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British company uses mushrooms, orange peels, and agricultural waste to create biodegradable insulation panels for construction.
Construction is among the sectors that consume the most raw materials on the planet, while tons of agricultural and food waste continue to be discarded daily. In the United Kingdom, a company decided to unite these two problems into a single solution: cultivating building materials using fungi, fruit peels, and food industry waste.
The British company Biohm has developed insulation panels made with mycelium, the filamentous structure that functions as the root system of fungi, combined with organic waste from agriculture and the food industry. According to the World Economic Forum, the technology uses orange peels, cocoa shells, agricultural by-products, and other materials that would normally be discarded, transforming them into components for more sustainable buildings.
Mushroom mycelium is being used to create biodegradable insulation panels for houses and buildings
Unlike conventional materials, produced in energy-intensive industrial processes, the panels developed by Biohm are literally cultivated.
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According to the World Economic Forum, the mycelium grows on agricultural and food waste, forming a natural network capable of binding organic particles without the need for synthetic glues or petrochemical derivatives. After reaching the desired shape, growth is halted through a thermal process, turning the material into a stable product ready for use in construction.
The result is a thermal insulation panel produced from renewable resources, biodegradable, and with the potential to replace traditional materials that have a high carbon footprint.
Orange peels, cocoa waste, and agricultural by-products stop being waste to become raw materials for sustainable construction
The company also developed a material called ORB, an acronym for Organic Refuse Biocompound. According to the World Economic Forum, ORB is produced with waste from agriculture and the food industry, using a plant-based binder to form sheets that can replace wood-derived panels. The product is described by the company as 100% biodegradable and vegan, capable of being molded into different shapes and applications.
In addition to orange peels, Biohm claims to use waste such as cocoa husks, agricultural by-products, and other large-scale discarded biomass. The proposal is to create a production chain based on a circular economy, in which the waste of one sector becomes the raw material of another.
Construction industry faces increasing pressure to reduce emissions and reuse waste
Interest in biomaterials is growing at a time when the construction industry is facing increasingly significant environmental challenges. According to data cited by AskNature, a platform linked to the Biomimicry Institute, the World Economic Forum estimates that waste generated by construction could reach 2.2 billion tons annually by 2025, while approximately one-third of the food produced on the planet is wasted.
In this scenario, materials produced with fungi appear as an alternative to reduce dependence on conventional inputs, decrease the disposal of organic waste, and reduce emissions associated with the manufacture of industrial materials. Experts point out that the potential of these products goes beyond thermal insulation, potentially including structural panels, internal coatings, furniture, and broader architectural applications.
Fungi can help create more efficient buildings with a smaller carbon footprint
Another advantage of mycelium is its natural growth capability. According to Biohm, the fungus forms small air pockets during its development, a characteristic that contributes to insulating properties and moisture regulation in the built environment. Some studies also investigate the potential of these materials to sequester carbon during their production phase, although quantifying this benefit still depends on specific life cycle analyses.
The company also states that its materials were designed to integrate circular systems, allowing for reuse or biodegradation at the end of their useful life, reducing the generation of permanent waste. Instead of producing insulation panels in industrial ovens fueled by fossil fuels, the proposal is to use living organisms to cultivate components capable of growing almost on their own.
Cultivated walls may represent one of the most radical changes ever seen in the construction industry
The idea of building houses using fungi may seem like science fiction, but it is already leaving the laboratories and reaching the first commercial projects. According to the World Economic Forum, Biohm is part of international initiatives focused on the circular economy and the development of regenerative materials, seeking to prove that the buildings of the future can be produced from resources considered waste today.
If for decades construction relied on cement, steel, concrete, and petrochemical derivatives, a new generation of materials is beginning to show that part of the cities of the future might be cultivated instead of manufactured. The question now is different: how many of the waste products generated daily by agriculture and the food industry can still be transformed into houses, offices, and entire buildings?
