BioSAFE

Target audience

Construction sector professionals (architects, technical architects, engineers, builders, etc.), and the agricultural and forestry sectors

Project objective

The project aims to develop sustainable building envelopes—primarily façades—designed according to sustainability, comfort and safety criteria, with particular emphasis on their acoustic performance and fire behaviour.

Project description

The BioSAFE project focuses on the use of materials from renewable sources —such as wood, bamboo and agricultural by-products— to design façades and other building components that reduce the environmental impact of the construction sector. BioSAFE builds on the advances achieved through the SBES project—Sustainable solutions for building envelopes (BIA2017-88401-R)—extending its scope to improve building safety and comfort through natural and innovative solutions.

The project is structured around three main research areas. First, it analyses the acoustic properties of various plant-based biomaterials to optimise their formulations and manufacturing processes, both for low-density sound-absorbing materials and for medium-density lightweight composites.

Second, it addresses improvements in the fire performance of lignocellulosic materials by developing natural flame retardants as an alternative to potentially toxic synthetic compounds.

Finally, the third research area integrates both aspects—acoustic performance and fire resistance—into the design of multifunctional façade components capable of limiting fire spread while improving sound absorption and reducing urban reverberation.

The natural raw materials will be modified at laboratory scale to obtain the desired flame-retardant properties. The resulting flame retardants will then be incorporated into bamboo and wood samples through an autoclave process that combines vacuum and pressure cycles to ensure optimal material impregnation.

Acoustic characterisation will include both laboratory testing and in situ measurements. Laboratory tests will focus on analysing low- and medium-density bio-based materials to assess their acoustic performance and optimise their formulations.

Impact