We are happy to announce that we are joining Ass. Professor Felix Heisel and his research team at Cornell University in the research to create a circular construction paradigm, using mycelium (the vegetative part of fungi) fed by waste products from the agricultural and food industries, to create building materials ranging from foam-like insulation to structural components.

The volume of construction and demolition debris in the built environment and biomass waste from agricultural and forestry practices continues to grow and this research is set out to respond to this.

The MycoBuilt project will identify the fungal strain and nutrient pairings needed for various construction material properties. These new options will divert waste from landfills, reduce carbon emissions, and create a new economically feasible and architecturally exciting green building material.

The two year research project is kindly supported by the Cornell Atkinson’s Academic Venture Fund as well as commercial partners in building industry.

The research will be routed at the Cornell University through the core research team including;

Felix Heisel (Cornell College of Architecture, Art and Planning)
Kathie Hodge (Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences)
Lori Huberman (Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences)
Rebecca J. Nelson (Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences)
Anil Netravali (College of Human Ecology)
Prabhu Pingali (SC Johnson College of Business)
Anthony Wenndt (Tata-Cornell Institute / GAIN)
Marta H. Wisniewska (Cornell College of Architecture, Art and Planning)

To learn more go to https://www.atkinson.cornell.edu/grants/ or visit http://ccl.aap.cornell.edu/