Julee Herdt, an award-winning architect, inventor and professor of architecture at the University of Colorado, has developed a range of high-performance, sustainable building materials called BioSIPs. Herdt’s technology enables the construction of structural panels, beams, interior partitions and furniture from paper, agricultural and bovine waste, and unwanted biomass such as hemp, wood and aromatic flowers, eliminating the need for synthetic binders or toxic resins. She has also developed insulation made from mushrooms that bonds to the BioSIP products.

These building materials are fully renewable, repulpable and recyclable. In a full-scale test, a solar home constructed with BioSIP products outperformed standard and sustainably designed solar homes in terms of energy efficiency, environmental standards and occupant comfort