UK entrepreneur Ehab Syed has developed a mushroom-based insulation with his company Biohm, embodying techniques that are “completely natural, biodegradable and vegan.”
As reported by Global Construction Review, the material will come to the market in the coming months, with interest expressed by Tata Steel, Heathrow Airport, and leading UK house builders.
Biohm has developed the material from a vegetative part of mushrooms called mycelium, with attractions such as efficient insulation performance, natural self-extinguishing, air purification, and waste consumption. The insulation blocks are made from allowing fungus within the material feeding off sawdust to grow into a mold. Once dried, the material growth halts resulting in a rigid material which can be sanded and painted.
Mushrooms or fungi are truly wondrous organisms with significant untapped potential. We are experimenting with different species of mycelium to create sustainable alternatives to some of the construction industry’s most damaging materials. Mycelium consumes organic and synthetic waste to grow into desired shapes and different types of waste alter its properties.
-Biohm
This investigative research into “vegan” insulation material forms part of Biohm’s “Triagomy” system, featuring an interlocking construction typology creating durable, robust structures without binders or fasteners. According to Biohm, the adoption of the Triagomy method could produce 40% to 90% reductions in the environmental impact of the construction process and a 42% carbon footprint reduction.
Sayed was recently recognized for his work in natural processes and biological systems with the COINS Grand Challenge Leadership award.
News via: Global Construction Review / Biohm
