Department of Architecture, KU Leuven, Ghent, Campus Sint-Lucas, Belgium.
Microb Biotechnol. 2023 Jun;16(6):1112-1130. doi: 10.1111/1751-7915.14256. Epub 2023 Apr 18.
Disruptive innovation is needed to raise the threshold of sustainable building performance, so that our buildings improve on net zero impacts and have a life-promoting impact on the natural world. This article outlines a new approach to next-generation sustainable architecture, which draws on the versatile metabolisms of microbes as a platform by incorporating microbial technologies and microbially produced materials into the practice of the built environment. The regenerative architecture arising from these interventions includes a broad range of advances from using new materials, to creating bioreceptive surfaces that promote life, and providing green, bio-remediating energy from waste. Such innovations are presently reaching the marketplace as novel materials like Biocement® with lower embodied carbon than conventional materials that adopt microbially facilitated processes, and as novel utilities like PeePower® that transforms urine into electrical energy and bioreactor-based building systems such as the pioneering BIQ building in Hamburg. While the field is still young, some of these products (e.g. mycelium biocomposites) are poised for uptake by the public-private economic axis to become mainstream within the building industry. Other developments are creating new economic opportunities for local maker communities that empower citizens and catalyse novel vernacular building practices. In particular, the activation of the microbial commons by the uptake of microbial technologies and materials through daily acts of living, 'democratises' resource harvesting (materials and energy) in ways that sustain life, and returns important decisions about how to run a home back to citizens. This disruptive move re-centres the domestic-commons economic axis to the heart of society, setting the stage for new vernacular architectures that support increasingly robust and resilient communities.
需要颠覆性创新来提高可持续建筑性能的门槛，使我们的建筑在净零影响方面有所改善，并对自然世界产生促进生命的影响。本文概述了一种下一代可持续建筑的新方法，该方法利用微生物的多功能代谢作为平台，将微生物技术和微生物产生的材料纳入建筑环境的实践中。这些干预措施产生的再生建筑包括从使用新材料到创造生物亲和表面以促进生命以及从废物中提供绿色、生物修复能源等广泛的进步。这些创新目前正在进入市场，因为新型材料（如比传统材料具有更低碳足迹的生物水泥®）采用了微生物促进的工艺，而新型实用程序（如将尿液转化为电能的 PeePower®）和基于生物反应器的建筑系统（如汉堡的开创性 BIQ 建筑）等，正成为主流。虽然该领域还很年轻，但其中一些产品（例如菌丝体生物复合材料）已准备好被公私经济轴吸收，成为建筑行业的主流。其他发展为当地制造商社区创造了新的经济机会，赋予公民权力并催化新的本土建筑实践。特别是，通过日常生活中的微生物技术和材料的采用，激活微生物群落，以维持生命的方式“民主化”了资源采集（材料和能源），并将有关如何运营家庭的重要决策交还给公民。这种颠覆性举措将国内公共经济轴心重新置于社会中心，为支持日益强大和有弹性的社区的新本土建筑奠定了基础。
