From fashion to construction – Mycelium is taking these industries by storm. This biodegradable material is sourced from mushrooms that can be grown in larger scale.

This means that dependence from non-biodegradable materials is not just a wishful thinking as Mycellium can be used as concrete because of its shape-shifting properties.

Concrete in itself isn’t particularly a high impact material, but the sheer quantities in which we’re using it is turning it into a major contributor to CO2 and a major sink for resources. Thus, in the long run, it can pose serious damage on our environment.

Also, Mycelium not only outperforms petrochemical/ plastic construction materials in thermal and acoustic insulation, as a natural materials, it is also safer and healthier. Mycelium does not contain the synthetic resin-based materials that cause the harmful toxic smoke and quick spread of flames during a fire.

These are just some of the benefits from using Mycellium. Hence, it’s no wonder that construction companies are integrating it to their products.

Mycelium is kind of like yeast (both are fungi), but unlike most yeast cells, which grow as a single cell, mycelium is multicellular and can grow into macro-size structures—which we most often recognize as mushrooms. Not only does mycelium produce small molecules, but it gently and with supreme precision assembles them into complex structures so small that they are invisible to the human eye.

“As architects and designers, we were really interested in the idea of a material that might aggregate and continue to grow once it was in the shape or form of whatever it was we were designing to,” Dahmen said, associate professor at the University of British Columbia School of Architecture. 

Innovation has once again reigned supreme, people behind the construction industry have been pushing the envelope of their involvement in our fight for a sustainable future.