Open Access

Benno Rothstein, Lena Heiderich, Michael Max Bühler, Lalit Kishor Bhati

• Seagrass ecosystems provide essential ecological services and are increasingly recog-nized for their potential as sustainable building insulation. While prior studies have examined seagrass insulation in temperate climates, its suitability for tropical con-struction remains largely unexplored. This study assesses the insulation performance, practical challenges, and adoption barriers of seagrass insulation in tropical climates, using building physics simulations and structured expert interviews, with case studies in Seychelles and Auroville, India. Simulation results indicate that seagrass insulation with its high specific heat capacity effectively reduces overheating risks and demon-strates consistently low mould-growth potential under persistently humid tropical conditions. Despite these technical advantages, expert interviews reveal significant non-technical barriers, including negative public perception, regulatory uncertainties, and logistical complexities. Seychelles faces particular hurdles such as limited coastal storage capacity and stringent environmental regulations. In contrast, Auroville emerges as an ideal demonstration site due to its strong sustainability culture and openness to innovative building materials. The study further identifies that integrating seagrass insulation into a structured, regulated supply chain—from sustainable har-vesting and processing to quality assurance—could simultaneously enhance ecosystem conservation and material availability. Implementing a harvesting framework analo-gous to sustainable forestry could ensure environmental protection alongside supply stability. The findings emphasize the urgent need for targeted awareness initiatives, regulatory alignment, and economic feasibility assessments to overcome barriers and enable wider adoption. Overall, this research highlights seagrass insulation as a prom-ising, climate-positive construction material with strong potential under tropical con-ditions, provided that identified logistical, societal, and regulatory challenges are ad-dressed through dedicated research, stakeholder collaboration, and practical pilot pro-jects.