Growing and testing mycelium bricks as building insulation materials

In order to improve energy performance of buildings, insulation materials (such as mineral glass and rock wools, or fossil fuel-based plastic foams) are being used in increasing quantities, which may lead to potential problem with materials depletions and landfill disposal. One sustainable solution suggested is the use of bio-based, biodegradable materials. A number of attempts have been made to develop biomaterials, such as sheep wood, hemcrete or recycled papers. In this paper, a novel type of bio insulation materials – mycelium is examined. The aim is to produce mycelium materials that could be used as insulations. The bio-based material was required to have properties that matched existing alternatives, such as expanded polystyrene, in terms of physical and mechanical characteristics but with an enhanced level of biodegradability. The testing data showed mycelium bricks exhibited good thermal performance. Future work is planned to improve growing process and thermal performance of the mycelium bricks.