November 25, 2024

Why did the mushroom get invited to the party? Because he was a fun-gi! The next time you take a walk through a forest consider that you may be walking above the ultimate green material of the future. The humble Mushroom mycelium may be the key to transforming the industrial sector in a move towards circular construction practices that also offer a host of other advantages over traditional materials such as mortar, brick and timber. So what is Mycelium? Mycelium is the vegetative part of a fungus that usually exists underground, essentially acting as the roots for a mushroom. It is made of a network of fine filaments called hyphae which interconnect to form a sort of web. The mycelium allow fungi to communicate with each other, share nutrients and break down organic matter which the fungus can then absorb as food. You might have seen Mycelium before as the fuzzy white, green, or black mass growing on mouldy food. At a first glance, this fungal network is easily discarded due to its association with gone-off food, but recently it has successfully been used in very practical applications such as eco-friendly packaging, footwear, furniture and leather alternatives. The fashion designer Emilie Burfeind has recently produced the “Sneature” which is a 100% biodegradable shoe made from biological waste materials and regenerative manufacturing. The sole is made from 3D printed mushroom mycelium and represents a glimpse into the sustainable fashion future as technology and nature fuse. The company Bolt Threads have engineered a process to “grow mycelium in a vertical farming facility powered by 100% renewable energy and transformed it into a material that looks and feels like animal leather”. They have partnered with brands such as Adidas and Lululemon to further drive the sustainable fashion trend forwards. MycoWorks have also developed a mycelium based leather called Reishi which can be incorporated into interior design and fashion. All these materials have been released recently and have quickly gained publicity and partnerships with global brands. It seems mycelium based-materials can revolutionise the fashion industry and things are just getting started. The construction sector also faces mounting pressure to integrate non-conventional materials into sustainable building practices as the rate of growth of the human population continues to rise. Circular constructions practices have emerged such as recycled tires and biodegradable glass, but mushroom mycelium aims to further disrupt this market as an innovative green building material. Ecovative made headlines in 2014 after unveiling a compostable tower made from Mycelium bricks at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. The company claims to combat the scalability gap, market limitation and manufacturing crisis of legacy building materials by growing sustainable alternatives, mostly derived from mycelium. Although these bricks are promising, they are a long way off being used commercially. The compressive strength, durability and climate sensitivity of such materials when used in nature have been called into question and for now the use of mycelium as a building material is still experimental. One of the most innovative companies hoping to disrupt the market is RedHouse. Their Biocycler technology aims to combine building rubble/waste with bio-binders (including mycelium) to create new materials which can then be used to build houses. This machine aims to rapidly turn waste into new homes, helping to address environmental injustices and can be used as a rapid response to natural disasters. Interestingly, RedHouse also hope to one day build mycelium-based houses on Mars. This topic deserves its own post. Industry giants such as IKEA and Dell have also started to use mycelium in compostable packaging to reduce their reliance on polystyrene, thus reducing their carbon footprint. When combined with hemp, a water resistant and insulating material can be created which decomposes within 30 days. Ecovative are a leader in this sector, but many other companies are emerging, all hoping to claim some market share. Whilst the use of mycelium in construction is still in its experimental phase, its use as a sustainable, circular material in other applications such as packaging and fashion is better established. Whilst there are of course limitations which need to be addressed, the upsides of mycelium as a bio-based material are huge and numerous innovators are using their imagination to disrupt the market. The humble mushroom appears to to be spore-tastically placed at the forefront of the sustainable material revolution and it feels like this sector is just about to take off. Further Reading