The world’s tallest wooden building is being constructed in Kirkines, Norway, and will serve as the town’s cultural center in addition to housing energy-efficient offices for the Barents Secretariat.

The urban jungle just got a bit greener and with nary the presence of a tree, thanks to UK-based start-up Novacem. The company has developed a “carbon-negative” cement that absorbs more greenhouse gases over its life cycle than it emits. If adopted on a wide scale, this innovation could  have a huge impact on the overall health of the environment, given that the annual production of conventional Portland cement is responsible for an estimated five percent of global CO2 emissions, more than the airline industry.
While we appreciate the potential dividends offered by this alternative building material, initial estimates don’t place [...]

For the past 15 years, Victor Li and his colleges have been developing various breeds of next-generation concrete.  Their latest version is extremely flexible, and can heal cracks with the help of some light moisture. If this concrete composite is cracked in any way, dry material exposed by the opening reacts with water and carbon dioxide in the air to form scar tissue made of calcium carbonate.
This material does cost three times as much as traditional concrete, but will save money over time, due to decreased maintenance costs.
[National Geographic via Gizmodo]

What’s so special about a nail? A lot, actually. Ed Sutt’s Hurriquake Nail packs a whole bunch of life-saving innovation and special features into it’s tiny frame. Using modifications to standard nail design, like threading at the end of the shank to keep the nail steady, these nails can make houses twice as resistant to high winds and 50% more resistant to earthquake forces. They’ve been around for about two years, first in the gulf coast region of the US, but are finding their way to wider distribution. This is an accessible tool as well. Hurriquake nails only add about [...]