| Project Detail |
HESTIA addresses the need for implementing carbon removal strategies by converting buildings into carbon storage structures. HESTIA is also important for nullifying embodied emissions. The majority of these emissions are concentrated at the start of a building’s lifetime and locked in before the building is ever used. This upfront emissions spike equals 10 years of operational emissions in a building constructed to meet standard code, but increases to 35 years for more advanced, higher operating efficiency buildings, and more than 50 years for high-efficiency buildings operating on a lower carbon intensity grid. These time horizons go beyond 2050 climate targets, which means embodied emission reduction strategies are a high priority.
Project Innovation + Advantages:
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will develop a cost-effective, easy-to-fabricate bio-based insulation from celium (a cellulose-mycelium composite) to reduce the embodied and operational CO2 footprint of new and retrofitted residential housing. NREL will create celium by valorizing cellulose with mycelium, the root network of fungi, to create a new class of high-performing, carbon-capturing and -storing textiles, foams, and composites. The team will fabricate a net CO2 negative celium material with high-performance thermal, acoustic, and antimicrobial properties. They will move the material from lab to market by improving the manufacturing process to allow local fabrication of construction materials using local materials and expertise, further lowering the CO2 footprint of buildings. |
