Three years ago, a storm It devastated the Bahamas, killing dozens of people. Today, the country is building what it claims is the world’s first carbon-negative housing community to mitigate future climate risks and alleviate the housing shortage caused by hurricanes.
Rick Fox, former Los Angeles Lakers player, is the lynchpin of the new housing project. The former basketball player and Bahamian citizen sprang into action after seeing the devastation Hurricane Dorian In the year In 2019. Fox teamed up with architect Sam Marshall, whose Malibu home was badly damaged in a wildfire in 2018, to create Partana, a building material that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The technology is being tested in the Bahamas, with the Fox company partnering with the government to build Partana Bahamas. 1,000 hurricane-resistant homes, including single-family homes and apartments. The first 30 units will arrive next year in the Abaco Islands, which were hit hardest by Dorian.
“Innovation and new technology will play a critical role in avoiding extreme climate events,” said Phillip Davis, Prime Minister of the Bahamas, in a statement. The Bahamian government and Parthana Bahamas will officially announce the partnership at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt on Wednesday.
As the frontline of the climate crisis, The Bahamas “recognizes that it’s overdue,” Fox told CNN Business. “They don’t have time to wait for someone to save them,” he added.
“Technology can change the tide, and at Partana we have developed a solution that can change how the world is built,” said Fox.
Partana consists of natural and recycled ingredients, including steel slag, steelmaking by-products and salinity. It does not contain resins or plastics and eliminates the pollution associated with cement production, which accounts for 4%-8% of global carbon emissions from human activity.
On the other hand, the use of desalination helps to prevent the toxic solution from being dumped into the ocean by addressing the ever-increasing waste problem of the toxic industry.
Almost all buildings absorb carbon dioxide through a process called carbonation – where carbon dioxide in the air reacts with minerals in the concrete – But The greenhouses remove carbon from the atmosphere at a faster rate because of their mass.
Material emits no carbon during production.
1,250 sq. ft. house permit The small amount of carbon during production removes 22.5 tons of carbon from the atmosphere, making it completely carbon negative throughout the product’s life cycle, according to the company.
In comparison, a standard cement house of the same size produces 70.2 tons of CO2 during production.
The use of salt water makes Partana houses resistant to corrosion from seawater, making them suitable for residents of small island countries such as the Bahamas. That makes it easier for homeowners to get insurance.
Carbon credits generated from each home will be traded and used to fund a variety of social impact initiatives, including increasing home ownership among low-income families.
Correction: An earlier version of this article by Rick Fox and Sam Marshall incorrectly stated losses from Hurricane Dorian and wildfires.