Natural Material Conference
I had a great time at the Rocky Mountain Natural Building Conference last week in Bozeman, MT. The conference focused on bio-based low-carbon materials, methods, and philosophies, including strawbale, cob, earthblock, hempcrete, straw-clay, timber framing, natural plastering, and more. It was a very discipline-diverse conference, with a fun mix of architects, builders, manufacturers, natural building enthusiasts, and more from all over the country.
We got to see how these products are made, how they are used in modern buildings today, and how people are working to remove the red tape to increase the availability of these products in our built environment. Most of the materials are rooted in traditional building techniques from around the world, but they are being adapted for larger-scale commercial projects.
The focus of the conference was Resiliency, which is more important now than ever. Creating spaces defensible against wildfires was at the forefront of the conversation. Bio-based materials are a much better choice than petrochemical materials for both preventing buildings from burning, as well as reducing the negative impacts of the aftermath of a fire. Plastics in our buildings can make us sick without them burning, but when hit with high heat, these plastics are highly flammable, and they emit toxins that can stay in the air and on the ground long after the disaster has passed. Earth, strawbale, plaster, and hempcrete are all natural fire retardants and have been proven to perform well against fire.
There are innovative systems by companies such as Ecococon and New Frameworks, which are making modular straw panels that are easier to implement at scale. Henning Larsen just designed the largest straw panel project in the world in the Netherlands using Ecococon panels. This 1,668,400 ft² logistics center was built primarily of mass timber, straw, and other biogenic materials and is a fantastic showcase of what is possible with bio-based materials.
It is exciting to see the shift back towards bio-based products as the public becomes more aware of the heavy carbon and health impacts of our standard building materials, especially as we focus on a more climate-resilient building stock.
