Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent
Last Updated: 5:01pm BST 16/09/2008
Tree houses grown specifically for modern living could be the eco-homes of the future.
Scientists from the US and Israel have developed the trees that can be shaped into the structure of innovative homes.
The ingenious tree houses naturally provide shade and can also be used to process waste and reduce carbon emissions.
The researchers at Tel Aviv University and a branch of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are confident the first prototype home could be ready in just ten years.
Plantware, the organisation behind the technology, have already built bus-shelters, park benches and traffic lights using the advanced techniques of airoponics, where plants are grown without soil.
Now they have built a model for a tree house to be used in cities.
The extraordinary structure is build from actual tree roots that are grown to be mallable and then hardened into a structure like steel girders. The houses can be equipped with solar panels and wind turbines to generate electricity and even convert human waste into valuable nutrient for the living tree.
Different species of trees could be chosen for different environments so for example, willows could be used in England and giant American redwoods in California.
However at the moment the tree homes would be prohibitively expensive to all but a few.
Last Updated: 5:01pm BST 16/09/2008
Tree houses grown specifically for modern living could be the eco-homes of the future.
Scientists from the US and Israel have developed the trees that can be shaped into the structure of innovative homes.
The ingenious tree houses naturally provide shade and can also be used to process waste and reduce carbon emissions.
The researchers at Tel Aviv University and a branch of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are confident the first prototype home could be ready in just ten years.
Plantware, the organisation behind the technology, have already built bus-shelters, park benches and traffic lights using the advanced techniques of airoponics, where plants are grown without soil.
Now they have built a model for a tree house to be used in cities.
The extraordinary structure is build from actual tree roots that are grown to be mallable and then hardened into a structure like steel girders. The houses can be equipped with solar panels and wind turbines to generate electricity and even convert human waste into valuable nutrient for the living tree.
Different species of trees could be chosen for different environments so for example, willows could be used in England and giant American redwoods in California.
However at the moment the tree homes would be prohibitively expensive to all but a few.
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