Space cargo transport bags through membrane water treatment elements to space architecture building element: A total product sustainability and life cycle design optimization experiment

Abstract

The CTB Water Wall project is a maximal product life cycle utilization concept study by members of the space architecture design community. Its function is to demonstrate a human space activity Cargo Transport Bag (CTB) that becomes a primary water recycling membrane element after delivery of cargo, and then a permanent architectural building block for sustainable space habitation after its use in water treatment is complete. As such, it is intended as an experiment in radical life cycle product optimization in an extremely mass-constrained application environment (human space operations). It also introduces some fundamentally interesting concepts in architectural use of waste materials in extreme environments. Finally, it is in some ways a simple, tactile and visual demonstration of how far sustainable product design can be taken, if the motivation and technical justification are present.