Investigations of Mycelium As a Low-Carbon Building Material
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Dartmouth College Dartmouth Digital Commons ENGS 88 Honors Thesis (AB Students) Other Engineering Materials Spring 6-10-2020 Investigations of Mycelium as a Low-carbon Building Material Kevin Yang [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/engs88 Part of the Architecture Commons, and the Engineering Commons Dartmouth Digital Commons Citation Yang, Kevin, "Investigations of Mycelium as a Low-carbon Building Material" (2020). ENGS 88 Honors Thesis (AB Students). 21. https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/engs88/21 This Thesis (Senior Honors) is brought to you for free and open access by the Other Engineering Materials at Dartmouth Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in ENGS 88 Honors Thesis (AB Students) by an authorized administrator of Dartmouth Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Investigations of Mycelium as a Low-carbon Building Material by Kevin Yang Thayer School of Engineering Dartmouth College Hanover, New Hampshire Date: Approved: Advisor’s Signature Kevin Yang Author’s Signature Abstract: With the building industry being responsible for 39% of global carbon emissions [4], there is an imperative need for low-carbon solutions that can decarbonize the built environment. This thesis aimed to address whether mycelium, the hyphal body of fungi, can be used as a building material. The first part of research involved developing a protocol for creating and testing mycelium samples. Mycelium composites were created by inoculating strains of mycelium onto agricultural substrates such as walnut shells, rice hulls, and a commercially available mix from Ecovative Design LLC. Mechanical compression and tensile tests, as well as thermal conductivity and fire resistance tests were performed on samples of varying substrates to determine their suitable applications. This study also characterized the effect of nutrient additions such as flour and colonization time on thermal conductivity. Ultimately, we found that the compressive and tensile strengths of our composites aligned with literature data ranges: approximately 1kPa to 1.1MPa for compression and .03-.18 MPa for tension [16]. Thermal test results were also approximate to the literature range of values: 0.05-0.07 W/m*K [33]. By comparing the thermal performance of samples that varied with incubation time and nutrient additions, we found that there is an optimum density for thermal performance that is affected by nutrient additions. This meant that the conventional approaches of waiting for full colonization of thermal samples may not be optimal. While the experiments and analysis were greatly limited by Covid-19, given these findings, mycelium has the most practical application as thermal insulation materials for buildings. Structural mycelium currently is not feasible due to poor mechanical performance. ii Preface: I came into my junior off-term unsure of whether I wanted to continue engineering. After five consecutive terms on campus, I found my curiosity smothered by the nature of the quarter system and the rigor of my courses. I had forgotten what I was passionate about, and why I wanted to pursue engineering. Without any concrete plans for the term, I decided to stay with a friend at UC Berkeley and pretend to be a student. I sat in on various classes, joined some organizations, and also met a student pursing a thesis on recycling PLA plastic from campus 3-D printing. Even though PLA is marketed as biodegradable, the Berkeley community did not have the proper resources necessary to process the PLA into a biodegradable material. This student found a way to acquire a grinder and essentially reuse old 3-D prints as new material, decreasing the ecological impact of the material. After learning about her research and how it could directly benefit the community in a sustainable manner, I began wondering if I could do the same. While complications from Covid-19 have changed the direct impact of this thesis, I hope that my research is able to inspire future students into action. I would like to thank my advisor Professor Vicki May, as well as Professor Douglas Van Citters, Mary Kay Brown, Morgan Peach, William Jelsma, the Irving Institute, and the Paul K. Richter and Evalyn E. Cook Richter Memorial Fund for making this research possible. iii Table of Contents Preliminaries: ............................................................................................................................ ii-viii Abstract: ....................................................................................................................................... ii Preface: ....................................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents: ..................................................................................................................... iiiv List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... v List of Figures ............................................................................................................................. vi Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 1 Background ...................................................................................................................................... 2 Literature Review........................................................................................................................... 13 Direction of Thesis ......................................................................................................................... 17 Experimental Protocol ................................................................................................................... 17 G2 Propagation Protocol: ........................................................................................................... 18 Bulk Inoculation Protocol: ......................................................................................................... 20 Winter Experimentation ................................................................................................................. 22 Testing ........................................................................................................................................... 27 Results and Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 40 Discussion ...................................................................................................................................... 47 Future Steps ................................................................................................................................... 48 Appendix: ....................................................................................................................................... 49 Bibliography .................................................................................................................................. 54 iv List of Tables Table 1: Summary of strains, substrates, and tests.. ......................................................... 24 Table 2: Compression testing substrate and strains summary .......................................... 27 Table 3: Tension testing substrate and strains summary .................................................. 32 Table 4: Thermal testing substrate and strains summary .................................................. 34 Table 5: Fire resistance test substrate and strains summary ............................................. 37 Table 6: Thermal results differences summary ................................................................. 44 v List of Figures Figure 1: Fungi Mutarium consuming plastic and agar substrate ...................................... 6 Figure 2: Myco-Tree installation ........................................................................................ 9 Figure 3: Hy-Fi Installation at MoMa PS1 ....................................................................... 10 Figure 4: Growing Pavilion at the Dutch Design Week ................................................... 11 Figure 5: Shell Mycelium ................................................................................................. 12 Figure 6: 3-D Printed Mycelium Chair ............................................................................. 12 Figure 7: Flowchart of Mycelium Composite Protocol .................................................... 18 Figure 8: G2 Inoculation in BSL2 Cabinet ....................................................................... 19 Figure 9: Colonization chamber with materials ................................................................ 19 Figure 10: Oyster mushroom on cardboard ...................................................................... 21 Figure 11: Oyster mushroom growing on cardboard ........................................................ 21 Figure 12: Oyster mushroom on millet hull ...................................................................... 21 Figure 13: Oyster mushroom on hardwood sawdust ........................................................ 21 Figure 14: Contamination on sawdust substrate ..............................................................