Almost 60% of the built environment required to accommodate the earth’s urban population by 2050 remains to be built. Materials going into the built environment are currently dominated by non-renewable carbon-intensive minerals, such as concrete, asphalt, bricks, sand and gravel. As urbanisation increases, demand for these materials increases and related negative environmental impact follows.

Substituting conventional materials with renewable bio-based materials can successfully cut demand for virgin materials—thereby decreasing the overall environmental impact of the built environment. Bio-based materials have far lower embodied carbon and can even act as carbon sinks, sequestering emissions from the atmosphere. They can replace hazardous materials like asbestos and improve the health and well-being of communities. Examples of these materials include: wood, bamboo, hemp, crop residues, as well as more sustainable forms of concrete (seaweed-crete, timber-crete, etc.).

Local governments can promote the adoption of bio-based construction materials, for instance, by drawing up new tender criteria where bio-based products are part of new development projects, or by funding research and then regulating new cutting-edge materials that can substitute conventional construction materials.