project seeks to validate that carbon derived from methane pyrolysis can be used as both structural and non-structural building materials. Carbon composites already offer an alternative material paradigm for large, lightweight, high-performance structural uses such as boats and aircraft. CarbonHouse targets gas-pyrolysis production of carbon nanotube (CNT) threads and sheets, with hydrogen co-generated as a supplemental high-energy fuel, which would offer an essentially benign new building logic if it can be managed economically and at vast scale. This project aims to demonstrate an ultra-low life cycle energy and CO2 footprint for building envelopes and all functional elements at a commercially feasible life cycle cost of ownership. Through material-processing exploration and prototyping/testing building elements for fire, structure, acoustics, etc., and fabricating pilot building envelopes, the project looks to use hydrocarbon-derived composites to create minimal-footprint habitation.
Potential Impact:
The project’s goal is to demonstrate the benefit of using carbon (in several forms) as a building material, replacing a large fraction of minerals and metals for building structures and also for thermal and electrical systems. |
