ABSTRACT
Bio-based building materials could help decarbonize the Canadian building industry. These materials must be fast-growing and long-lived, to maximize carbon sequestration in both biomass and building stocks. They must also be multifunctional to displace emissions from petroleum-based materials and systems. Bio-materials could be optimized for envelope heat-recovery or to dampen the effects of daily temperature swings. This paper examines how the thermal properties of bio-based hybrid materials may be optimized for dynamic insulation or internal thermal mass. It situates established and emerging biogenic materials in material property space, identifies “gaps,” and suggests how hybrid materials could be purpose-designed to fill those gaps. Low conductivity, high-diffusivity materials are ideal for dynamic insulation applications, and high-conductivity, low-diffusivity ones for thermal mass.
