Read our latest academic paper: Biomass concrete for low carbon buildings – A circular economy case study in South Africa – November 2025

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This paper presents a case study of a low carbon affordable building in South Africa, utilizing innovative biomass concrete for bricks, funicular floor and roof modules that are optimized in terms of geometry and mix design to reduce their global warming potential (GWP).

The objective is to address the urgent need for more sustainable construction practices and to demonstrate circular economy principles by incorporating chipped biomass from invasive alien plants (IAPs) as a supplementary ingredient in the concrete mix, leading to what has been labelled nonCrete (NC).

This approach not only mitigates the environmental impact of traditional concrete production but also contributes to the management and eradication of IAPs in the region, which affect the natural water cycle, compete with local flora and fuel frequent wildfires. The focus of this paper is to demonstrate the potential environmental and social impact of NC use in construction in real-world applications through a case study. The design of the floor system, supported by rigorous material tests leading to its accreditation on the local market, indicates that the use of NC has the potential to lower greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) associated with construction, while still fulfilling all the necessary engineering standards and facilitates local job creation. This work is intended to serve as a pivotal step towards more sustainable building methodologies in South Africa and demonstrate circular economy principles in practice.