Overview:

In March 2024, Georgemma Hunt began a PhD within the Sustainability Research Institute (SRI) at the University of East London. Funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund as part of the Peatland Progress project at the Great Fen, this PhD will be investigating the potential for using Typha latifolia (Great reedmace, cattail or common bulrush) within a sustainable, bio-based building material. The PhD is supported internally at SRI by a dedicated, interdisciplinary team of experts, including:

• Dr Bamdad Ayati, Senior Research Fellow at SRI, is a materials chemist with expertise in low-carbon building materials and one of the innovators behind UEL's recent innovative material application - Sugarcrete.
• Richard Lindsay, Head of Environmental Sciences at SRI, is an internationally recognised specialist in peatland conservation.
• Dr Jack Clough, Research Fellow at SRI, focuses on wetland conservation and paludiculture. He recently completed his PhD on Sphagnum moss farming and aims to continue developing paludiculture through the Peatland Progress project at the Great Fen.

Georgemma is a hands-on researcher with a background in architecture. She received a first-class undergraduate degree in Architecture at Cambridge (2015-18) and a distinction for her Masters in Sustainable Architecture at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) in Wales (2021-23). During her Masters, she investigated the feasibility of an innovative bio-based insulation material – bracken-lime – that makes use of abundant biomass feedstocks from conservation as an alternative to the growing use of hemp in concrete-adjacent products. Her specific research interest is in the development of regenerative building materials that positively contribute to building efficiency, occupant health and sustainable land use.

"The value of peatlands cannot be underestimated," writes Georgemma. "They are single-handedly: long-term carbon sinks, habitats for nationally important plants and animals, archives of paleaoecological data, drinking water filters and water stores that help to regulate droughts and floods. To deliver this myriad of functions, peatlands must be kept wet. However, in recent centuries we have engineered our soils to be dry, enabling us to grow arable crops that originated from arid soils elsewhere. As a result, oxygen entering peat soils has catalysed their decomposition, contributing significant annual carbon emissions. Paludiculture - a movement towards wet farming systems that has developed in the last few decades - offers the promise of a different landscape.

"By cultivating species that are adapted to waterlogged conditions, we could restore damaged peatlands and slow further carbon emissions that result from their drainage whilst continuing to use these lands productively for the bioeconomy. With around 88 native species identified as potential commercial wetland crops in the UK, paludiculture could supply our demand for food, bioenergy, medicine and building materials. Out of these crops, Typha latifolia has been selected as the focus of this pioneering PhD, which is one of the first academic studies to consider its use within construction materials.

"T. latifolia is already being grown in pilot trials at the Great Fen to supply Ponda with the feathery seedheads that they use to make BioPuff® - a regenerative insulation for textiles with enormous potential for substituting synthetic, fossil-fuel based fibres. The key ambition for my research is to investigate the best use of the residual leaves and stalks within a low-carbon material that could become a co-product of BioPuff® and therefore contribute to a regenerative, zero-waste material economy."

“Currently, no paludiculture building materials exist in the UK," explains Dr Bamdad Ayati, "despite a large and growing market opportunity. We have been working on a number of biomass feedstocks to manufacture building materials as a way to store the plants' biogenic carbon for the long term. But are very excited about this Doctoral project in particular. Firstly, because of the special Typha plant structures. Typha plants are comprised of cellular tissues and strong stem fibre which provides a unique combination of insulation and load-bearing capacities.  Secondly, Typha provides more efficient climate mitigation compared to common bio-based materials used in construction such as hemp and wood fibre which require arable land for cultivation. Cultivation of Typha through wetland farming presents an opportunity for increased resilience of UK peat soils to future change by preventing the physical loss of peat soil from oxidation and subsidence.”

"I am extremely excited to be at the start of a research journey that addresses major climate concerns around both land management and the built environment," continues Georgemma. "I will be investigating the specifications required of Typha to ensure suitability for conversion to a sustainable building material, as well as establish the processes by which it could be manufactured on a commercially viable basis. The research will begin by studying the fundamental characteristics of Typha when used as fibres and bio-aggregate within different binder systems, including its thermal, mechanical and moisture buffering performance. From these results, I hope to define its most appropriate application within new-build and retrofit construction - whether that be within insulative, load-bearing or low-hanging, cosmetic uses. If time allows, I will undertake standardised lab tests on product prototypes to be able to compare it with existing building products. At the end, the research should point to a convincing and viable end-use for Typha leaves and stalks that may even out-perform conventional construction materials.

"So far, I have been getting to grips with key literature that spans across peatland ecology, agronomy, building physics and material chemistry - which demonstrates just how interdisciplinary this research is! I have also started experimenting with a small Typha harvest in the SRI lab, which is helping to refine my research plan. Early-stage questions include: how can I process the leaves/stalks down into usable fibres? What binders should be considered at what ratios? Can the self-binding properties of lignin be harnessed with minimal processing?"

"At the end of my first month, I was delighted to attend a DEFRA workshop in Coventry that was aimed at progressing the Lowland Agricultural Peat Task Force (LAPTF)'s 10-year roadmap for getting a Typha product to market. Whilst there, I met some of the key paludiculture players in the UK and Europe and was excited to see samples of innovative Typha-based materials coming out of Europe. At the time of writing this, I'm looking forward to visiting the Great Fen for the first time and talking all things Typha with members of Ponda and the Wildlife Trust BCN!"

Great Fen Project Manager Kate Carver said, "The Great Fen is delighted to be supporting this important PhD with the University of East London Sustainability Research Institute and is grateful to the players of the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) for making this possible through the NLHF Peatland Progress project. Farming at higher water levels (paludiculture) is one of the ways in which landscapes can become more resilient to climate change, developing possible end use products of paludicultural crops (in this case building materials from typha – also known as great reedmace, common bulrush or cattail – a potential future crop in wet farming systems such as are being developed in the Fens) is a vital part of the story. Fen farmers need to know that wetland crops will have a market and that farming can be ”future-proofed” through research and innovation such as this PhD embodies. The Great Fen team are all delighted to welcome Georgemma and look forward to working with her making the future happen."