Master's Dissertation: Mycelium Cultivation

M Y C E L I U M C U L T I V A T I O N: TH E D EVE LO PM E NT O F A N EW S U STAI NAB LE C O N S T R U C T I O N PARAD I G M T O M E E T Z E R O CAR B O N LE G I S LAT I O N

ALEXANDRA ADAMS

This document is best viewed as if reading a book.

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Alexandra Adams MArch Advanced Architectural Design (AAD) Department of Architecture Faculty of Engineering University of Strathclyde 2019/2020

M Y C E L I U M C U L T I V A T I O N: THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW SUSTAI NABLE CONSTRUCTION PARADIGM TO MEET ZERO CARBON LEGISLATION

August 2020 Candidate Number: 201977636 Supervised by Dr David Grierson Turnitin Score: 9% Wordcount: 15,190 (excluding preambles and bibliography)

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“There is no such thing as ‘away’. When we throw anything away it must go somewhere.”

Annie Leonard

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ABSTRACT Climate change is an ever-present discussion within society. Governments and large corporations are finding new approaches to the fight against global warming. Scotland aims to reduce carbon emissions to net-zero by 2045, five years before the rest of the UK. If targets are to be achieved, alternate methods to sustainability will need to be developed.

With households becoming mindful of their carbon footprint, people are analysing their lifestyle and adopting strategies to reduce their impact on the environment, however, with global carbon emissions being contributed to enormously by the construction industry, there is a need for environmentally sustainable alternatives. This proposal discusses the possibility of Mycelium as a construction material and the wider impact of creating a sustainable material through reducing construction waste. The point of departure for this study begins by proposing Mycelium would establish a circular economy within the construction industry. Consequently, the creation of a sustainable industry would contribute towards carbon-neutral governmental policies.

The research aims centre around five key objectives (1) to understand the definition of construction waste and how this can be limited; (2) to understand what Mycelium is, how it is currently used and its potentials for the future; (3) to understand the environmental aims of the Scottish government regarding the construction industry, why the guidelines have been published, who this affects, and how they intend on achieving their carbon budget; (4) to analyse existing economically viable alternative construction materials with sustainable paradigms and compare these to Mycelium to understand the benefits and limitations; and (5) to present a series of recommendations for the Scottish Government’s construction industry guidelines, based on the consolidated findings regarding Mycelium.

Making use of relevant literature and case studies and utilizing a widely qualitative approach, the key findings from this research include - the current limitations of the guidelines set forth by the Scottish Government; the areas in which the construction industry can be amended; potential avenues of building alternatives; and the actions that can be implemented by the Scottish Government looking forward to 2045.

This research has acted as a catalyst for environmental alternatives, out with the construction industry, that could support the aims of the Scottish Government in their zero-carbon targets.

The analysis of Mycelium as a sustainable material is a principle that could edify alternative environmental responses in subsequent directions for Scotland in 2045.

This proposal focusses on the environmental climate by addressing the linear trends of the construction industry, suggesting an alternative paradigm which would ‘close the loop’ in order to create a circular economy. It will analyse the potential of Mycelium cultivation and its architectural applications within Scotland. This focus could work in conjunction with other examples of sustainable materials in a wider context to further combat construction waste.

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D E C LA R AT I O N

22900 2019/20 MArch Advanced Architectural Design (AAD)

“I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and has been composed by myself. It contains no unacknowledged text and has not been submitted in any previous context. All quotations have been distinguished by quotation marks and all sources of information, text, illustration, tables, images etc. have been specifically acknowledged.

I accept that if having this declaration my work should be found at examination to show evidence of academic dishonesty the work will fail, and I will be liable to face the University Senate Discipline Committee.�

Name: Alexandra Jenny Adams Reg Number: 201977636 Signed:

.

Date: 17th August 2020

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank my friends, family and colleagues that have supported me throughout this process, I am eternally grateful for their patience and understanding.

Thanks must be given to my dissertation advisor Dr David Grierson, Deputy Head of the Architecture department at the University of Strathclyde. His guidance and insight have been invaluable.

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude towards Euan Campbell, whom I completed my thesis with. The time and research dedicated to the development of sustainable construction helped shape this research project.

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CONTENTS Abstract Declaration Acknowledgments Contents List of Figures

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1. Introduction

1.1 Introduction 1.2 Research Proposition, Aim & Objectives 1.3 Research Structure 1.4 Research Methodology

1 2 3 4

2. Environmental Context

2.1 Environmental Crisis 2.1.1 Worldwide Response and Shifting Attitudes 2.1.2 UK Government Response 2.1.3 Scottish Government Targets 2.1.4 Summary

5 5 7 7 8

2.2 Construction Waste 2.2.1 The Definition of Construction Waste 2.2.2 The Impact of Construction Waste 2.2.3 Linear vs Circular Economies 2.2.4 Summary

11 11 12 14 15

2.3 Sustainable Materials 2.3.1 Sustainable Construction Materials 2.3.2 History of Construction Materials 2.3.3 Traditional Building Techniques 2.3.4 Natural Building Materials 2.3.5 New Technologies and Hybrids 2.3.6 Summary

15 16 18 19 21 22 22

3. Mycelium

3.1 Introduction 3.2 Mycelium, the Organism 3.3 Growth Requirements of Mycelium x

24 24 25

3.4 Material Properties of Mycelium 3.5 Limitations of Mycelium 3.6 Mycelium within Construction 3.7. Further Development of Mycelium 3.8 Growing Underground 3.9 Urban Growing - Blanc de Gris 3.10 Summary

25 27 27 28 30 32 33

4. Government Legislation

4.1 Introduction 4.2 The Paris Climate Agreement 4.3 The Advice on the new Scottish Climate Change Bill 4.4 The Reducing emissions in Scotland 2019 Progress Report 4.5 Summary

35 35 36 38 39

5. Case Studies

5.1 Recycled Plastic Tiles 5.2 Ferrock 5.3 The Cork House 5.4 NeptuTherm 5.5 Biohm 5.6 Ecovative 5.7 Summary

40 42 42 45 46 49 52

6. Conclusions

6.1 Introduction 6.2 Research Objective Findings 6.3 Concluding Remarks 6.4 Directions for Future Research

54 54 56 56

Bibliography

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LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 - Climate Change Protest Sign (Source: eandt.org)

Figure 2 - Greta Thunberg (Source: theguardian.com)

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Figure 3 - Plastic Waste Shipped to Bangladesh (Source: bbc.co.uk)

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Figure 4 - Thyssenkrupp Cement Plant (Source: thyssenkrupp-industrial-

solutions.com )

