Mushroom Fungus as a Construction Material

The production of the conventional materials such as cement, brick etc... are increasing day to day due to global population growth. This building and construction sector emits most of the greenhouse gases, accounting for 37% of worldwide emissions. Many new materials are being developed as a result of the race to discover the next sustainable technology. Mycelium is one of the newest and most promising such material. This paper aims to present the potential of Mycelium as a sustainable construction material and the future prospective. Primarily it focuses about mycelium as well as its advantages and disadvantages. Mycelium is the vegetative tissue of fungus such as mushrooms found underneath the ground. It is a matrix that grows quickly and can function as a natural adhesive. Mycelium contain minuscule threads called hyphae. When clean, organic waste (substrate) comes into contact with mycelium, it breakdown the organic matter through enzymatic degradation. Then these threads colonize the substrate by acting as a glue and cementing it to form a solid block. This mycelium composite offers unique characteristics such as low cost, low emission, and environmental sustainability Then it examines the preparation of mycelium bricks as well as the tests on it. Mycelium bricks are prepared by a series of steps such as sterilization of substrate, collection of mycelia, inoculation, mixing, molding, incubation, colonization, drying and post processing. To confirm its physiochemical properties compressive strength, efflorescence, water absorption etc... are determined. Compressive strength test was conducted to examine the behavior under crushing loads. Efflorescence test was done to check the check the concentration of salts of alkali on the brick. Water absorption test was done to determine their ability to absorb water. Further it deals with the tools to improve the mycelium properties. Genetic modifications, fungal hydrophobin etc... can be used to obtain highly nutritive mycelial biomass. The suitability of using mycelium in Kerala is also discussed. Case studies of real-world examples such as Growing Pavilion, Mycotree etc... provide valuable insights into the challenges and successes associated with implementing mycelium as a construction material into practice. Finally, using Mycelium as a construction material is can contribute significantly to a more sustainable environment and helps to reduce the carbon footprint. Further research and development to scale up the production and its properties will helps to make it more widely and effectively used in various places.