'living' buildings?

-- What if
buildings had lungs that could
absorb carbon emissions from
the city and convert them into
something useful? What if they
had skin that could control their
temperature without the need
for radiators or air-conditioning?
What if buildings could come
"alive?"
Science fiction?
"Not as such," claims Dr Rachel
Armstrong, senior TED fellow and
co-director of Avatar, a research
group exploring the potential of
advanced technologies in
architecture. "Over the next 40
years, 'living' buildings --
biologically programmed to
extract carbon dioxide out of the
atmosphere -- could fill our
cities."
Armstrong works on the cutting
edge of "synthetic biology," a
relatively new science devoted to
the manufacture of life-like
matter from synthesized
chemicals, and is something of
an evangelist for the discipline.
The chemicals Armstrong works
with, concocted in the lab, are
engineered to behave like
organic microorganisms -- with
the added benefit that they can
be manipulated to do things
nature can't. Armstrong refers to
them as "protocells."
"For instance, a protocell could
be mixed with wall paint and
programmed to produce
limestone when exposed to
carbon (dioxide) on the surface
of a building," she said. "Then
you've got a paint that can
actually eat carbon and change it
into a shell-like substance."
So, just as iron rusts when it
comes into contact with oxygen
and water, protocells can
produce simple chemical
reactions when they come into
contact with carbon dioxide
(CO2) molecules, turning the CO2
into calcium carbonate, or
limestone, which stops the
greenhouse gas from rising up
into the ozone layer.
As a by-product of this
process, the British
scientist says that
limestone produced by
protocells could
naturally "heal" micro-
fractures in walls,
channeling through
tiny breaks, helping to
extend the life of any
structure it was
painted on to.
"And not only that,"
added Armstrong. "The
thickness of the
limestone will grow
over time, creating insulation and
allowing your building to retain
more heat or indeed sheltering it
from heating up underneath the
sun."
The layer of limestone could take
anywhere between a year and a
decade to form depending on
the concentration of carbon
dioxide in the surrounding air.
However Armstrong says that
"eventually we will see protocell
technology become self-repleting
(able to replenish itself) and (it)
will be considered alive."
Dick Kitney is professor of bio-
engineering at Imperial College
London and co-director of the
Centre for Synthetic Biology and
Innovation . He says that, while
the concept is sound, moving it
into industrial production is a
different story.
"It's a question of scalability," he
said. "Getting the process to
work in the lab is one thing, but
after that you need to work very
closely with major industrial
manufacturers to understand if it
is at all possible to produce on a
mass scale. Sometimes it's just
not possible."
Kitney says that nobody has yet
managed to get any synthetic
biological product to the
manufacturing stage: "The
science is being taken very
seriously -- particularly in the UK
and U.S. ... but it's still early days."
While Armstrong says the science
has been proven in the lab, she
too acknowledges that
commercial applications are still
some years down the road.
"This is bulk chemical
manufacturing we're talking
about, so the process is slow,"
she said. "If it were
pharmaceuticals it would be
much quicker."
But Armstrong's work is gaining
interest from the industrial
sector. "There's a traditional
paint manufacturer here in the
UK that is looking into it, but
we're all under non-disclosure
agreements," she said.
Armstrong admits that, at
present, the paint would be
capable of absorbing only a tiny
fraction of the carbon dioxide
emitted in a city like London,
which spewed out around 42
million tons in 2009, according
to government figures.
"The primitive paints we are
developing are not very efficient
yet, " she added.
Armstrong doesn't
think the paint will be
ready for market much
before 2014 and, at
this stage, she cannot
comment on how
much it will cost to
produce commercially.
Despite this, she says a
major Australian
property developer has
already placed a future
order for it.