The funding of £1.75 million over the next five years will enable exploration and development of the potential for natural materials in the built environment.
A fundamental premise of the work is that natural materials are an essential component of a sustainable future, but that unmodified, such materials are not up to the task.
Led by the Department of Architecture the research will involve unique collaborations with the University’s Department of Biochemistry, Department of Plant Sciences, Departments of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) and Department of Chemistry.
Michael Ramage, a Senior University Lecturer in the Department of Architecture who will lead the research, said: “Our vision is to establish new sustainable applications for renewable, flexible, energy-efficient and plant-based natural materials in the built environment, in order to improve building quality and mitigate the human impact on climate change, while bringing research innovation directly to practice for the benefit of the natural environment.”
The co-investigators are Paul Dupree (Biochemistry), Paul Linden (DAMTP), Beatrix Schlarb-Ridley (Plant Sciences) and Oren Scherman (Chemistry).
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Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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Grant will fund research into natural and sustainable building materials
21 March 2014
The University of Cambridge has received a £1.75 million Research Programme Grant from the Leverhulme Trust on the theme of Natural Material Innovation.