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Figure 5 - Bamboo Toothbrush in Plastic Packaging (Source: reddit.com)

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Figure 6 - Sheep’s Wool Insulation (Source: ArchiExpo)

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Figure 7 - Timbercrete Single Skin Blocks (Source: timbercrete.com)

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Figure 8 - Mycelium Tree Growth (Source: blogs.scientificamerican.com)

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Figure 9 - Mycelium Growth (Source: biohm.com)

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Figure 10 - Growing Underground (Source: ibtimes.com)

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Figure 11 - The Paris Agreement (Source: triplepundit.com)

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Figure 12 - Scottish Climate Change Bill (Source: scot.gov)

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Figure 13 - Recycled Plastic Tiles by Enis Akiev (Source: dezeen.com)

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Figure 14 - The Cork House (Source: architecture.com)

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Figure 15 - Mycelium Rigid Insulation (Source: biohm.com)

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Figure 16 - Ecovative Atlast Food Replacement (Source: ecovative.com)

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1. I N T R O D U C T I O N 1.1 I N T R O D U C T I O N With the estimation that there are just 11 years left to reduce the effects of a climate emergency, we are compelled to tackle this matter by sourcing new sustainable approaches (United Nations, 2019).

Rising temperatures as a result of global warming is a broadly debated field regarding the climate emergency, without considerable alterations to the balance between the built world and the natural world, the consequences will increase. As a result, environmental solutions have come to the forefront of conversations to combat this modern-day war on climate change.

The effects of climate change can differ from region to region; however, the Industrial Revolution introduced a shift in the approach materials are produced and consumed. This itself has unearthed a unique set of challenges and opportunities which can be seen in almost every industry worldwide. Since the Industrial Revolution began, industrial activities can be attributed to carbon emissions rising by 40% (Met Office, 2019). An increase in waste produce from industries including construction, food production and fashion have meant people have become detached from the consequences that their behaviour has on the planet.

Although there were visible advancements to the lives of those living in industrialised regions, increased carbon emission has increased the extensive damage of the biosphere.

Industrial processes stripping our biosphere have been disastrous and continue to have a heavy prevalence within the construction industry today.

Despite these findings, over the last few decades, the design and development of sustainable alternatives to the carbon-rich buildings materials readily available have been making waves within the industry. As such, government bodies are acknowledging the need to push towards pragmatic results through new guidance and legislation.

For Scotland, the substantial targets of net-zero carbon emissions by 2045 will force every sector, including construction, to rethink their extraction of raw materials and dependency on carbon-rich materials. If supported, advancement into ‘material mindfulness’ could see architects, along with their peers, at the forefront of an innovative environmental shift.

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1.2 R E S E A R C H P R O P O S I T I O N, A I M & O B J E C T I V E S This research is grounded in the proposal that Mycelium is an example of a carbon neutral building alternative that can allow for a more sustainable future by replacing the existing extraction of raw materials. Following this proposal, the aim of this thesis is to analyse and establish where Mycelium, as a low-carbon material, can be implemented into the aims of the Scottish Government as a mechanism for furthering the battle against climate change.

Despite the Scottish Government updating their strategies yearly, taking recommendation from the Committee on Climate Change, there is limited implementation of the advice given -with the Committee highlighting this. As a result, the construction industry persists with its existing consequential approach where advocates for sustainable change increasingly voice their concerns.

In order to assist the comprehensive target of this research proposal in the role of sustainability in the construction industry, the consequent objectives have been determined: Objective 1: To establish an understanding of the definition of construction waste, how it contributes to climate change and how it can be limited.

Objective 2: To establish an understanding of what Mycelium is, how it is currently used and its potentials for the future.

Objective 3: To establish an understanding of the environmental aims of the Scottish government regarding the construction industry, why the guidelines have been published, who this affects, and how they intend on achieving their carbon budget.

Objective 4: To analyse existing economically viable alternative construction materials with sustainable paradigms and compare these to Mycelium to understand its benefits and limitations.

Objective 5: To present a series of recommendations for the Scottish Government’s construction industry guidelines, based on the consolidated findings regarding sustainable materials.

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1.3 R E S E A R C H S T R U C T U R E Following on from this brief introduction into research objectives, structure and methodology are 5 chapters, as described in the contents. Chapter 2 is a literature review which gives a context for the preceding chapters. This chapter establishes the need for a sustainable future by highlighting the demands of the public, followed by the guidance that has been implemented. In addition to this, the construction industry is introduced, highlighting the environmental issues relating to the previous mentioned topic and where these issues need to be confronted. A linear economy with then be analysed to give a background of the construction industry, followed by a history of sustainable materials. This section will develop an understanding of sustainable materials that exist within the construction industry as well as how they are used out with the industry by the average household.

Chapter 3 will introduce Mycelium as an organism before analysing how it is a zero-waste, circular alternative material. From there, the future of Mycelium as a heavily utilised building material will be analysed by looking at examples of Mycelium products and understanding the potentials for transferable skills and uses.

In chapter 4, an understanding of how governmental strategies can affect the built environment will be analysed. Breaking down how reform and guidance influence design development and providing an insight into the strategies that have already been adopted.

Scottish Regulations will be analysed in conjunction with the advice from the Committee for Climate Change to understand the implementation of the proposals.

Chapter 5 will analyse case studies of sustainable materials currently on the market. Finding the strengths and limitations of the different sustainable alternatives, the chapter will then analyse how Mycelium construction materials could have a larger role within the construction industry. This will conclude with a summary of the materials against each other.

The concluding chapter contains the findings of the research which achieve the aims and objectives stated. In this chapter the policies in place that have been examined to establish the limitations and shortcomings of the provided guidance will allow for an alternative suggestion to be put forth to aid the discussion of sustainability within Scotland’s carbon emission goals. This chapter observes other potential passages of research related to sustainable targets put forth by the government.

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1.4 R E S E A R C H M E T H O D O L O G Y Research methodology is outlined as “ the main specification for what is going to be and how you propose to do it” ( (Borden & Ray, 2014). This thesis is p¬redominantly focused on researching and analysing the regulations employed by the Scottish Government in response to the findings of the Committee for Climate Change and how a focus on sustainable materials, specifically Mycelium, could reach the demands required of the construction industry.

The Committee for Climate Change reviews annually, addressing both the strengths and limitations of the Scottish Government’s response to the previous year and updates statistics suggesting whether targets are being met. As a result, a qualitative research analysis will be undertaken.

The fundamentals of this proposal relating to climate change will be similar globally.

However, for the interest of this research, Scotland will be addressed specifically. Scotland’s aim is to become net-zero carbon emissions by 2045 makes it a unique case as this is five years prior to the rest of the United Kingdom. Due to this, it will need to find sustainable approaches to the construction industry with greater haste.

