Sustainability of polymers in architecture

image

To me, coming from the perspective of my research in 3D printing of polymers, sustainability means a world where plastics can be recycled and upcycled. Since polymers make up an at times substantial component of a building, they can have a sizeable environmental footprint. Coming up with new fabrication technologies for prolonging the life of existing plastic components, or reusing those, or programmatically degrading them, would therefore be my definition of sustainability. In the context of CEE 220B, this means choosing components that meet these sustainability specification. My building will therefore incorporate this design philosophy.