NEW ARCHITECH: A material for the sustainability.

Our solution is the manufacture of a material that uses technology from chitin and mortar to reduce pollution and waste of resources in construction.

Our solution is based on the use of chitin and mortar, we manufacture a material that is resistant, durable and does not consume a considerable amount of natural resources or harmful to the environment (water, sand, fuel, steel, etc). It would work as a material that can be able to expand in a short period of time but that is resistant, durable and practical to use. For the elaboration of this material we have used the knowledge in biology to understand in depth how chitin works and how it is generated, we have studied the mortar to understand its function and for the tests and processes we have counted with technology and equipment used in engineering, bioarchitecture and material science.

Our proposal intends to be a solution to the pollution factor caused by the construction sector in Mexico, since traditional construction processes require the use of fossil fuels and a high energy demand, which are the main sources of carbon dioxide release, causing the whole sector to have a strong environmental impact.  According to studies by the National Housing Commission, 50 percent of polluting emissions belong to this sector. Our solution is based on reducing resource consumption to 30%-45% and making this sector more sustainable.

Our solution is aimed at the construction sector, specifically we are covering two objectives, one is the technical process of construction, and our second objective focuses on being able to make the construction of a home profitable for people of low and medium resources who cannot afford a house. We hope that it can solve the problems of waste of resources in the elaboration of houses and that it can be more profitable and accessible to build a house without wasting resources, money and time.

We began our research in mid-June based on the impact that originated the waste of resources and pollution in the construction sector and to know if it significantly affected our population, since then we have made our practices and progress, documenting our progress at the Center for Scientific and Technological Studies in Mexico City. 

In July we were interns in a construction company to know how they measured their resources and if they were using them optimally, when we realized certain deficiencies we decided to work on the manufacture of our material based on the data obtained. 

The unmet need is pollution and waste of resources in the construction sector in Mexico, according to studies conducted by our country 50 percent of polluting emissions belong to this sector and it is estimated that of the production of 6.5 million tons of waste, 11 percent comes from construction. We paid attention to this situation when we realized that the construction process in many houses wastes an excess of materials and resources and due to the increase of this problem we have decided to study the problem and propose a solution. Our material might be able to reduce these wastes and expenses.

Our development phase is in concept, currently we are still studying our solution based on previous technology and research, although we already have a potential breakthrough, we still need to develop the applicator of our material and due to our lack of equipment and that our knowledge is limited to the top level we have not advanced as expected, however we are receiving advice from an expert material scientist expert in construction.

The technology we use is already used technology, we use materials technology and bioarchitecture technology to design our product, the operation is a material that can expand and harden on a surface and that is capable of being resistant and durable, capable of replacing concrete or concrete in many processes.

Next year we are interested in serving approximately 100 Mexican families, this would entail being able to provide a more sustainable home that interacts well with the environment. We also hope to have a significant impact on the use of resources in construction and reduce them from 30 percent to 40 percent.

Our main impact objective is to be able to build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization in our country, and foster innovation in construction materials. We plan to achieve the goal with the effective development of our material in the shortest possible time, we are looking for companies and people who would like to donate or invest in our proposal.

By 2028, we want to improve the infrastructure with greater efficiency in the use of resources and greater adoption of clean technologies and industrial processes, being Mexico the first country to improve this industry according to the capabilities. We want to form a company in Mexico that will allow us to supply our product to construction companies throughout the country to modernize technical processes.

Promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and, by 2035, significantly increase the industry's participation in the sustainable sector, in line with national circumstances. To achieve this goal we want to reach an agreement with our national government in order to make this sector more profitable and sustainable.

Our indicators that we use in our project are:

That our material meets the environmental factors necessary to increase its viability.

That the long-term viability of our material can be profitable without affecting the construction sector.

That it meets the standards within the construction sector to give comfort to this sector.

Ensure that the construction process meets our impact objectives.

One of our main obstacles is financial support, currently the team members have used their money to finance our project, we also lack technical support and guidance to help us in the development of our project. We also lack accessibility to equipment to be able to manufacture our first prototype.

The members of the team are currently students of the technical career in construction, we have made our studies and practices in this sector. In the team we have a member who has experience in the area of innovation of materials, developing his work in the formation of mortar and concrete. Our team member is in charge of the research of chitin and its properties, she is the one who has proposed the use of chitin in construction and the one who develops the technology of the material. Our representative is the one who leads the team, is a student of the construction career and who has originated most of the ideas in the project.

We have not partnered with any organization at this time.