Researchers have found ways to use mushrooms to decarbonize construction waste

2022-10-21T14:59:00-04:00

Megadeveloper Lendlease is one of the entities behind a new study into the use of mushrooms as a means of decarbonizing construction waste through their application on discarded asphalt roofing shingles.

The company teamed with Rubicon Technologies, Mycocycle, and Rockwood Sustainable Solutions to complete a pilot project at the latter’s facility in Lebanon, Tennessee.

Image courtesy Mycocycle

Shingles removed from a total of 214 homes following a recent re-roofing project at the U.S. Army’s Fort Campbell installation in nearby Kentucky were then broken down thanks to an infused mix of three different strains of fungi in a process called mycoremediation.

"Every asphalt shingle from those 214 homes would have gone to a landfill," Sara Neff, Head of Sustainability at Lendlease Americas, said of the 11 to 13 million tons of the product the EPA estimates winds up in landfills annually.

Image courtesy Mycocycle

"There was simply no viable use for them," she continued. "We understand the i...

A curvaceous, shingled weekend cottage in the Czech Republic

2017-05-15T12:48:00-04:00

Set in a community of “small-sized quaint” weekend cottages in Dobříš, Czech Republic, this house by Mimosa Architects features few exterior edges. Rather, the curvaceous structure was designed according to the desire of its occupants to “have an unusual, environmentally soft house built of natural materials.”

The home is made of massive wooden slabs and wood fiber insulation. The surfaces are covered with larch shakes, imparting “a tinier scale to the house as well as a feeling of solidarity with the forest behind its back”.

Living areas face a garden on the south side of the lot, while service rooms are located towards the front.

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Researchers have found ways to use mushrooms to decarbonize construction waste

A curvaceous, shingled weekend cottage in the Czech Republic