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Arch benjamin zhong fa25 exterior

The Vault of Trust: Architecture as a Civic Ledger for Carbon, Value, and Governance

Project by Yunhao Zhong

The Vault of Trust recasts architecture as a civic ledger, making carbon, value, and governance auditable, binding proof to policy. In 2030, Ludhiana District, Punjab, India, rice-straw smog and climate shocks undermine banks, data credibility, and carbon accounting. Villages convert rice straw into biochar through low-oxygen pyrolysis and test each batch for stability. A Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) defines MRV (measurement, reporting, and verification), issues blockchain-anchored material passports, and mints CharCoin, one coin per verified kilogram, backed 1:1 by sequestered carbon. The building stages the system in public, synchronizing loading, testing, registration, storage, and deliberation with an on-chain digital twin. Thick black biochar walls hold thirty percent as a visible reserve; seventy percent becomes biochar-composite housing, translating carbon evidence into housing and savings. A computational model links rice-straw and biochar yields, Vault capacity, and seasonal carbon flows, positioning the Vault as replicable infrastructure for autonomy and climate-era public trust.