Mycelium: a new ultra-ecological building material

The innovation of the day is a new ultra-ecological building material.

We could soon have buildings that are grown like plants and that biodegrade rather than have to be demolished.

All this because the walls will be made from mushrooms.

Mycelium to be precise.

This is the very fibrous network of roots on which fungi grow.

This mycelium has incredible properties.

You may have heard of it before.

It is used to create biodegradable packaging or leather substitutes (vegan leather).

It is now also being looked at as a building material.

It is starting to be used as an insulator to replace current foams which are very polluting.

We also make floor slabs and now bricks and concrete blocks, again 100% ecological.

Is it strong enough to support an entire building?

Not a skyscraper.

But it is quite possible for constructions of one or two floors.

There are already a few examples in Canada and the United States.

As it is bricks or cinder blocks, the mycelium is dead, it no longer grows.

But a researcher at the School of Architecture at the University of British Columbia is working on a project where the mycelium would remain alive.

He would continue to push to make, for example, new partitions or even a new floor.

And how do you tell it to stop pushing?

By drying it.

When the mycelium is totally dry, it goes into a kind of sleep.

But with the right dose of humidity, you can wake it up and restart its activity.

However, this is still some research.

No one would want its walls to start growing all over the place as soon as it starts to rain.

Above all, the construction must be able to withstand several decades.

In any case, it promises.

I love the idea of ​​walls that would grow on their own like a plant ...