Is This the World’s First Building With a Bio-based Façade?

Dutch <a title="Is The World's First Building With a Bio-based Façade?" href="http://marcovermeulen.eu/home/" target="_blank">Studio Marco Vermeulen</a> just unveiled what they call "<a title="Is The World's First Building With a Bio-based Façade?" href="http://marcovermeulen.eu/projecten/selectie/122/gasontvangst-station/">the world's first building with a bio-based facade</a>" in the village of Dinteloord in the Netherlands. It was commissioned by The Horticultural Development Company, and it feature walls with embossed letters. These walls are made from a new biodegradable material called Nabasco 5010, which is a mix of bioresin and <a title="Is The World's First Building With a Bio-based Façade?" href="http://inhabitat.com/interview-with-south-africas-hemp-expert-tony-budden/" target="_blank">hemp</a> fibers.

Studio Marco Vermeulen strongly believes that we need new building materials that don't rely on the increasingly scarce fossil fuels.

That's why they are experimenting with Nabasco, which uses widely available waste organic materials.

Nabasco 5010, which stands from NAtural BASed COmposites, is made from a composite of bioresin and local hemp fibers, which is also locally produced by NPSP Composites.

This innovative Dutch gas station's façade has embossed panels with H (hydrogen), C (carbon) and N (nitrogen), the chemical composition of natural gas.

They are finished in a brown, opaque coating that give the impression of them being made from a sleek, futuristic material -- not resin or hemp!

The exact constitution of resin varies, but is often made from soya beans, linseed oil or even waste from biodiesel production.