In order to analyse how Mycelium can help environmental targets be achieved, an extensive literature review will set the context for environmental concerns; government targets and ambitions; construction industry failings; sustainable construction alternatives and Mycelium properties and how these can be adopted and utilised. Following on from this, using different cases from the Committee for Climate Change’s findings, the regulations will be analysed, and their results demonstrated.

Before concluding in the final chapter, there will be a chapter proposing Mycelium over other sustainable material alternatives. This chapter will focus on an analysis of case studies and related literature to highlight where Mycelium can be utilised within the built environment to make the construction industry more environmentally considerate and limit the existing impacts of climate change.

The final chapter will be a conclusion which puts fourth amendments to the guidance suggested by the Scottish Government regarding reaching their zero carbon emissions goals by 2045. This will stem from the prior analysis, research drawn from the literature review and case studies which illustrate the potentials for sustainable, zero carbon materials such as Mycelium. Other tools, such as material strength and emission comparisons with readily used materials, as well as evidence suggesting the urgency for guidance from the Scottish Government will be used as supporting evidence.

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2. E N V I R O N M E N T A L C O N T E X T

2.1 E N V I R O N M E N T A L C R I S I S Climate change is already having drastic impacts on the world’s biosphere and a continuing strain on our resources could affect major parts of our living. Extreme weather, food production issues, rising sea levels and rising temperatures will alter the environment we inhabit further. Despite an increased awareness, with plans to mitigate the damages caused, there is still an urgent need to make more substantial changes.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate (IPCC) states, “the range of published evidence indicates that the net damage costs of climate change are likely to be significant and to increase over time.” The IPCC suggests that climate change is not steadying or slowing.

Regions will be affected in different ways at different times due to environmental and social factors specific to those areas (NASA, 2020). Despite different areas having different needs, it is important that carbon emissions are reduced to slow down these affects.

‘Carbon neutrality’ or ‘net-zero carbon’ are often referred to when discussing climate change. These are simply terms used to describe eradicating the production of carbon from a process, or balancing the carbon produced with carbon removal in order to achieve a sustainable process. This limits the amount of carbon harming the o-zone layer, which in turn damage our biosphere, causing global warming.

Many of the fundamental factors that affect climate change come from destructive processes brought about from industrialisation. Initially there was a naivety surrounding the implications of these processes, however, for decades now the affects have been apparent, substantiated with evidence by scientific bodies globally. Despite this, temperatures continue to rise, the effects of climate change become increasingly harder to ignore. For these problems to be alleviated, new approaches to environmental obstacles will need to be put forth.

2.1.1 W O R L D W I D E R E S P O N S E A N D S H I F T I N G A T T I T U D E S Climate change is an ever-increasing topic of conversation within not only politics, but everyday life. Globally, there has been rising pressures demanding immediate action. The largest climate change protest in history took place with more than 4,600 climate protests in 150 countries on September 20th, 2019. These protests included 300,000 people at over 100 rallies in Australia, 800 in the US and 400 in Germany. It is estimated that around 4 million 5

Figure 1 - Climate Change Protest Sign

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people took place in the protests known as Fridays for Future (FFF), Youth for Climate, Climate Strike or Youth Strike for Climate which encouraged children to strike following the lead of teenager Greta Thunberg after her protests outside the Swedish Parliament (Weston, 2019).

Shortly after these protests, polls were taken within the US from Yale’s program on climate change communication which demonstrated changing attitudes towards climate change.

These indicated an increase of 9% between March 2018 and December 2019 up to 72% of those Americans participating found global warming personally important.

As well as this, nearly half showed their support for a tax based on the amount of carbon in fuels that, when burned, generate the main climate-warming greenhouse gas emission, carbon dioxide. Despite these statistics 51% of people felt ‘helpless’ in regard to climate change, with less than half of people questioned feeling ‘hopeful’ (Revkin, 2019).

2.1.2 U K G O V E R N M E N T R E S P O N S E With Greta Thunberg at the forefront of a climate revolution encouraging children to protest against climate change, more than 200 events took place across the UK, according to the UK Student Climate Network, with adults actively encouraged to join school children in the protests. The UK campaign group 350.org says more than 70 unions, 500 organisations and 1,000 companies came out in support with around 100,000 people protesting in central London and more than 20,000 estimated to have marched in Edinburgh (Weston, 2019).

This encouraged marches across the United Kingdom fronted by a new generation of environmentally conscious minds looking to tackle the problems caused by the last hundred years of industrial ‘progress’. Despite their efforts, it is another generation of lawmakers that have the power to address these issues right now.

With further exploration into climate change and a call from protests worldwide, the UK government, in the wake of other nations, has begun to make a legislative response. The UK uses statistics from the 1990s as their base comparison for their targets. Initially, an 80 percent reduction of carbon emissions by 2050 was put forth, however, following increasing pressures, reductions were increased to reduce carbon emissions to net-zero by 2050.

2.1.3 S C O T T I S H G O V E R N M E N T T A R G E T S Following announcements from Westminster regarding their net-zero targets for 2050, in April 2019 First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, announced Scotland would reach the same net-zero target five years prior to this, in 2045 (Brown, 2019). Despite the successes of this for sustainability within Scotland, this also means making radical changes to reach 7

these targets with greater urgency.

The Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019 was updated to supersede, the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009. As well as introducing targets for 2045, it outlines targets of 56% by 2020, 75% by 2030 and 90% by 2040. The Scottish Government is advised by the independent Committee on Climate Change who in 2017 declared that intended emissions reductions were not achieved and in order for these figures to be met “Net-zero policy must be embedded across all levels and parts of government�

(Committee on Climate Change, 2019).

Each year the Committee on Climate Change publishes its findings and recommendations for the Scottish Government. Addressing the progress and shortfalls in reaching the interim targets, the Committee then suggests amended proposals. The information provided in this document highlights areas in which progress can be made that can be presented as evidence to call for additional legislation.

2.1.4 S U M M A R Y In summary, cultural shifts in attitudes are putting continual pressure for reforms with government legislation worldwide. The need for guidance towards sustainability is being encouraged and adopted globally, with the Scottish Government looking to achieve the same net-zero policy as the rest of the UK five years prior. However, for these aims to materialize, the government needs to implement changes within legislation to reform production paradigms. In order to achieve the greatest results, the largest corporations within the industries producing the highest emissions levels need to adopt sustainable archetypes.

Approaching the construction industry is imperative as it is something the everyday consumer has less influence over. Fashion and food production are two other industries heavily involved in contributions to carbon emissions, however, consumers can have an element of control over their food waste and where they chose to buy their clothing from.

