The secret sauce behind some carbon neutral materials is carbon sequestration. Carbon sequestration is the long-term storage of carbon in plants, soil, rock, and the ocean. Plants naturally pull carbon dioxide gas from the atmosphere via photosynthesis; this carbon is then fixed in the leaves, roots, and soil as terrestrial carbon.
Building materials made of these plants can act as mid-term carbon storage, helping to keep carbon out of the atmosphere for the life of the building. Even better, they often sequester more carbon than is emitted during their production, meaning they offer net carbon storage! Unlike some conventional materials like concrete, which emit a lot of carbon during their production, these net-carbon-storing materials can help create buildings that actually mitigate the causes of climate change.
To learn more about the potential impact of carbon-storing materials, watch our Earth Day 2020 keynote by Jacob Deva Racusin and Ace McArleton of New Frameworks.