Bacteria turn 3D-printed sand into solid building elements

AI Summary

ETH Zurich researcher Karen Antorveza Paez is developing a method that uses bacteria to bind sand into solid architectural elements, including 3D-printed forms. The approach could offer a lower-carbon alternative to conventional cement production, which is a major source of construction emissions.

Cement manufacturing is one of the largest sources of CO₂ emissions in the construction industry. At the Department of Architecture, Karen Antorveza Paez, who has just completed her doctorate at ETH Zurich, is researching an alternative that works in a different way: instead of firing rocks at over 1,000°C, she is getting bacteria to bond grains of sand together into solid architectural elements.