Sustainability Report
Embodied carbon
The core strategy is to use natural and locally sourced materials with minimal processing. The building is constructed from bamboo and adobe bricks. The bamboo is carbon-absorbing, while the handmade, sun-dried adobe bricks are produced without emissions. This approach is intended to result in a zero or negative carbon footprint for the materials themselves. Additionally, the office's in-house processes utilize waste from bamboo production to create new materials, such as bamboo shavings for adobe bricks and bamboo cut-offs for bamboo nails, which further reduces embodied carbon.
Operational Emissions / Energy
Operational emissions are minimized through a bioclimatic approach that leverages the building's form and material properties. The adobe and bamboo walls provide high thermal mass, which naturally regulates interior temperatures and reduces the need for active heating or cooling. The design is optimized for natural light to reduce artificial lighting use, and all lighting is handled by energy-efficient LED lights.
Service and maintenance emissions
The design strategy for service and maintenance is based on using durable, natural materials and a life-cycle approach. The in-house production and use of these materials suggest they are well-understood and likely low-maintenance. The project's use of a "structural shell as finish" concept also reduces the need for short-lived, polluting finishes that would require frequent replacement.
Afterlife
The concept of adaptive reuse was not a key consideration. The project's philosophy is that designing for a specific, optimized primary use is more effective than designing for a potential, imaginary future use.
The building's use of bamboo, a renewable material, and its waste-to-resource approach (bamboo shavings for bricks, cut-offs for nails) are central to its circular economy strategy. While not explicitly stated that the structure is easily demountable, the use of non-permanent connection methods like bamboo nails implies that elements could be more easily disassembled than with conventional construction.
Key products in low carbon design