Construction is not controlled by the consumer in the same way. For changes to be made within the construction industry, legislation is the largest factor to drive this. For this reason, more than others, the industry is impacted less by shifting attitudes of the general public.

It therefore potentially shifts the responsibility towards the designer to urge reform and legislation.

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Figure 2 - Greta Thunberg with skolstrejk fรถr klimatet (school strike for climate) banner

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Figure 3 - Plastic Waste Shipped to Bangladesh

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2.2 W A S T E The ongoing course of waste and consumption in humanity contribute to the climate disaster. Waste can be associated with anything that is not used to its full potential. In a high proportion of cases it is obvious to the consumer what this waste is - it could be the food in your fridge that is never used and ends up being thrown away. Alternatively, on a larger scale this could be your local supermarket left at the end of a working day with an abundance of food past its sell by date that they are unable to trade. Of the 6.6 million tonnes of food waste thrown away in 2018, 70% of the food could have been eaten (WRAP, 2020).

The larger the corporation, the more potentials for an excess of waste.

Within the news there have been discussions around food waste and fast fashion contributing to climate change, however, the construction industry is one of the largest contributors towards waste and energy consumption. 27.3 million tonnes of household waste were produced in 2016, compared to the 136.2 million tonnes of construction waste. To further contribute to this problem, the UK sends two-thirds of its plastic waste elsewhere for treatment. Not only does waste in the UK contribute to environmental problems here, it detrimental to regions out with the UK (DEFRA, 2020). This demonstrates that regardless of our household recycling, sustainability cannot be achieved without addressing the construction industry.

2.2.1 T H E D E F I N I T I O N O F C O N S T R U C T I O N W A S T E Waste is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as “unwanted matter or material of any type, especially what is left after useful substances or parts have been removed.� Waste is any product that is not being used to its full potential, it results in a surplus of unwanted product which needs to be disposed of. In the construction industry this is not only from demolishing a building at the end of its life. This also covers overordering materials to site and is not limited to the materials themselves, it also includes the packaging used in transportation.

In order to tackle the contribution that the industry makes towards climate change, every aspect of waste needs to be addressed. In some cases, this could be as simple as selling on excess material caused by overordering to another party or using it on another project.

However, in many circumstances it results in waste ending in landfill. This not only contributes to the damaging carbon dioxide released from landfill, but also disregards the energy contribution towards the creation of the material in the first instance.

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2.2.2 T H E I M P A C T O F C O N S T R U C T I O N W A S T E According to The UK Green Building Control, the built environment contributes approximately 40% of the UK’s total carbon footprint (UKGBC, 2020) which indicates that adjustments within the construction industry alone could have substantial worldwide impacts. Consequently, changes are being made. Between 2011 and 2016 solid waste recovery in Europe was up 11%, with countries such as Sweden, Austria and Luxembourg leading with recovery rates over 80% (PACE, 2020). However, there are issues with using waste recovery as a means of deciding sustainability. Despite using materials fully, it does not negate from the extraction of raw virgin materials which contribute towards damaging our planet. Raw materials often have an increased embodied energy from extraction, heedless of the amount of reusing and recycling. 55% of the global industrial carbon emissions come from the manufacture and processing of five key materials: steel (25%), cement (19%), paper (4%), plastic and aluminium (3%) (NBS, 2020). The cement industry would be in the top three carbon emitters in the world, were it a country (Rodgers, 2018). Despite this, the architects and designers in charge of specifying materials are cautious of new approaches.

As a result, the lack of research and development into utilising new building materials results in a continued use of emission-heavy materials.

There are different approaches to reducing waste manufactured by the construction industry.

Limiting waste ending in landfill can be achieved by encouraging buildings with longer usability. Reduced demolition and encouraging repurposing or buildings that are easily recycled post-demolition, reduces waste by specifying materials with a purpose post building use. However, specifying recycled materials will remove the need for extracting virgin materials. In addition, materials that can naturally compost would limit the damage from waste materials post-demolition.

The UK aimed to achieve a 70% recovery rate target by the year 2020. Having already achieved well beyond this target with a rate of 89.9% by 2018 (DEFRA, 2018) there is plenty evidence that steps to improve sustainability are being adopted, however, whilst recycling materials is to be commended, it seems that a more profound approach would discourage the disproportionate extracting of raw materials using processes that crave immense amounts of energy, and rather undertake solutions with less damaging results.

Extracting raw virgin materials is a linear economy. The process ensures taking, using and wasting materials. Copious energy goes into attaining materials in addition to the energy required for distribution and transportation. Collecting locally sourced materials, which do 12

Figure 4 - Thyssenkrupp Cement Plant

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not require drilling or mining as well as transporting large distances, limits the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere. Post extraction, disposing of materials into landfill causes an additional creation of CO2. This unhealthy interaction of waste production could be reduced by identifying and applying sustainable materials to create a circular economy that delivers waste back into the cycle.

2.2.3 L I N E A R V S C I R C U L A R E C O N O M I E S A linear economy is the one adopted in most of our industries within the UK. It is a system of production that continues to contribute to our carbon emissions that increased tenfold during the Industrial Revolution. The linear economy supports the notion of ‘make, break, and discard’. In this framework, you take a substance, use it until you are finished with it and then throw it away. The problem with this is both the ‘take’ action and the ‘discard’ action.

Both actions have negative impacts on our environment.

“We must shift our perspective and realise there is no end-of-life for a product, just an end of effective use.”

(Future of Construction, 2019) In order to reduce the impacts of discarding, recycling was introduced as an alternative.

Recycling is tackling just one part of the problem, the physical matter we have left. Instead of addressing the issue from its roots, it is instead only tackling the surface of the issue. It does not tackle the impact that stripping the planet of minerals and resources has on the biosphere, instead it relies on a finite supple of raw materials. This cannot be depended on, and so, other material options need to be developed.

The solution to the issues discussed within a linear economy, is the circular alternative. This requires every stage of an industry, from design through to production, to understand the entire lifespan of a material.

Circular economies look to ensure zero waste products which could mean creating a 100 percent recyclable product by understanding how to utilise by-products. Another solution to addressing waste can be standardising products, this can open a circular economy to involve other companies and production lines. Going beyond that, it could be suggested that environmental strategies should not only limit the damage caused, but potentially improve the damage already caused.

