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New European Bauhaus
  • Call for proposals
  • Open

Bio-fabricated materials for sustainable and beautiful construction

This is a topic from the Horizon Europe call for proposals under the research and innovation component of the NEB Facility — the first-ever multiannual funding instrument dedicated to supporting New European Bauhaus projects. Apply here

Details

Status
Open
Reference
HORIZON-NEB-2025-01-REGEN-02
Publication date
15 May 2025
Opening date
Deadline model
Single-stage
Deadline date
12 November 2025, 17:00 (CET)

Description

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

  • Bio-fabricated construction materials  and their beneficial properties are better known and accepted by construction ecosystem  professionals.
  • Innovative, sustainably sourced, beautiful  bio-fabricated construction materials can be produced at mass-scale at competitive costs.

Proposals are expected to address all of the following:

  • Develop and test at least two innovative sustainable bio-fabricated construction materials that:   
    • Have innovative features compared to current materials on the market (such as, but not limited to, the capacity to self-repair, to adapt to an evolving environment, to store carbon or act as a carbon sink, to heat and/or cool buildings, extended lifespan, etc.).   
    • Can be used for interior, exterior or structural purposes.   
    • Comply with relevant EU standards and regulatory frameworks.  
  • For each material developed:  
    • Assess its properties, benefits, as well as design and construction applications. This should cover at least the structural, mechanical, thermal, acoustic, health-related, durability and aesthetic properties and take into consideration the variations within a changing environment (e.g. weather conditions).
    • Study the feasibility for mass-scale production to increase production volumes and affordability. This should consider the use of high-technological manufacturing techniques and processes (such as 3D printing, robotics, building information modelling (BIM), parametric design, high-performance sensor, artificial intelligence (AI), etc.).  
    • Analyse the environmental footprint of the bio-fabricated materials following a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach to validate their contribution to the reduction of the whole life carbon emissions in the built environment.
    • Analyse the social and economic impacts throughout the material’s whole life cycle, for example using social life-cycle assessment (SLCA) and life-cycle costing (LCC) approaches.  

Proposals are expected to follow a participatory and transdisciplinary approach  through the integration of different actors (such as public authorities, local actors from the targeted neighbourhoods, civil society, private owners, etc.) and disciplines (such as architecture or design, arts, (civil) engineering, etc.)

More information on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal