The UK could meet housing targets of building up to 300,000 new homes each year by swapping high-carbon building materials for locally produced straw.
The UK produces around 9.9 million tonnes of straw every year, far more than would be needed as a construction material to meet the government’s housebuilding targets. According to researchers at the University of Bath, agricultural straw could replace high-emission materials such as concrete and steel, while storing carbon in buildings.
Using straw in construction could also help to bolster the agricultural sector by diversifying farmers’ revenue streams by turning an underutilised byproduct into a higher value building material.
Currently there are a number of factors holding back the use of straw in construction. Most prominently, there are currently no strong, established supply chains directly linking farms to building sites. There is also a limited pool of builders with experience using the material.
Construction generates around a...