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2.2.4 S U M M A R Y In summary, regardless of the extent at which the construction industry can improve its reuse and recycling, it does not express the real damages being created by the industry as a whole. For the construction industry to become sustainable, a different attitude towards material selection would need to be adopted by not only the designers, but also enforced at a higher level. The industry leans towards a traditional selection of materials including steel, concrete and timber, however, new techniques are emerging in the industry which are being trialled and adopted. The same however cannot be said about new materials. By encouraging a circular economy that lessens the demand for the extraction of raw materials, the industry would become less carbon extensive and overall, less damaging towards the biosphere.

2.3 S U S T A I N A B L E M A T E R I A L S ‘Sustainability’ refers to the ability to maintain a level or rate consistently. However, with climate change and environmental consciousness a continuing discussion, the word sustainability is now often used when referring to environmental sustainability. Sustainability in this sense is the ability for humans to coexist with our biosphere in a way which is not damaging and instead finding a harmonious balance or equilibrium.

“A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.”

- Aldo Leopold author, scientist and environmentalist Regarding sustainable materials, they can be described as materials which consider the whole life of a product, from extraction or beginning, to the end-product and future use or waste.

Not exclusively referring to the environment, sustainable materials often refer to materials which consider their societal and economic affects. ‘Material mindfulness’ is referred to in this case as selecting and considering the impacts of the materials that are being consumed.

A sustainable material would be considered a ‘mindful’ material as it considers the people and planet, limiting any damages it could cause.

As with waste, sustainability is often thought by the average person on an everyday level.

This could include the things we use and throw out on a daily basis. We are seeing an influx 15

of sustainable options that can be implemented into our routines. In fashion there is evidence of an increase in sustainable and ethical clothing brands, as well as large clothing brands running sustainable ranges and lines within their businesses. The global fashion search platform Lyst experienced a 47% increase in sustainability-related keywords in user searches (McKee, 2020). As well as this, new businesses dedicated to sustainable resources such as zero-waste shops have been increasing as an alternative to large supermarkets. Though statistics of how many exist are hard to find, it is thought that between 2017 and 2019, over 100 new shops came to be (Moss, 2019). These shops allow consumers to support local businesses, limit their carbon footprint and reduce their waste production through incentives such as reintroducing glass milk bottles, as was used before single-use plastics became the environmentally damaging substitute.

Bamboo toothbrushes are now encouraged as a replacement to plastic options. Bamboo is a sustainable material as it is natural and fully biodegradable. This is important as dentist recommend replacing toothbrushes every three months, if every person switched to a bamboo alternative, this would reduce waste plastic massively. Ironically these bamboo toothbrushes are being sold by large brands in single-use plastic packaging. This example is one suggestion of how sustainability is, for some, a money-making exercise with little interest in the associated environmental impacts.

However, despite all these changes being made and considerations being taken, the first thought for a person, when looking for sustainable changes to make to their lives, is probably not their built environment.

2.3.1 S U S T A I N A B L E C O N S T R U C T I O N M A T E R I A L S With statistics highlighting the construction industry’s extensive carbon emissions, there has been an emerging number of sustainable building materials and businesses emerging.

However, there are different factors relating to sustainability which can affect the impact that different materials have on the environment. Sustainability in the construction industry, although still far from becoming carbon-neutral, is heading in the right direction. Although construction waste is still one of the largest emitters of carbon, there are attempts at consciously reducing the impacts on the environment. In Scotland, the demolition of Queen Street Station saw 94% of the 14,000 tonnes of demolition waste recycled. The products went on to become aggregate as well as wood chippings for equestrian centres (Scottish Construction Now, 2018). This planned deconstruction of buildings allows for less carbon emission released from landfill sites, however, with the new station using materials that are 16

Figure 5 - Bamboo Toothbrush in Plastic Packaging

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not fully sustainable, only part of the damage of the redevelopment has been limited. It is this post-design consideration that needs to be addressed. Globally, the embodied carbon of a buildings account for about 11 percent of emissions (Budds, 2019) compared to the aviation sector, which accounts for 2% (Kommenda, 2019). Despite these vast amounts the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) believe it possible that the industry can reach 40% less embodied carbon emissions by 2030, and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 (World Green Building Council, 2019). However, for fully sustainable projects to be delivered, it is important that designers are considering the environmental impacts at every stage of the build, including specifying materials.

Locally sourced materials can be environmentally friendly solutions as their carbon footprint is low when transportation is considered. Another factor of sustainability is the amount of carbon emissions that go into creating a material. This begins with the possible extraction of raw materials or components, through to the materials end. Durability plays into how sustainable a material is as a frequent replacement would make a material less environmentally friendly, taking these things into consideration, there are limits to every material and finding a sustainable material depends on many factors including its purpose and the climate in which it is used (Pyzyk, 2018).

“There’s no material that’s perfect. There are some common characteristics of materials that have low embodied energy.”

- Mike Stopka Building and built environments lead, Delta Institute 2.3.2 H I S T O R Y O F C O N S T R U C T I O N M A T E R I A L S Traditionally, building materials would have been sourced from the nearest available source.

These materials would have been naturally occurring materials, often low carbon, such as stone, straw, mud and clay. Dating back to 7000 BC, mud was hand-moulded into bricks and left to dry naturally, even The Great Wall of China is made from rammed earth, stone, brick and sun-dried mudbrick (Kiprop, 2018). Historically, in Scotland the predominant materials used were indigenous to the regions they originated, generating specific lowland and highland building typologies, materials and techniques. Areas such as Aberdeen is still known for its grey granite with Glasgow and the south west known for its red sandstone (Historic Environment Scotland, 2017).

However, with the availability of transport and industrial processes as a result of the Industrial 18

Revolution, this rapidly changed. With the availability of mass-produced materials, there was an increase in the use of concrete and steel, with the construction industry accounting for 50% of the world’s steel production (Busuttil, 2019). The iron and steel industry accounts for 5% of CO2 emissions with approximately, 1.9 tonnes of CO2 emitted for every tonne of steel produced (Bellona Europa, 2019). In 2016, the UK produced 8 million tonnes of steel with China producing the most at 808 million tonnes (Rhodes, 2018). Using that calculation, the UK produced 15.2 tonnes of carbon from steel production alone in 2016.

Concrete accounts for 8% of the world’s carbon emissions, four times as much as the aviation industry combined with 4.4 billion tons of concrete formed annually. This number is predicted to rise over 5.5 billion by 2050, however, in order to achieve the goals set about by the Paris Agreement, emissions would need to decrease by 16% in the next 10 years (Hilburg, 2019). Due to the shocking nature of these statistics, people are beginning to question whether different materials and techniques may hold the solution.

