Strawcture: Carbon Negative Construction Materials

It is no secret that buildings are a major contributor to carbon emissions, and with 60% of India's 2050 building stock yet to be built, finding low-carbon solutions is both a major challenge and opportunity. One such company forging ahead is STRAWCTURE ECO which has developed building materials using straw and residue wool.

CEO and Founder Shriti Pandey was inspired by her time in rural Madhya Pradesh on a fellowship, where she found that traditional building materials (eg. mud and straw) actually provided greater thermal comfort then modern materials. She combined this traditional knowledge with world-class technology (assisted by Ekopanely in Europe) and Made-in-India research (with Materials Research Institute in Bhopal) to develop carbon negative panels developed primarily from waste straw.

One feature I love about this company is that in addition to being eco-friendly, the panels are cost competitive with traditional materials such as plywood and MDF and can provide better thermal and sound insulation. They have also launched a second product, "Magra", a residue-wool based insulation, in partnership with Samkhya Alternatives. Magra has a lower climate impact than alternatives such as mineral wool and rock wool. As North India heats up, better thermal insulation will be crucial to keeping us all healthy (and help reduce energy bills).

Like Craste, Strawcture has engaged "small is beautiful" (or perhaps medium is beautiful) by developing local plants to manage transport/storage costs and support local supply. With such a huge supply of waste materials and huge demand for construction, there is a huge opportunity to support many micro-entrepreneurs and local farmers and other stakeholders across the value chain. Additionally, Strawcture has continued to invest in R&D to innovate with new product lines and using multiple crop types. Strawcture primarily uses rice straw, but have included different materials (eg. coconut husks) to help ensure a year-round supply and take on more waste streams.

Strawcture works with many small contractors and green building consultants to market these eco-alternative construction materials, and have also been certified to European standards to market their product abroad. Within a few weeks, they will be certified by EN standards to manufacture abroad as well. Strawcture is a great example of a company that can both think very local (supporting local farmers) and very global (producing world-class construction materials). I can't wait to see them grow their impact in India and around the world.