en.Wedoany.com Reported - The U.S. construction industry has long relied on a few types of wood and traditional materials, while bio-based materials such as hemp and seaweed, though promising as renewable crops, have virtually no supply chain. To change this situation, the Model for Architecture Serving Society (MASS) initiated the formation of the Bio-Based Materials Collective in 2023, which now has over 1,000 members, including designers, manufacturers, farmers, foresters, regulators, financiers, and researchers.

The collective aims to address the challenges bio-based materials face within the building system through cross-sector collaboration, such as insufficient insurance awareness, outdated building codes, missing supply chains, and financing structures that favor traditional materials. The collective emphasizes that using bio-based materials is not a technical problem but a systemic challenge, requiring the rebuilding of supply chains and a shift in how the industry operates.

The Bio-Based Materials Collective held a summit on May 7-8, 2026, in Poughkeepsie, New York. James Kitchin, a structural and civil engineer, is the director of MASS's Abundant Future Design Lab and a co-founder of the collective. He wrote that bio-based materials offer advantages in supporting human, climate, and ecosystem health, as well as a circular economy, and their production can also promote regenerative land management and rural economies. However, the current building economy rewards standardized industrial supply chains, making local renewable alternatives appear expensive in terms of cost.

To help practitioners navigate material complexity, MASS, Perkins&Will, and the collective jointly developed the Primer on Bio- and Mineral-Based Materials, a guide outlining the ecological and cultural performance of bio-based materials, covering straw, biochar, and hemp, among others. The collective hopes that by promoting bio-based materials, it can drive the building system toward a more sustainable direction.

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