2.3.3 T R A D I T I O N A L B U I L D I N G T E C H N I Q U E S “The sustainability agenda is leading to a reappraisal of the present situation, and a better appreciation of localism, embodied carbon (especially road miles) local employment and rural diversification” - (Historic Environment Scotland, 2017) With the effects of the Industrial Revolution now apparent, the toll of extracting and exporting materials has caused another shift in attitude. This calls for a more conscious material selection. As a result, development is going back towards locally sourced materials, but also an understanding that there are not enough raw materials to sustain the growing population, means people are returning to more traditional natural materials. Materials used include straw bale, rammed earth, cob, adobe, cordwood and hemp.

The UK has seen an increase in these traditional building materials such as cob, which is a mixture of clay soil, sand and straw. Examples of this include a company set up by Kate Edwards and Charlotte Eve who established Edwards and Eve Cob Building in 2007. Since they built their own house, they have trained thousands of others in the UK to build their own low-cost, low-carbon homes, extensions and small structures (Fearn, 2015).

Cob structures have many benefits, the material has good thermal capacities and stores heat during the day, slowly releasing it at night to keep a regulated temperature. The insulative capacities of the material make it energy efficient as well as being a good insulator of noise.

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Figure 6 - Sheep’s Wool Insulation

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Structurally, the material is load bearing, but can be used in conjunction to framed structures depending on the needs of the build. For stability, the walls tend to taper upwards in order to provide better strength and each layer must dry before the next course is started, making it a time-intensive process (Nickson, 2018). The increased interest in cob building seems to come from its cost effectiveness and environmentally conscious factors. Kate Edwards puts the success of her company down to the economic crash that occurred in 2008. As a result of this, many people were unable to buy their own homes as mortgages became more difficult to obtain, so people were looking for cost-effective alternatives. Cob houses are extremely labour-intensive, but the simplistic techniques mean, with little guidance, anyone can build their own structure, avoiding labour costs and with seriously reduced material costs. Considering this, cob houses can be built for a little as £20,000 (Fearn, 2015).

The sustainability of a material comes down to a combination of many factors, a key factor being the durability of the material, and therefore how often it would need to be replaced.

The durability of cob is extremely impressive, with houses in England built in the1400s still standing. In addition, the use of local materials and building by-hand, means that cob houses are extremely low-carbon options. The limitations of cob are in its application. There is a saying in Devon “that all a cob wants is a good hat and a good pair of shoes”, in essence, cob structures will last, given a good foundation – usually stone - and withstanding roof – usually straw (Keiren, 2016).

2.3.4 N A T U R A L B U I L D I N G M A T E R I A L S Natural sustainable material options include bamboo, cork and sheep’s wool, each of which contain unique properties which make it suitable to different types of sustainability. Bamboo its extremely fast growing, which makes it a good material to use as it can be harvested and quickly replaced, unlike hard woods which can take hundreds of years to grow heights which bamboo can grow in a matter of days. In addition to this, it is lightweight, has high strength-to-weight ratio and does not need to be replanted after harvest. However, it needs treated to avoid rot and insects and is not found in Europe. For this reason, it is not a sustainable option for Scotland to utilise (Pyzyk, 2018).

Cork, like bamboo, is an extremely fast-growing natural material. It is lightweight with good insulative capabilities as well as being hard-wearing. Cork is waterproof and a good fire retardant, but in addition to this is the only material that regenerate its bark and can be harvested without causing additional harm to the tree (Thorns, 2017). Like cork, sheep’s wool is specified for its thermal capacities. Its sustainable characteristics are highlighted 21

by the fact it takes only 15% of energy that glass wool does to manufacture (The Green Age, 2017). Sheep’s wool in addition can neutralise harmful substances and unlike other manmade insulations, is fire resistant and contains no volatile organic compounds.

2.3.5 N E W T E C H N O L O G I E S A N D H Y B R I D S Existing traditional techniques are important to the regions that they originated from, due to the low carbon associated with transportation. However, there is an emerging market for new hybrid materials which recycle common construction waste and household waste and create new, environmentally conscious alternatives. Alternatively, out with natural materials, there are material composites such as recycled plastic, Ferrock and Timbercrete which, although not natural, have sustainable properties which make them more sustainable than extracting virgin materials such as new granite.

Timbercrete is a combination of sawdust and concrete. The sawdust makes it much lighter than concrete and reduces some of the carbon-intensive elements in normal concrete. Ferrock combines various recycled materials such as steel dust to create a product that looks similar to concrete but is stronger and absorbs carbon dioxide as part of the drying process, making it less carbon intensive than concrete (Planning, BIM & Construction Today, 2019).

2.3.6 S U M M A R Y In summary, despite sustainable materials increasing in popularity for consumers, the focus of ‘material mindfulness’ is limited to materials that consumers actively use and dispose of. Fashion and single-use plastics, whilst extremely damaging, do not account for the same levels of carbon emissions as the construction industry. And so, despite best efforts, the construction industry would need to make a large contribution to reducing its carbon emissions for targets of carbon neutrality to be achieved.

Reducing the extraction of raw materials and mindfully selecting materials which are sustainable allows for natural, biodegradable alternatives to take the place of the current materials that are readily used. Instead of stripping the planet of its raw materials, it would encourage growth, reuse and repurposing waste. In addition, the focus of producing natural products allows the carbon emissions targets to be met, whilst recycling materials such as concrete is important. This is a focus that is targeting the waste problem, rather than eradicating the carbon-rich material at its source. For this reason, natural sustainable materials should be where research and development look for its solution instead of primarily recycling.

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Figure 7 - Timbercrete Single Skin Blocks

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3. M Y C E L I U M

3.1 I N T R O D U C T I O N Understanding Mycelium, first relies on a knowledge of fungi. Fungi are part of a family known as microorganisms, along with viruses and bacteria (Sharp, 1978). Fungi play a vital role in nature as well as in the everyday lives of humans. From penicillin production to beer brewing, the destruction of crops and diseases, they have favourable traits that we have adapted to our needs and unfavourable ones which we avoid. “Fungi thrive in every climate on earth” (Müller & Loeffler, 1976). They are present both on land in dry conditions as well as in water. However, not every type of fungi can grow in every condition.

Due to the fact fossil fungi is rare, its likely evolution can be pieced together from small increments of research known to be correct. Fungi is often compared to both animal cells as well as green plants, however there are distinct differences between them all. Unlike green plants, fungi contain no chlorophyll and therefore cannot photosynthesize. Green plants are self-sufficient (autotrophs) as they only rely on sunlight to photosynthesize. Fungi are heterotrophs as they rely on nutrients from other organisms – dead or alive – for their source of carbon. Unlike animal cells, fungi contain chitin and cellulose within their cell walls (Müller & Loeffler, 1976).

