Mycelium technology developed for NASA is being used to cultivate edible mushrooms and turn waste into building materials for making bricks. 

MycoHAB Namibia is using harvested and ground down ecologically destructive encroacher bush (Acacia mellifera) to create a substrate (food) for mycelium to grow through. The process produces gourmet mushrooms that are sold to local retailers, markets and hotels.  

Leftover waste (mycelium composite) gets compacted and turned into structurally sound building materials, which are used to create affordable and dignified housing. 

Benefits beyond housing 

MycoHAB Namibia evolved from Standard Bank Namibia’s corporate social responsibility programme, Buy-a-Brick Foundation, which raises funds to assist no-to-low-income Namibians living in informal settlements with brick homes. 

While the MycoHAB Namibia project is creating healthier and sustainable solutions for food and housing, its broader value lies in delivering jobs, alleviating homelessness and poverty, and eliminating the encroacher bush’s choke on Namibia’s water supply, wildlife and grasslands. 

BioHAB is MycoHAB’s pilot project in Namibia, where NASA Mars technology is being used to grow houses.

What is mycelium? 

Mycelium is the interwoven, filamentous root structure of fungi that produces mushrooms – the visible, fruiting body of a fungus.  

It’s made up of a collection of fungal threads called hyphae that secrete enzymes that break down substrates (organic or artificial food sources) and reabsorb the nutrients back into the ecosystem. 

It maintains the ecological balance beneath the ground by creating a network with plant roots that facilitate nutrient transfer from soil into the roots while receiving and storing carbon. 

Technology meets sustainable design 

With the unique capability of being used for many purposes, and widely applied to different areas, mycelium creates robust, sustainable and often superior alternatives to conventional products and processes that are rapidly destroying the environment and are harmful to human health. 

Harnessing mycelium as a technology solves many problems at once, and its low cost and environmentally friendly features make it attractive for both researchers and commercial ventures. 

Multi-functional fungi 

A dynamic response to different environments means mycelium’s growth can be directed and adjusted to achieve different outcomes. By harnessing mycelium as a technology, myco products and processes can be used to create scalable solutions in a greener way. 

By creating a substrate (food) for mycelium to grow through, the process produces gourmet mushrooms sold into local retailers, markets and hotels.

Alternate materials 

Mycelium technology is revolutionising the way people manufacture, build, consume and live. Manufacturing mycelium materials uses a natural process that takes little water, energy or space, and removes CO₂ from the air while reducing people’s reliance on fuel-based products.  

Its transformative nature means it turns waste into a resource and makes it applicable to a variety of uses in different industries with a low environmental impact, including: 

• Agriculture. 
• Food. 
• Textiles. 
• Construction. 
• Mining. 
• Healthcare. 
• Packaging and manufacturing. 

Promoting a circular economy 

This technology provides a tool that can be used to move away from a linear economy to a cycle where waste is used as a resource, and closing the loop by: 

• Eliminating waste. 
• Using and consuming products derived from waste. 
• Regenerating nature by returning nutrients to the ecosystem. 
• Limiting dependence on natural resources.  

Ultimately, it creates economic prosperity in a way that is beneficial to the environment. 

Mycelium technology developed for NASA is being used to cultivate edible mushrooms and turn waste into building materials for making bricks. 

Acknowledgement and thanks go to https://www.mycohab.com/ for the information in this article.