Inspired by the concept of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, a new concept, biogenic construction, for civil engineering is proposed in a new paper.
Biogenic construction is an innovative engineering construction model that uses biological entities as carriers for construction or develops new materials, equipment, and processes based on biological principles.
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Biogenic construction system includes microbial construction, plant construction, animal construction, and bioinspired construction. The four research directions in biogenic construction can be summarized as:
1) Microbial construction. This involves utilizing active substances such as urease produced by microbial metabolism and the microenvironment generated by microbial metabolism. By controlling the growth and metabolic behaviour of microorganisms, green and low-carbon building materials can be developed, forming a new type of construction technology.
2) Plant construction. This refers to new construction technologies that utilize the growth characteristics and materials of plants to achieve building structures, reinforcement, and decoration.
3) Animal construction. This involves creating buildings or construction materials using animal metabolic products or by leveraging animal behaviors.
4) Bioinspired construction. This involves using biological principles and inspirations from biological structures and functions in nature to design and construct buildings.
With the increasing demand for sustainability, biogenic construction is expected to be the core of the next generation of civil engineering to reduce the impact of carbon dioxide emission, high energy consumption, and excessive solid waste generation, says author Hanlong Liu, from Chongqing University.
Furthermore, biogenic construction can be integrated with intelligent construction, creating smart and ecological construction technology. Biogenic construction combined with intelligent technologies will lead to the development of construction technologies that are more efficient, more sustainable and eco-friendlier. The work titled “Biogenic construction: The new era of civil engineering”, was published on November 27, 2024.
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