Living concrete & natural resins

Living concrete and natural resins cover two related but distinct routes to displacing petrochemical or high-carbon inputs in construction materials: biology grown directly into a structural material, and bio-based resin chemistry substituted for synthetic binders and adhesives. On the living-materials side, the University of Colorado Boulder’s Living Materials Laboratory embeds photosynthetic cyanobacteria (Synechococcus PCC 7002) in a sand-and-gelatin scaffold; the cyanobacteria biomineralize calcium carbonate as they grow, binding the scaffold into bricks, blocks and trusses without a kiln — a research-stage platform that has also inspired commercial biocement spinoffs elsewhere in this catalog. On the alternative-concrete side, India’s GreenJams BuildTech sells Agrocrete, a patented carbon-negative bio-concrete built from agricultural residues, industrial by-products and the company’s own alkali-activated binder — validated by India’s CSIR-Central Building Research Institute (CSIR-CBRI), assessed against IS 2185, and carrying a third-party Environmental Product Declaration with a cradle-to-gate carbon footprint of -0.14 kg CO2/kg. Natural-resin chemistry runs alongside both: France’s DRT processes crude sulfate turpentine, a pine-tree byproduct, into Dertophene terpene-phenolic resins used as low-VOC, bio-based tackifiers in hot-melt and solvent-based adhesives and sealants, and Norway’s Kebony furfurylates softwood — impregnating and polymerizing furfuryl alcohol (itself derived from agricultural byproducts such as corn cobs and sugarcane bagasse) inside the wood’s cell walls — to produce decking, siding and cladding that resists moisture, salt air and decay without chemical preservatives.

The key directions of living concrete and natural resins are:

1. Cyanobacteria-biomineralized living building materials: the CU Boulder Living Materials Laboratory grows bricks, blocks and trusses from photosynthetic cyanobacteria embedded in a sand-gelatin scaffold, which biomineralize their own calcium-carbonate binder at ambient temperature; the lab’s broader research agenda includes a net-CO2-storing Portland limestone cement inspired by coccolithophore (calcareous microalgae) biomineralization and self-repairing concrete.
2. Alkali-activated agricultural-residue bio-concrete: GreenJams BuildTech’s Agrocrete (a clay-brick substitute), BINDR (high-strength masonry/plastering binder) and Novastone (a concrete/AAC alternative) are built from agricultural residues and industrial by-products bound by an alkali-activated binder rather than Portland cement — validated by CSIR-CBRI, assessed against IS 2185, and carrying a third-party EPD showing a negative cradle-to-gate carbon footprint.
3. Terpene-phenolic natural resin chemistry: DRT’s Dertophene T105 and T135 resins are produced from crude sulfate turpentine — a pine-tree byproduct of the kraft pulping process — and used as bio-based, low-VOC tackifying resins in hot-melt adhesives (packaging, bookbinding, woodworking, labeling), pressure-sensitive adhesives and sealants (butyl rubber, polyurethane), displacing petrochemical tackifier resins.
4. Furfurylated bio-based modified wood: Kebony impregnates softwood with furfuryl alcohol (derived from agricultural byproducts) and polymerizes it inside the cell walls, permanently modifying the wood’s structure to match tropical hardwood durability and dimensional stability without chemical preservatives — sold as decking, siding, soffit, fascia, handrails, stairs and posts.

Sectoral value chain#

[cyanobacteria culture / agricultural residue & industrial byproduct / pine crude sulfate turpentine / furfuryl alcohol feedstock] ──> [biomineralization / alkali activation / resin synthesis / wood impregnation]
                                                                          │
                                                          (structural forming / curing / certification)
                                                                          │
                                                                          ▼
[building / construction end use] <─── [durability & carbon-footprint certification] <─── [molding, blending or impregnation]

Value chain levels#

Cross-cutting technologies of the sector:

• Cyanobacteria-biomineralized living building material (Cyanobacteria-Biomineralized Living Building Material): the CU Boulder Living Materials Laboratory’s sand-gelatin scaffold embedded with photosynthetic cyanobacteria (Synechococcus PCC 7002), which biomineralize calcium carbonate to bind bricks, blocks and trusses at ambient temperature.
• Alkali-activated agricultural-residue bio-concrete (Alkali-Activated Agricultural-Residue Bio-Concrete): GreenJams BuildTech’s Agrocrete/BINDR/Novastone platform — agricultural residues and industrial by-products bound by a proprietary alkali-activated binder instead of Portland cement, CSIR-CBRI-validated and IS 2185-assessed.
• Terpene-phenolic natural resin (Terpene-Phenolic Natural Resin): DRT’s Dertophene line, produced from crude sulfate turpentine (a kraft-pulping byproduct), used as a bio-based, low-VOC tackifying resin in adhesives and sealants.
• Furfurylated bio-based modified wood (Furfurylated Bio-Based Modified Wood): Kebony’s furfuryl-alcohol impregnation and in-cell-wall polymerization process, converting softwood into a durable, preservative-free construction material.

The living-concrete-and-natural-resins stack spans two structurally different approaches — biology grown directly into a load-bearing material, and bio-based resin chemistry substituted into existing adhesive and wood-treatment processes — unified by the goal of displacing high-carbon or petrochemical inputs from construction.

1. Cyanobacteria-biomineralized living building materials:
   • The CU Boulder Living Materials Laboratory’s cyanobacteria-in-sand-gelatin scaffold biomineralizes its own calcium-carbonate binder as it grows, eliminating the kiln step entirely rather than lowering its temperature or substituting its fuel — a structurally different decarbonization route than mass-balance or SCM-substitution approaches used elsewhere in cement chemistry.
   • The lab’s parallel research into a coccolithophore-inspired, net-CO2-storing Portland limestone cement signals an ambition to bring the same biomineralization principle to mainstream cement chemistry rather than keep it confined to standalone bricks.
2. Alkali-activated agricultural-residue bio-concrete:
   • GreenJams’ Agrocrete/BINDR/Novastone platform replaces Portland cement’s binder chemistry with an alkali-activated reaction built on agricultural residues and industrial by-products, rather than blending a bio-based additive into a conventional cement mix.
   • Third-party validation — CSIR-CBRI assessment, IS 2185 compliance, and an Environmental Product Declaration showing a negative cradle-to-gate carbon footprint — gives the platform code-referenceable credibility uncommon among early-stage alternative-binder systems.
3. Terpene-phenolic natural resin chemistry:
   • DRT’s Dertophene resins substitute a bio-based, low-VOC terpene-phenolic chemistry for petrochemical tackifying resins in hot-melt, pressure-sensitive and solvent-based adhesive formulations — a drop-in substitution at the formulation level rather than a new adhesive category.
   • Sourcing crude sulfate turpentine as a kraft-pulping byproduct ties the resin’s bio-based credential to existing pulp-and-paper industrial symbiosis rather than dedicated biomass cultivation.
4. Furfurylated bio-based modified wood:
   • Kebony’s furfurylation process polymerizes furfuryl alcohol inside softwood’s cell walls rather than coating or surface-treating it, permanently changing the wood’s chemistry to reach tropical-hardwood-grade durability without the chemical preservatives conventional treated wood relies on.
   • Sourcing furfuryl alcohol from agricultural byproducts (corn cobs, sugarcane bagasse) gives the process a renewable-feedstock profile distinct from petrochemical wood-preservative chemistry.