New Concrete & Moss Facades Create True Green Buildings

A Dutch firm is hoping to take the concept of green buildings to a literal level. Though Respyre was founded in 2021, social media has been buzzing recently with the story of young inventor and CEO Auke Bleij and his upcycled bio-receptive concrete, which is able to retain water and promote moss growth— filtering air pollution and creating a breathing ecosystem—without damaging the underlying concrete. The firm has won numerous innovation awards and now has eight active projects and a product dubbed VertiScape™ available for new construction or renovation. At the heart of VertiScape is the bioreceptive cladding that is applied to an underlying structure. A bio-gel is then applied to the cladding, allowing moss spores to attach to the surface, creating an eco-facade.

According to Respyre’s site: “Bioreceptive wall facades are a sustainable form of wall decoration. The product is 85% circular, created out of granulate ruble and reactivated cement, providing old landfills with new purposes. Moreover, over the lifetime of the facades, CO₂ will react with the calcium that is inside the granulate matter and be captured as calcium-carbonate, significantly reducing the CO₂ emission. Together with the moss growth, the product will be carbon-negative within a year, continuing to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere.”

Currently VertiScape™ is only available in The Netherlands and Belgium, but the potential applications for structures in a landscape design is intriguing. To learn more, visit www.gorespyre.com.