Someday your house might be made with mushrooms

Fungi are helping architects and engineers solve one of the world’s greatest crises – climate change. These mushrooms are durable, biodegradable and prove to be a good alternative to more polluting materials.

“Our built environment needs these types of materials,” explains David Benjamin, principal architect and founder of The Living. “Different countries have really ambitious climate change targets, and this material could really help jumpstart some of that progress.

Building materials and construction account for about a tenth of global carbon dioxide emissions. It is more than the global shipping and aviation industries combined. And the problem is getting worse.

Materials made with mycelium, the fungal network that fungi grow from, could help turn the tide. They produce much less carbon dioxide heating the planet than traditional materials like cement. An added benefit is that mushrooms are biodegradable, so they leave less harmful waste than traditional building materials. Fungi can even help with cleanup efforts, feeding on things that might otherwise have ended up in a landfill, like sawdust or farm waste.

Mushroom building materials are still in the early stages of research and development. But they show potential as an insulating material and even as a replacement for concrete blocks. The edge spoke to some of the leaders of the mushroom revolution. We even made our own mushroom brick and put it to the test. Watch the video above to see how the mushrooms perform.