3.2 M Y C E L I U M, T H E O R G A N I S M Mycelium (plural ‘mycelia’) is a network of thread-like hyphae. Mycelium is the root structure of a sporophore – a mushroom/toadstool. The fungi digests cellulose to produce chitin and becomes a glue-like network of threads that continue to digest microorganisms in order to grow.

The organism utilises other microorganisms for consumption instead of photosynthesising chlorophyll, like a plant would, therefore there is a unique opportunity for this fungus to grow without sunlight. Naturally Mycelium would grow in the ground, its thread-like web growing outwards comparative to the roots of a tree or plant. When settled in a mould, the Mycelium will take the form of the mould.

Due to the entirely natural process, Mycelium manufacturing would have zero waste products and would have an embodied energy of net-zero. Combining this with the fact it can digest many different nutrients, the lack of sunlight and its ability to mould, the material 24

is extremely versatile. Its adaptability means its only real requirements are a steady supply of water and sterile conditions to ensure no unwanted mould growth.

3.3 G R O W T H R E Q U I R E M E N T S O F M Y C E L I U M Fungi can survive in different climates. As with plants, optimal conditions for fungi to thrive can change due to several factors. These can include; age, the availability of nutrients and the environmental conditions. For most fungi, they have an optimal temperature range whether it be as low as less than 15-degrees celsius or as high as 45-60 degrees celsius.

One of the most common forms of fungi found in Scotland are commonly known as Oyster Mushrooms. For the microorganism to grow, it requires conditions that are dark, cool and moist - which is why within Scotland mushrooms are often found growing naturally in these conditions. In an ideal controlled setting, a temperature of 21 degrees celsius, a regulated humidity, restricted natural light and some form of nutrient is required for optimum growth.

However, Mycelium grows with ease, and mushrooms are discovered growing in countless climates and conditions worldwide. It has been suggested that mushrooms would exist all over Scotland if they were not in competition with other organisms for the same space.

To cultivate extensive amounts of Mycelium for manufacturing, without allowing the mushroom head to grow, there are precautions that need to be considered to create a sterile environment. The selected substrate must be pasteurised to ensure the material is sterile and unwanted additional mould will not grow. Next the substrate is combined with the Mycelium spores which will begin to digest the microorganisms consuming the nutrients from the substrate, producing a spongy white material, known as Mycelium hyphae. When the Mycelium has finished digesting the substrate it is important that before mushrooms grow, the product is baked at a high temperature to kill off the existing living organisms to limit the growth of the mushroom head and leave the final product.

3.4 M A T E R I A L P R O P E R T I E S O F M Y C E L I U M Mycelium has many attributes that contribute towards its sustainability as a potential construction material. As a general rule, natural materials are healthier for building occupants, such as sheep’s wool instead of fiberglass insulation. Mycelium contains no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) - which can be found amongst many synthetic building materials. These particles are toxic if inhaled in large quantities which have been attributed towards the poor health of building occupants as they can cause lung problems and breathing difficulties. An 25

Figure 8 - Mycelium Tree Growth

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example of harmful toxic materials would include MDF, which is frequently used and emits formaldehyde when sawn. Avoiding materials with harmful toxins create a healthier living and working conditions.

Mycelium has a Class A fire-rating, meaning it is safe to use in cladding and insulation as it will not act as a catalyst if in contact with fire. Class A is the highest rating of fire protection according to The European Standard (EN 13501) where F is the most flammable. Due to events in the Grenfell disaster which saw an acceleration of fire throughout the housing block due to poorly fire-rated cladding, a good fire-rating is a highly desired by designers and specifiers to avoid such incidents.

Mycelium’s strength can be altered by changing the substrate it binds with. The material has an impressive strength-to-weight ratio due to its light weight. It has a strength rating of 30 psi where concrete’s strength in compression is 4000 psi however, when comparing Mycelium against concrete relative to weight, Mycelium is much stronger (Bonnefin, 2018).

3.5 L I M I T A T I O N S O F M Y C E L I U M The limitations of Mycelium in part are due to the material’s relationship with water.

Mycelium is water-resistant; however, it has been that demonstrated that its resistance will decrease over time. The result of this would instigate decomposing which would take place if the material was, for example, in contact with the ground. Due to this, the material is likely to have more appropriate uses where heavy moisture content is not present, for example, internal uses. Or insulation where there is a protective building envelope sealed with a damp proof membrane. Mycelium has a similar mould-resistance capability. If kept within a dry environment, Mycelium has good mould-resistance and should not decompose. However, Mycelium can fully decompose and as a result requires careful specifying as this process should not be encouraged unless the building has reached its full potential and the Mycelium no longer has a use.

3.6 M Y C E L I U M W I T H I N C O N S T R U C T I O N Mycelium is a good base for a sustainable building material due to its entirely natural process. Unlike many other materials which demand further processing, under the right environmental controls, Mycelium can provide a carbon-neutral alternative to the commonly used building materials that have to be extracted and treated. Mycelium eradicates the issues associated with waste as it is fully compostable, if its organic substrate is also compostable.

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The material will decompose and return its nutrients to the soil, where the cycle was first established, closing the cycle of the circular economy.

Mycelium is a suitable alternative as a solution to the carbon-heavy issues the construction industry faces as it irradiates the waste problem from its origin. Recycling concrete, although favourable to ending in landfill, does not consider the embodied energy it holds due in its original manufacturing. Rowan Moore writing for the Guardian stated “The British building regulations, for example, set reasonably high standards for the performance of buildings, but are silent on embodied energy. This makes no sense – there’s little point building something that performs magnificently in use, if it takes decades or centuries to pay back the expenditure of energy that went into its construction.” (Moore, 2019).

Ehab Sayed is the creator of Biohm, a group that researches into possible uses for Mycelium.

Sayed says being brought up in Qatar is one of the “biggest motivators” for him to encourage change. “Although it is the richest country in the world, it is likely one of the least sustainable and a contributor to the climate crisis,” he says (Card, 2020). The same principles could be taken and applied to Scotland. By reaching carbon-neutral goals prior to the rest of the UK, Scotland has an opportunity to be at the forefront of environmentally revolutionary design alternatives. By developing sustainable materials, there are possibilities not only for environmental success, but in turn, economic success directly associated.

The recycling solutions being utilised are attempting to clean up the aftereffects of a problem without addressing the root of the issue. Using the knowledge obtained from the current technological revolution and combining this with traditional building materials such as mud, clay and straw, there is a possibility of finding the right harmony between progress and sustainability.

