Innovative design is a key trend in architecture and construction in 2009. Here are a few interesting building materials to look out for, ranging from high-tech to eco-friendly.

Green remains a hot development for architecture and construction in 2009, according to some architecture and construction forecasts. “[W]hile green issues were once considered something of a luxury, sustainability has become a value-adding aspect to nearly every type of product and service … [t]hat won’t change even in the face of the current recession,” according to DesignIntelligence’s Trends Transforming Architecture and Design.

Construction Trends makes a similar prediction, going as far as saying “those who don’t follow suit will be left behind. … It’s estimated that this industry will grow by 60 percent in 2009 and will influence everything from residential to commercial developments.”

Green building techniques include using natural light and space, responsible disposal of waste and material selection. Here are a few unusual green materials that may be more common before long.

Rice-Concrete Hybrid
Rajan Vempati, a chemist for engineering firm ChK Group, and Clemson University engineering professor Prasad Rangaraju are proposing combining the world’s most abundant building material with its most abundant food crop to make a more eco-friendly building material. Vempati and Rangaraju created a light-colored cement by adding ash from rice hulls to Portland cement, which holds together the stone and sand to make concrete.

Concrete production creates about 5 percent of the world’s man-made carbon dioxide and for each ton of Portland cement manufactured a ton of carbon dioxide is released. Rangaraju and Vempati found that by adding ash from rice hulls, the Portland cement becomes stronger, reducing the amount of cement needed and subsequent carbon dioxide production.

Feather Boards
Giving new meaning to the childhood game “light as a feather, stiff as a board,” a Filipino scientist has created a new composite building board made of chicken feathers. Solving both the problem of waste feather disposal and termite invasions, the board is made of compressed cement and chicken feathers, which are inedible for insects. In addition, the boards are not as flammable as conventional cement and wood-fiber composite boards.

More research still needs to be done, but in their current state the boards can be used as paneling, ceilings and insulation, but not as weight-bearing structures such as walls or pillars.

Dung Bricks
EcoFaeBricks manufactures bricks made out of cow dung instead of clay. These bricks are 20 percent lighter and 20 percent stronger than clay bricks, but cost the same.

In conjunction with Faerumnesia, EcoFaeBricks uses the abundant cow dung in Jogjakarta, Indonesia to reduce the use of non-renewable clay.

For more unusual green building materials, check out Greenbang’s list of the weirdest green building materials, including paper, inflatable tubes and plastic bottles.

Getting ahead in the construction industry is not just about going green. “Opportunities will be won by design firm leaders who resist the vortex of cynicism and doom, instead coaxing their energy to where it can make a difference,” James P. Cramer, DesignIntelligence founding editor, said in a statement.

Non-traditional services, innovation and the ability to make distinctive buildings were also cited in DesignIntelligence’s forecast as trends worth looking into this year. Here are a few innovative materials making waves in the construction and architecture industry.

Bendable Concrete
Described as self-healing concrete, this new concrete formulation allows the finished product to be able to bend into a “U” shape without breaking. Rather than having one big crack where the stress is placed, tiny cracks are created instead, displacing the pressure. Additionally, this concrete can heal itself.

The tiny cracks react with rainwater and carbon dioxide in the air to form calcium carbonate “scars” that make the concrete whole once again. The flexible concrete is just as strong after it “heals.”

For another bendable building material, consider single-walled carbon nanotubes. These form a stretchable light-emitting diode (LED) display that can be stretched by 30 percent to 50 percent and spread over a curved surface without retaining mechanical or electrical damage.

Cellular Concrete
Traditional concrete weighs about 150 pounds per cubic foot. Cellular concrete, on the other hand, ranges in weight from 15 pounds per cubic foot to 110 pounds per cubic foot. While not a new concept, there have been recent advances in cellular concrete technology. Today’s cellular concrete achieves internal curing — the process of water being slowly released into the concrete during hydration — resulting in higher strength and lower permeability.

Hurriquake Nail
The Hurriquake Nail combines simple building technologies, like threading and a spiral shank, placed at specific points along the nail to enable it to anchor deeply into the wood. The nail is so strong it makes houses 50 percent more resistant to hurricanes and strong winds.

For more disaster prevention materials, check out these high-tech textiles made from carbon fiber or glass fiber that act like “skin” for structures. These materials also have sensors built-in that allow them to sense when earthquakes and other natural disasters are about to strike.

What’s your take on these innovative (and unusual) building materials?

Resources

Building Trends to Watch For
by Melanie Speed
ConstructionTrends.com, April 30, 2009

Architecture and Design Trends Forecast, 2009
DesignIntelligence, Feb. 1, 2009

25 Trends Transforming Architecture and Design
PRLog, Jan. 7, 2009

Weirdest Green Building Materials
Greenbang, April 22, 2009

Scientist Says Feathers Are Future of Asia Construction
Agence France-Presse, Aug. 3, 2008

EcoFaeBrick

Would You Live in a House Made of Sh*t?
by Lloyd Alter
Treehugger, April 29, 2009

Advances in Lightweight
by William D. Palmer Jr.
Concrete Construction Magazine, June 1, 2009

Bendable Concrete Heals Itself #151&; Just Add Water
by Anne Minard
National Geographic News, May 5, 2009

Passive Survivability Revisted: The Hurriquake Nail
by Julia Levitt
WorldChanging, Jan. 6, 2009

High-Tech Textiles for a Material World
Euronews, Jan. 1, 2007

Bend It, Stretch It
Materials Today, June 17, 2009

Could Rice Help Cut Concrete’s Carbon Footprint?
Building Design+Construction, 2004