Valuable, available, and versatile:
Bio-based materials are often framed as “interesting, but not quite ready” for large-scale projects. In practice, the opposite is increasingly true. Many of these materials are viable, commercially available, and already utilized in buildings today. The next gap to bridge is industry adoption.
include full matrices of product types per application.
Our recent research assessed bio-based materials’ Technology Readiness Levels and identified more than 100 types of commercially available bio-based materials and products that can be specified today, from cork flooring to wood wool, with dozens more that are in the early adoption stage in North America. These materials are supported by growing supply chains, evolving standards and codes, and increasing industry visibility. Many can be integrated into standard assemblies with minimal disruption to cost, schedule, permitting, or procurement.
So why are they still underutilized?
The primary barrier is culture, not performance. The building industry remains deeply rooted in material systems shaped by the industrial era, reinforced by risk aversion, fragmented supply chains, and inconsistent code pathways. Even sustainability-focused teams often default to familiar products like fiberglass, foam board, and composite panels because they are well understood, widely available, and embedded in standard specifications.
Design opportunity:
Shifting this pattern doesn’t require overhauling entire projects. For many projects, substitution is a meaningful starting point. Insulation is a clear example–fiberglass batt can often be replaced with wool, hemp, or wood-based alternatives that offer comparable thermal performance while supporting healthier indoor environments. Medium-density fiberboard (MDF) can be swapped for compressed straw board. These replacements are available today and can meet project constraints while improving environmental and human health outcomes, reducing reliance on petrochemicals, and supporting a more regenerative material economy.
There is also a common misconception that bio-based materials are limited to niche applications. On the contrary, they present abundant opportunities for design exploration across structure, enclosure, and interior elements.
Imagine the possibilities when designers expand beyond material substitution towards aesthetic expression, influencing the relationship between material and design. When bio-based materials influence form, detailing, and spatial quality, designers can convey material origins, provide tactility, and promote biophilic benefits. This approach visibly connects buildings to regional economies, ecological systems, and material life cycles, opening the door to a more integrated relationship between material selection, occupant experience, and architectural intent.
couples passive cooling techniques with radiant floor heating, providing energy efficient warmth
where it is most needed—at human heights. Photo: Paul Vu.
resting on a mass plywood panel (MPP) floor. These simple materials provide each cabin with structure,
enclosure, and interior finishes. Photo: Paul Vu.
Across our portfolio, we’re seeing bio-based materials applied in a range of project types, including cultural and civic spaces, multifamily housing, sports and recreation projects, a laboratory space, and research. Mass timber and other wood products are established bio-based forerunners, and materials like straw, cork, wool, and even mycelium are becoming more commonplace. Additionally, projects featuring bioregional materials like bamboo in Brazil and riparian willow in Denmark resonate with design for local resources. Looking forward, products made from agricultural byproducts are especially relevant to commercial design because they create longer-lived applications for materials that are often treated as waste.
The value of bio-based materials is not tied to a single performance metric. Many offer multi-attribute benefits that align with broader project goals. They can reduce embodied carbon while also improving occupant health, supporting circularity, strengthening connections to place, and inspiring innovative design. For teams looking to explore further, our full research reports include detailed material matrices, case studies, and guidance on where and how these materials can be integrated.
The key takeaway is simple: bio-based materials are not a future technology story. They are a present-day opportunity to broaden material palettes and rethink how buildings engage with biological systems.
bamboo finishes and landscaping elements. Its use of moderate-diameter culm sections provides an
excellent precedent for parts of North America where bamboo can be cultivated. Photo: Nelson Kon.
Top actions you can take today:
- Start with circular and regional bio-economies
Regionally sourced products can reduce transportation emissions and boost local economies. Start by identifying available materials and untapped opportunities in your area. Look for bio-based options from agricultural byproducts, renewable crops, forestry residues, or regional crafts, which are often overlooked in procurement. Map local supply chains and waste streams to develop an understanding of the larger systems that materials support. Design teams can invest in regional bio-economies by selecting materials that promote regenerative agriculture, local manufacturing, landscape restoration, and circular flows. In California, examples may include straw and other agricultural byproducts or salvaged timber from wildfire recovery.
- Pick 1–2 products to try in this project
Our research provides matrices of available materials that can replace conventional products today. Review these in our Executive Summary. Then, identify bio-based materials suited to your project with minimal disruption. Align with the team to select one or two material or product types to carry into design development, specifications, and procurement. When selecting products, consider overlapping opportunities. Does a candidate product support wellness, aesthetics, project narrative, or reduce carbon impacts? Pilot efforts, especially in low-risk areas like interior finishes, insulation, and furnishings, can boost confidence and deliver carbon, health, and design benefits.
