FUNGUS, FUNGUS ON THE WALL …
MYCELIUM TO MEET HOUSING SHORTAGES
From bricks and panels that lock together, LEGO-style, to recycled plastics and hempcrete, dramatically different options for providing shelter are coming fast and furiously from innovators. Every new approach causes a gasp of surprise at the ingenuity.
The next revolution in construction may be here. Mycelium-based products.
They are already replacing unsustainable materials in products such as clothing, shoes, skincare, and packaging.
At Newcastle University in the UK, researchers are turning fungal networks, the root structures of mushrooms, into a building material. These tiny strings form strong, underground networks, enabling trees and other plants to share water and nutrients, and even communicate with each other.
The idea is not to literally grow a building on site – although that seems to be a possibility here – but to create a durable, lightweight material from a fast-growing source that reduces our reliance on wood, steel, and concrete, and their intense environmental impacts. After water, concrete is the most consumed product on the planet. The industry spews 4.4 billion tons of pollution into the atmosphere every year.
Mycelium’s growth properties would be leveraged to make mycocrete. Spores mixed with organic material for food, such as grains, are placed in a mold in a warm, dark, and humid environment. When the mycocrete grows to fill the mold, it is removed and dried. It can be combined with other biobased materials, such as cellulose, sawdust, and wool, to achieve desired aesthetics. The team also developed flexible, tube-shaped molds that hang from a frame to allow better airflow and a faster drying process.
Their concept was proven through the BioKnit build; a freestanding dome demonstrating a biofabrication system that combined mycocrete and a 3D knitted framework. The flexible form allows for one-piece construction, eliminating the weak points and other drawbacks of joints.
The only thing left for the Newcastle team is to optimize the mycocrete mixture for buildings.
What if construction could be done from on-site “starter kits” of fast-growing materials?
Think about the even wider-ranging impact mitigation. It could be a solution for developing areas and affordable housing needs everywhere.
Take Canada, working on an immigration initiative to bolster its workforce and economy, yet realizing right out of the gate it has a massive housing shortage. At the Canadian Finance Conference this week, Romy Bowers, CEO of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, predicted a deficit already at about two million will grow, despite government targets. More relevant here, she called for dramatic changes to the pace at which homes are built, as well as innovation and revised regulatory processes. Nothing has changed since the 1970s, and that sounds like a story that resonates across the globe.
A long list of alternative building materials have translated off the drawing board, but struggle to get a foothold. Let’s think about and discuss why. Are they struggling to scale? For acceptance? For contractors willing to use their products? This is where we should be feeling anxious and frustrated with how great, planet-saving ideas wallow. What can we do to help?
