Researchers at Purdue University have developed an "ultra-white" paint that reflects 98 per cent of sunlight and deflects infrared heat, allowing buildings to cool below the surrounding air temperature. More
Central Saint Martins graduates Brigitte Kock and Irene Roca Moracia have collaborated to create concrete-like tiles that give new "economic and ecological" value to invasive species. More
Dezeen Showroom: surfaces can be renewed in any colour using Italian brand Ideal Work's Microtopping finish, which is just three millimetres thick. More
BakerBrown Studio has designed a garden pavilion for the Glyndebourne opera house in England that will use the venue's discarded champagne corks and seafood shells as building materials. More
French luxury house Hermès has partnered with biomaterials company MycoWorks to reimagine its Victoria shopper bag in a leather alternative grown from mycelium. More
Fashion designer Phillip Lim has teamed up with industrial designer Charlotte McCurdy to create a petroleum-free dress covered in bioplastic sequins. More
Israeli designer Erez Nevi Pana used five tons of salt from the Dead Sea to create his Crystalline collection, which showcases how the material can be used as building blocks. More
Industrial designers Hank Beyer and Alex Sizemore have made prototype computers from unconventional materials such as ice and honey to explore how people value emotional connection versus usability. More
Dezeen Showroom: performance fabric manufacturer Ultrafabrics has launched six new colours for its bio-based animal hide alternative Volar Bio. More
Six Swedish design studios have produced items and materials from industrial waste, including pedestals made from ash and flowerpots from apples, for an exhibition in Malmö, Sweden. More
In this week's comments update, readers are both horrified and delighted by silicone shorts that imitate Kim Kardashian's bum and sharing their views on other top stories. More
Latex can help replace polluting materials such as leather and plastics, according to designers working with the plant-based material. More
Self-professed "mother of silicone" Beate Karlsson uses the rubbery material to make shoes in the form of human claws and padded shorts that imitate Kim Kardashian's bum in a bid to design never-before-seen items. More
Engineering student Carvey Ehren Maigue has been named the James Dyson Awards first-ever global sustainability winner for his AuReus system, in which waste crops are turned into cladding that can generate clean energy from ultraviolet light. More
Barcelona-based startup Honext has developed a sustainable construction board material made from a combination of enzymes and cellulose taken from the waste streams of paper production. More
Danish designer Sara Martinsen has explored the vast potential of plant fibres in the world of architecture and design at her Phytophilia exhibition at A Petersen in Copenhagen. More
UK company Metalysis has been awarded a European Space Agency (ESA) contract to develop technology that turns lunar rock into oxygen and building materials, which could enable astronauts to set up a base on the moon. More
Utah startup WNDR Alpine has replaced the petroleum-based plastics usually used in skis with algae-based bioplastics that make them "more predictable, stable and durable". More
To highlight sustainable and ethical substitutes for animal leather we've rounded up six materials that can rival its textural and performance qualities, from vegan pineapple leather to a leather alternative made of seafood shells. More
Adidas, Stella McCartney, Lululemon and Gucci's parent company Kering have teamed up to invest in a novel material called Mylo, which is grown from mycelium but rivals the look and feel of animal leather. More