- Raise the bar / dig deeper
Once teams are comfortable with direct substitutions, explore how materials influence the project’s design. Evolve bio-based strategies beyond swapping one product for another. Materials shape expression, spatial experience, detailing, and performance, inviting fresh opportunities to explore these facets of design. To realize this potential, ask better questions: Where does the material come from? How is it sourced? What are its end-of-use outcomes? Does it align with the AIA Materials Pledge goals to support climate, human, ecosystem, and social health alongside the circular economy? Engage suppliers and use emerging fabrication tools to enable creative, informed applications.
- Share findings / advance the effort
Document pilot projects, share case studies, and discuss successes and challenges to reduce “learning curve repetition” and accelerate new material development from niche to industry standard. Share knowledge through storytelling, education, industry events, publications, procurement policies, building code development, and incentives that promote regenerative material systems.
Additional guidance, case studies, and built examples from our bio-based materials work:
- Bio-Based and Natural Materials reports (microsite)
- Bio- & Mineral-Based Materials Primer
- Spotlight On: Bio-based Materials – Perkins&Will
- Pilefacade
- Getting to Craft in Mass Timber Design
- Mass Timber – Perkins&Will
The Enchanted Hills Camp bathhouse in Napa, CA was constructed from salvaged wood from the fire-damaged campground and preserved fire-damaged benches that were carved by a blind woodworker. The project incorporates wood as a critical sensory tool for the camp’s blind and visually impaired visitors, supporting wayfinding, orientation, acoustic zoning, and thermal comfort.
Bench photo: Perkins&Will
Bathhouse photo: Rob Brodman
Posted 6/4/26
* For those looking to explore these issues in more detail, Perkins&Will is hosting a webinar in conjunction with the USGBC-CA Circularity Committee on this topic on June 18 at 12:00pm PDT. We invite you to register here and join for an enticing hour!
About the Authors
Jesce Walz, Assoc. AIA, wbLCA AP, LEED GA, LFA, is a Senior Research Lead and Associate at Perkins&Will, where her work centers on material innovation with a focus on regenerative design, circular economy, and bio-based materials. As a principal investigator within Perkins&Will’s Research Group, she contributes to the development of processes, tools, and strategic initiatives to advance ecologically responsible design. With a multidisciplinary background in architecture and landscape architecture, Jesce actively collaborates with groups like the International Living Future Institute, the Bio-Based Materials Collective, sustainable wood sourcing initiatives, and the Carbon Leadership Forum. She is the author of Perkins&Will’s Circular Design Primer for Interiors, and a co-author of Perkins&Will’s Getting to Craft in Mass Timber guide, Embodied Carbon Benchmarking Report, and four recently published research reports on bio-based and natural materials.
Kendall Claus, LFA, LEED AP, is a Regenerative Design Advisor and researcher with Perkins&Will, focused on sustainability, regeneration, and resilience in the built environment. Her approach is grounded in realizing the regenerative potential of each project through a place-based lens, drawing from the unique ecological, cultural, and community context to inform design strategies that restore and enhance living systems. She advises studios across the firm to help achieve ambitious performance goals through a regenerative lens. She works closely with design teams to advance responsible material choices, developing internal requirements and policies such as The Switch List, banning chemicals of concern and embodied carbon thresholds, and is now leading a firmwide research effort on biological materials. She is a co-author of Perkins&Will’s Embodied Carbon Benchmarking Report and recently published Biobased and Natural Materials: Context, Applications, and State of the Industry research report.
Leigh Christy, FAIA, LEED AP BD+C, is a Principal in the Perkins&Will SoCal studio, where she leads public and private projects that focus on benefiting communities, ecosystems, and occupants. She is the global firm’s Director of Research and leads its Innovation Incubator micro-grant program. Leigh also co-leads the ULI LA’s Innovation Council, supporting the Urban Land Institute’s net-zero carbon goals and exploring new methods to do so. Working at the interface of architecture and urban design with underlying interests in environment and engagement, she collaborates with clients and teams to reach beyond what seems achievable. She graduated with degrees in architecture from the University of Michigan and the University of California, Berkeley. An adjunct faculty member of Woodbury University from 2008 to 2014, Leigh continues to sit on design juries and give guest lectures at universities across the country.
