Designed to both decorate and ‘functionalise’ new and existing buildings, the Remedy project is developing ‘living inks’ with specially composed communities of beneficial microorganisms. These would be applied to structures using a modified inkjet printing method, creating tattoo-like shapes with various properties and applications – oxygen production or pathogen resistance, for example.
The collaboration between the InnoRenew research institute and the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia, Graz University of Technology and Tiger Coatings in Austria, Xylotrade in The Netherlands and Qres Technologies in Slovakia received European Innovation Council (EIC) funding in February this year, and is set to run until 2029.
It is still early days for the work – but, according to an external expert, the tattoos could eventually occupy a significant portion of the buildings and structures around us.
Living walls
The ‘archibiome’ tattoos being developed in the project are types of ‘engineered living materials’, which are partly or entirely made of living cells. Buildings are a perfect opportunity to use such materials, said Professor Tom Ellis from Imperial College London, who is involved in organising a portfolio of EIC-funded projects on the theme. While he has met Remedy coordinator Dr Anna Sandak online, he is not working on the project.
“The built environment is always increasing in its surface area, and there's a lot of opportunities there,” he told Professional Engineering. “We can already see that the roofs of buildings, particularly public buildings, can be a source for energy generation, so you start thinking about the outside walls and internal walls as well… there’s a really good space to have living aspects of those, for all sorts of different applications.”
Potential uses mentioned on the website include pathogen resistance, carbon sequestration and oxygen production. The latter two applications would involve photosynthesis, Professor Ellis said, using populations of algae or cyanobacteria to turn sunlight and carbon dioxide into oxygen.
Environmental sensing could be another very promising use, he continued. “Biology is very good at sensing the environment and recording and making use of that information. So you can imagine scenarios where a living wall could be able to respond to, for example, gas or pollutant levels in the environment, and then record that information.”
He added: “One of the things that can grow on almost any surface for long periods of time are lichens. You can imagine a scenario where you have lichens that have been chosen that specifically change colour and respond to things like heat stress, and then you can use them to understand when buildings are undergoing heat stress… you can also imagine a more futuristic version where, in response to that heat stress, it changes colour in a way that reduces the heat stress.”
Printed panels
Ink tattoos were once a fairly niche concern, mainly found on the skin of sailors and convicts, and eventually bikers and rockstars. Now they have gone mainstream, with more than a quarter (26%) of the UK population sporting at least one, according to a 2022 YouGov survey.
Researchers on the Remedy project might one day hope to achieve such wide coverage – but at first, Professor Ellis suggested, they will likely be small and spread out. “You wouldn't necessarily think of inkjet printing on the side of skyscraper, but maybe when you produce tiles, those could be inkjet printed,” he said.
“From a research point of view that’s easier, but also it gives you more flexibility to go and then test them in various different environments and different positions on buildings, and see where they work best.”
Questions that will need to be answered include how water will be applied to the living surfaces, Professor Ellis added.
Ultimately, he continued, such systems could play an important role in reducing the environmental footprint of buildings and ultimately making a positive contribution to their surroundings. Building façades and roofs with a total area of over nine billion square metres will be renovated or built over the next 25 years in the European Union, according to a research announcement from Graz University of Technology.
“Along with all of these other things – like solar panels and better use of sustainable materials – in 50 years from now, I expect this to be a key part of any new building going up,” Professor Ellis said. “I think all new buildings going up 50 years from now will be expected to have a positive footprint on the environment, compared to what they're replacing.”
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Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.