Living Buildings: Bacteria Concrete for Cleaner Cities

A team of engineers from the prestigious university, ETH Zurich, has introduced a novel construction method that uses photosynthetic bacteria to reduce carbon emissions and strengthen concrete structural support. The living architecture could have a resounding implication on future building designs. Here’s what you need to know.

Carbon Dioxide

Carbon Dioxide is one of the main greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. This chemical composition can cause irreparable damage to the ozone layer, local ecosystems, and your health over time. When CO2 levels go unchecked, it can result in some catastrophic changes, such as altering the oceans’ PH.

CO2 Removal is Big Business

All of these concerns have led the world to make a concerted effort to reduce and remove CO2 from the atmosphere whenever possible. To date, engineers have created a variety of ways of accomplishing this task. From special filters to materials that convert the chemical into other, less harmful minerals, there has been no shortage of originality.

Concepts like direct air capture systems and reforestation seek to remove carbon from the air directly. These approaches have proven to be effective. However, they are expensive and not easily upscaled to meet the global demand for these services. Recognizing these limitations, a team of scientists sought out a way to integrate CO2 capture into daily lives without hindering them.

Living Architecture Study

The Dual carbon sequestration with photosynthetic living materials study¹, recently published in the journal Nature Communications, highlights the use of bacteria mixed into construction-grade concrete to capture CO2. To accomplish this task, the engineers utilize one of the oldest life forms in the world, Photosynthetic cyanobacteria.

This bacterium is capable of conducting photosynthesis, which removes CO2 from the air, without compromising the concrete’s stability or strength. To that extent, the team envisions a future where city blocks can autonomously clean the air via their buildings.  These buildings can sequester and store the CO2 directly, reducing costs and improving air quality significantly.

Source – Valentina Mori Biennale di Venezia

The bacterial concrete mix creates a living material that grows and becomes stronger as it absorbs more CO2 during photosynthesis. Impressively, it actively absorbs CO2 and converts it into biomass and carbonate-containing minerals without any electricity or separate installations required.

Changing the Chemical Environment

The engineers noted that as the bacteria begin to syphon and store the CO2 in the area, it will positively alter the local environment. The reduced carbon footprint will promote the growth of solid carbonates, which are great at absorbing CO2, creating a natural CO2 reduction cycle.

Hydrogel

As part of their approach, the researchers created a printable gel to deliver their bacteria. The hydrogel provides the moisture needed to promote bacterial growth. It also integrates cross-linked polymers optimized for durability and photosynthesis. Specifically, the engineers utilized special geometric shapes to maximize light penetration and enhance nutrient flow to the bacteria.

3D-Printable

Interestingly, the hydrogel is 3D printable, adding to its ease of integration. The engineers print the hydrogel with bacteria infused as step one. In this stage, the hydrogel is soft and can fit into tight places. After the first 30 days of photosynthesis, the printed bacteria can support themselves. As time progresses, it will become more rigid and durable, utilizing the atmospheric CO2 to power this change that occurs from the inside outward.

Testing the Living Architecture Concept

The scientist conducted several laboratory tests to ensure that their concepts were accurate.. They 3D printed a small shape and monitored its activity and growth over 400 days. The team was keen to register vital aspects like nutrient flow to the bacteria and how the hydrogel held up.

Living Architecture Test Results

The test results showed that the living material can sequester CO₂ for longer than a year with zero power requirements. The team noted that their device successfully extracted CO2 for 400 days, resulting in an impressive rate of 26 milligrams of CO2 per gram of material.

The test revealed that the CO2 gets captured and converted into minerals. These minerals are then deposited inside the material, strengthening its core and reinforcing it mechanically. Notably, the team recorded that the hydrogel successfully allowed the cells to spread within the material and capture CO2 without incident.

Living Architecture Study Benefits

There are a lot of benefits that building with living materials could bring to the world. For one, this technology could have a resounding effect on urban air quality. When reviewing air quality globally, it’s easy to see that major population densities have the worst air quality.

