A future built from plants.
Buildings made from plants store carbon instead of emitting it, and they're healthier to live in. Bio-based construction has matured. What's missing is proof of how it performs once people move in. Habitat Atlas is a platform that gathers the stories of people who have lived and worked inside these buildings, so the ones deciding whether to build this way can learn from those who already have.

OUR MISSION

Bio-based materials come with complete spec sheets and almost no account of what it's like to live with them. Habitat Atlas gathers the testimony of people who have lived with them for years, and holds it in one free, public record where anyone deciding can find it.

Before booking a stranger's apartment, you read what past guests say. That's where you learn what the listing can't tell you. Habitat Atlas brings that instinct to buildings: what residents learned over years, filling in what the spec sheet can't say.

Fear of the unknown is what keeps the conventional default in place. Years of real occupancy show what endures, what needs care, and what quietly works. That is what gives architects, builders, and homeowners the confidence to choose plant-based.

A hundred homeowners' testimony is anecdote until someone organizes it. Habitat Atlas structures years of lived experience into evidence that can stand in a code hearing, so bio-based materials become not just a brave choice but a permitted default.

Our Team

Arta Yazdanseta
founder
Doctor of Design, LEED, AIA Associate​
Full Bio➡
Sophy Joasil
Student Researcher
Student at School of Science, RPI
 
Xinyu Liang
Student Researcher
Ph.D. student at CASE, RPI
 
Yehong (Mia) Mi
Student Researcher
Ph.D. student at CASE, RPI
‍
 
Kate Sikkema
Student Researcher
B.Arch student at School of Architecture, RPI
 

Past Student Researchers

Lux Elliott
 
B.S. Student, RPI — Mechanical Engineering + Design, Innovation and Society
 
Na'Sir Miller
 
Student, RPI — Lally School of Management, Class of 2026
 

Advisors & Partners

Steve Allin
 
Founder & Director, International Hemp Building Association
    
James Kitchin
 
Director, Abundant Futures Design Lab at MASS
Co-founder, Bio-Based Materials Collective (BBMC)
    
Alex Sparrow
 
Director, Studio Bio; Board Member, Alliance for Sustainable Building Products
Full Bio➡
Alexandros Tsamis
 
Director, Center for Architecture Science and Ecology (CASE) at RPI
   
Jacobe Waddell
 
President, The Hemp Building Institute & Biobased Materials Collective (BBMC)
    

Sponsors

School of Architecture, RPI
Robert S. Brown Traveling Fellowship Program
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)
Center for Architecture Science and Ecology (CASE) at RPI
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