Development of a mycelium-based insulating building material – MYCBRIC

The energy renovation of buildings is a crucial issue for the construction industry and its impact on the environment, and the development of high-performance, low-impact insulation materials is a necessity. In recent years, research worldwide has focused on the development of new mycomaterials produced from mycelium (the vegetative part of fungi) and plant-based substrates.
The MYCBRIC project aims to investigate the use of mycelium-based materials as bio-eco-construction materials for the production of rigid insulation panels.
The MYCBRIC project will therefore pursue three main scientific objectives:
- To identify the best substrate/mycelium combinations for obtaining the most efficient mycomaterials,
- Study the effects of the different parameters at each stage of the manufacture of mycomaterials on a laboratory scale,
- Study the feasibility of industrial production of these mycomaterials using semi-industrial tools and characterise the products obtained for use as insulating materials.

To achieve these objectives, the MYCBRIC project will be organised into 4 Work Packages (WP). WP0 will be dedicated to the coordination of the project. WP1 will study the development and characteristics of the best substrate/mycelium pairs. WP2 will focus on the study of the parameters of the different stages of mycomaterial production. Finally, WP3 will focus on the feasibility study of production on a semi-industrial scale (twin-screw extruder, thermopress) and the characterisation of mycomaterials selected from the most efficient substrate/mycelium pairs (WP1) with the optimised process (WP2).

The consortium brought together for this project consists of 3 laboratories in Toulouse (LMDC, LRSV and LCA) which are highly multidisciplinary (materials, microbiology, agro-industrial chemistry) as required for the completion of this project.