This problem stems from several factors, including more people equals more pollution, and more buildings mean far fewer trees to naturally remove CO2 from the environment. This strategy helps to solve this problem without requiring people to move back into wooden huts.

Sustainable

Sustainability is one of the biggest benefits this technology brings to the market. Strengthening the concrete used to build is a smart idea that will reduce infrastructure costs and improve its durability. Additionally, this environmentally friendly option doesn’t require any electricity from the grid to operate. The bacteria only need the tiniest amount of sunlight, water, and CO2 to begin photosynthesis.

Versatility

Another major benefit of this approach is versatility. The 3D printed materials can be molded or fit into nearly any design, making it easier to integrate into future buildings. When coupled with technologies like 3D printed housing systems, it’s easy to envision a world where houses are printed in days and serve a vital role in keeping the ecosystem safe.

Efficiency

No other direct air carbon capture system can match the efficiency of using bacteria to remove pollutants. These natural solutions passively distribute nutrient fluid throughout the body by capillary forces, eliminating the need for pumps, motors, batteries, and all the other things that make direct capture methods expensive.

Real-World Applications

There is a long list of real-world applications for this technology. You can expect to see it initially used in construction projects. It’s easy to envision a city where buildings constantly scrub the air of pollutants. This green metropolis would help to prevent climate change and promote sustainability on a new level.

Living Architecture Timeline

The engineers would like to see living concrete in use within the next 10 years. However, they could get their wish much sooner as the UN has set CO2 reduction goals to help reduce climate change. Now, the team will conduct experiments on the concrete to ensure it is suitable for large-scale building applications and more.

Living Architecture Study Researchers

ETH engineers led the livable architecture study. The paper lists Dalia Dranseike, Yifan Cui, and Mark W. Tibbitt as the main authors. They had support from a team of scientists, including Andrea S. Ling, Felix Donat, Stéphane Bernhard, Margherita Bernero, Akhil Areeckal, Marco Lazic, Xiao-Hua Qin, John S. Oakey, Benjamin Dillenburger, and André R. Studart.

Living Architecture Future

The future of living architecture will depend on a few key factors. Already, the group has demonstrated their living concrete at the Architecture Biennale in Venice. Here, the team revealed two tree-like 3D printed structures that were capable of removing 18 kg of CO2 per year from the atmosphere. Impressively, this CO2 capture rate is equivalent to that of a 20-year-old pine tree.

Investing in the Carbon Capture Market

The CO2 capture market has experienced a significant boost due to global legislation targeting polluters. Companies can now receive tax credits for reducing their CO2 production or pay fines for not meeting new standards. Throughout these changes, some companies have managed to secure their spot as leading CO2 capture systems providers. Here’s one company that continues to build on its reputation for providing quality service.

Bloom Energy

Dr. K.R. Sridhar launched Bloom Energy (BE -9.94%) in 2002. At that time, the company was called Ion America. One of Ion America’s first tasks was to work with NASA to create an electrochemical cell that would enable the Mars rover to create power after it landed on the red planet.

The company changed its name to Bloom Energy shortly after its work with NASA concluded. It’s at this time that the firm decided to expand on this work to create high-performance carbon capture, fuel cell, and heat capture systems.

Bloom Energy’s solid-oxide fuel cell system reuses water and hydrogen from the fuel cell exhaust. From there, the system separates CO2 and sequesters it into minerals that are buried underground. They also looked into utilizing the mineral for industrial applications and more. Those seeking exposure to the CO2 capture market should do more research into Bloom Energy’s upcoming offerings.

Latest Bloom Energy (BE) Stock News and Developments

Carbon Capture Using Living Architecture

The idea of using buildings to capture carbon dioxide makes sense. Cities and factories, which are some of the largest polluters, all have one thing in common – they use lots of concrete, making them the ideal candidates for living architecture in the future. For now, the goal is to get the word out to the public and secure strategic partnerships to bring this game-changing concept to market.

Learn about other cool sustainability projects here.

Studies Referenced:

^{1. Dranseike, D., Cui, Y., Ling, A.S. et al. Dual carbon sequestration with photosynthetic living materials. Nat Commun 16, 3832 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58761-y}