{"id":280146,"date":"2021-04-01T11:00:11","date_gmt":"2021-04-01T09:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/?p=280146"},"modified":"2021-04-01T11:00:11","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T09:00:11","slug":"respyre-wants-to-use-moss-to-make-cities-breathe-again-literally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/respyre-wants-to-use-moss-to-make-cities-breathe-again-literally\/","title":{"rendered":"Respyre wants to use moss to make cities breathe again \u2013 literally"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Respyre, an Amsterdam based start-up, are developing a bio-receptive concrete product that stimulates the growth of moss. With it, they envision turning cities into urban landscapes that \u2013 quite literally \u2013 breathe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to make the cities breath because at this moment they are suffocating,\u201d says Mark de Kruijff, founder and CEO at Respyre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

De Kruijff, 26, started Respyre in 2020 in partnership with two professors from TU Delft. They were researching the crossover between biology and material science at the same time De Kruijff had his idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI saw some empty walls and thought \u2018what if we could just cover this with moss\u2019,\u201d recounts de Kruijff. \u201cMy knowledge back then was that moss could catch C02 and that it looked nice. So that is how it started.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Urbanization of city centres has given many a place to live and work at the expense of greenery and, in many cases, air quality. Respyre\u2019s solution is to cover cities with moss, promoting biodiversity and reducing contamination of pollutants in the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Versatile Nature of Moss<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat is so brilliant about moss is that it doesn\u2019t have roots,\u201d says De Kruijff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, moss clings to surfaces with rhizoids \u2013 tiny hairs built for gripping onto a wall instead of compromising its structural integrity. This means the nutrients moss absorbs are nearly all from the surrounding air and water that flows past. Moss acts like a sponge and can hold up to five litres of water per square metre which would relieve building sewage systems. When the water evaporates, the outdoor temperature is cooled during inclement heat waves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe little plant brings so much”<\/p>Mark de Kruijff – CEO and Founder at Respyre<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

While normal moss growth can let moisture into a wall, Respyre\u2019s bio-receptive concrete protects buildings by acting as a membrane around existing cement fabrications \u2013 \u201cJust like a thick layer of paint,\u201d explains De Kruijff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Early stage germination of moss on bio-receptive concrete (\u00a9 Respyre)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Moss is also resilient and self-sustaining. It merely needs hydration during its initial germination process and, depending on the variety of moss, it will thrive all year \u2013 even through the winter months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe little plant brings so much,\u201d says De Kruijff. \u201cThat\u2019s why we are such big fans of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sustainable Building<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While cities begin to explore green city strategies, such as green roofs and living wall systems, many of these are expensive to implement and maintain. By contrast, Respyre\u2019s bio-receptive concrete is a simple solution of cement, additives, and nutrients that stimulate moss growth. It can also use recycled concrete materials in its production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt suddenly changes the whole vision of concrete, making it into a sustainable building material,\u201d says De Kruijff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bio-receptive concrete product has already attracted the attention of architects and construction contractors in Europe who share that vision. However, De Kruijff sees the construction in Asia \u2013 particularly China \u2013 as an area where Respyre\u2019s technology could make a real difference. Many cities in China focus on building tall, concrete buildings and have a relatively poor air quality \u2013 an ideal market for the addition of bio-receptive concrete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respyre have a patent pending on their bio-receptive concrete product and, for now, are focusing on opportunities at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to be the driving force in showing people that this is possible,\u201d says De Kruijff. \u201cWe want to be an example and inspiration to other countries.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Respyre, an Amsterdam based start-up, are developing a bio-receptive concrete product that stimulates the growth of moss. With it, they envision turning cities into urban landscapes that \u2013 quite literally \u2013 breathe. \u201cWe want to make the cities breath because at this moment they are suffocating,\u201d says Mark de Kruijff, founder and CEO at Respyre. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1932,"featured_media":523859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[59697,59699,59701,27509,59704,49130],"location":[6763],"article_type":[],"serie":[],"archives":[],"internal_archives":[],"reboot-archive":[],"class_list":["post-280146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sustainability-nl","tag-bio-receptive-concrete","tag-green-cities","tag-moss","tag-newsletter-en","tag-respyre","tag-sustainable-construction","location-netherlands"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":{"subtitle":"What if urban environments more closely resembled actual jungles instead of concrete jungles? This Amsterdam start-up is working to make that a reality.","text_display_homepage":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"Alex Davidson","author_link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/author\/alex-davidson\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/moss-on-building-300x200.png","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Sustainability<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Sustainability<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["bio-receptive concrete<\/a>","green cities<\/a>","moss<\/a>","Newsletter<\/a>","respyre<\/a>","sustainable construction<\/a>"],"unlinked":["bio-receptive concrete<\/span>","green cities<\/span>","moss<\/span>","Newsletter<\/span>","respyre<\/span>","sustainable construction<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 5 years ago","modified":"Updated 5 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on April 1, 2021","modified":"Updated on April 1, 2021"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on April 1, 2021 11:00 am","modified":"Updated on April 1, 2021 11:00 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1932"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280146\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280146"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=280146"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=280146"},{"taxonomy":"serie","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/serie?post=280146"},{"taxonomy":"archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/archives?post=280146"},{"taxonomy":"internal_archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal_archives?post=280146"},{"taxonomy":"reboot-archive","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reboot-archive?post=280146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}