Rice represents the main source of nourishment for more than half of the world population. However, there are three substances that are left from the process of rice cultivation, and that remain unused: straw, husk and bran. The innovative start-up RiceHouse and its founder, architect Tiziana Monterisi, want to exploit and upgrade these by-products of rice cultivation, and use them in the architectural field.

According to this company from Biella, Italy, it’s possible to build houses with rice straw and wood, using natural materials coming from short supply chains. Husk and bran instead can be transformed in premix and become RiceHouse bio-palsters (RH 100, RH 200, RH300). High-performance materials of high technological value, obtained through a multi-annual research project, that have been awarded in January 2018 at the Klimahouse fair in Bolzano.

RiceHouse biocomposite have high energetic and acoustic efficiency and guarantee living comfort and salubrity of the living areas where they are used. 

According to RiceHouse, the use of straw and husk as building materials triggers a virtuous process from the social, economic, environmental, agricultural and architectural point of view. Straw, for example, is more economic than bricks and concrete, and it’s also an excellent means to achieve a higher energetic efficiency. Husks instead is very rich in silica, and is an interesting material for natural architecture, because of its impermeability and its resistance to atmospheric agents.

RiceHouse aims at representing a central gateway in the production chain, coordinating the raw material production, as well as dealing with the logistic side and the storage of materials. Moreover, RiceHouse aims at becoming a front-end for the main names in the world of sustainable building. 

RiceHouse, www.ricehouse.it