3.7 F U R T H E R D E V E L O P M E N T O F M Y C E L I U M The further development of Mycelium lies in its material properties relating to the construction industry. Although its strengths and weaknesses have been addressed, there lies potential for Mycelium to be combined with other substrates in order to change its material properties. As with concrete, Mycelium’s material properties can be altered depending on the ratio of each component. Concrete consist of water, cement and aggregate. However, different amounts of each, and different types of aggregate can greatly change the consistency and properties of the material. In the same way, Mycelium requires spawn, water and a substrate/nutrient.

Different substrates will give the Mycelium different properties. This allows different 28

Figure 9 - Mycelium Growth

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variations of Mycelium for different purposes with some combining with other insulative properties such as straw for a good thermal mass, whereas stronger substrates could be used to create a material that has an increased load-bearing capacity.

3.8 G R O W I N G U N D E R G R O U N D Space is likely to become even more competitive with the world’s population predicted to increase by 2 billion persons in the next 30 years. This would take the current population of 7.7 billion up to 9.7 billion by 2050 (The United Nations D. , 2019). As a result, growing underground has many benefits. It provides a unique opportunity to move a process below the surface, freeing up space above the surface which is often high in demand for living, working and green spaces.

As Mycelium does contain chlorophyll used to photosynthesise, it does not require sunlight for growth like green plants would. As a result, there is a unique opportunity for Mycelium to grow underground.

Within urban locations the demands for space are much higher. It is predicted that by 2050, 68% of people will live within urban areas (The UN, 2018). In the last 70 years, the percentage of the population living in cities have risen over 12%, from 79% in 1950, to 91.1% in 2020. In cities with industrial pasts, there is a potential to reuse existing and derelict subterranean framework, in order to provide spaces for new sustainable processes.

Growing Underground is a project in the centre of the densely populated city of London.

Located deep below Clapham Common tube station, is the city’s first underground farm.

Around 100ft below the ground lies 7,000 square feet, built as an air raid shelter for the Second World War (Rodionova, 2017). Now, the space houses micro greens and salads, reducing travel distances from farm to plate and allowing distribution times to be reduced to 4 hours. This creates a more sustainable option for those living in urban locations. In addition to this, the crops are unaffected by many natural factors such as weather conditions and require 70 percent less water than a typical rural farm would need. Utilising waste water and reintroducing it into the cycle creates a circular economy and allows the business to be less carbon intensive (Growing Underground, 2020). Using an existing derelict structure harnesses the embodied energy from the system already in place and allows for a process with less carbon demands as creating a new space. This adds to the overall sustainability of the project from start to finish.

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Figure 10 - Growing Underground

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Despite Growing Underground focussing on the sustainability of the food industry. The same framework can be adopted in Mycelium development and growth. The demands of the product are similar, though Mycelium requires similar water treatment where a recovery system could also be adopted to reduce the volume of water needed and reduce waste, unlike the crops grown underground, Mycelium would not require the same LED light systems in order to grow.

3.9 U R B A N G R O W I N G - B L A N C D E G R I S Blanc de Gris is a Montreal-based urban mushroom farm. Located within a warehouse in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, the farm is open to the public and allows consumers to see where their produce is coming from. The company works closely with the high-end restaurants of the city to provide fresh, local produce.

Blanc de Gris grows its mushrooms in large white towers of stacked plastic tubs, with holes allowing the mushrooms to permeate the structure. The extreme cold climate that Montreal experiences mean oyster mushrooms are not able to thrive year-round, however, Blanc de Gris replicates the conditions needed for the mushrooms to grow in their warehouse, allowing the mushrooms to be unaffected by the seasonal changes. The company is unique in the way it utilises the available local waste in their cultivation process. Mycelium, or in this case the mushrooms, needs a substrate to grow from. Though usually this would be soil conditions and tree bark or rot, here the substrate is beer and coffee waste. This waste is combined and pasteurised along with wood chips to create a sterile product to combine with the Mycelium spores. Once the product has been inoculated, mushrooms will begin to grow (Rose, 2016). This example of Mycelium growth in a city such as Montreal, which experiences a difficult climate, demonstrates the importance of urban cultivation. However, there are other factors which limit the sustainability of urban farming.

The issues found related to urban farming relate directly to the amount of sunlight needed to grow most produce that is being grown in urban farms such as the ones in New York.

The rise of commercial controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) has caused debates as to whether it really is a sustainable option. Despite limiting the carbon footprint linked to the transportation of produce, there have been suggestions that that intensive conditions that need to be artificially produced, outweigh the benefits of the reduced carbon footprint of travel. In addition to this, it is suggested that the CEA in New York occupies 3.09 acres and is not likely to increase to the 1,864 acres that are needed in order to feed more of the population of the city. Combining this with the expense of the units in their location and 32

technological needs, there is a high demand and therefore a more expensive product that is less economically sustainable. Instead of feeding lower income areas, there is a wealth gap created which discourages lower income areas to make sustainable changes (Bryce, 2019).

Unlike the CEA in New York which focuses of leafy green produce, Mycelium has a different demand. The same intensive requirements that plants require differ from Mycelium and the product is much easier, and therefore cheaper to grow. As with regards to the price of real estate, Scotland does not encounter such a premium for land as New York. These contributing factors make Mycelium a more sustainable and viable option for Scotland to cultivate.

Mycelium is a suitable sustainable material use as the conditions for growth can be easily replicated and cultivated indoors. This possibility makes Mycelium a possible building material not only for Scotland to pursue in order to reach carbon emissions goals, but to be rolled out globally.

3.10 S U M M A R Y Mycelium has an abundance of material strengths and natural abilities making it wellsuited as a sustainable material choice. Like all materials, Mycelium has limitations and is only a capable building material if understood and properly specified. The main strength, however, lie in the materials versatility and growing requirements. It can be grown in vast quantities with little maintenance, other than a regular water source once the spores and substrate are combined. The product grows in 4-week cycles and can be grown all year round in controlled conditions. For this reason, it is a viable sustainable material choice.

Mycelium provides a lot of beneficial sustainable strengths which are being utilised within different industries. From homeware to construction materials, there is a growing market for companies worldwide, developing and experimenting, pushing the boundaries of what Mycelium can do. Combining natural organisms with manmade technologies and skills, there is further capacity for this organism to be developed out with biological studies.

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Figure 11 - The Paris Agreement

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4. G O V E R N M E N T L E G I S L A T I O N

4.1 I N T R O D U C T I O N The Scottish Government aims to address the climate emergency with more haste than the UK Government, giving itself a smaller timeframe in which a carbon-neutral emissions target must be achieved. This has been done as a result of the findings of the Committee for Climate Change’s findings, which the Scottish Government uses as an advisory body.

The most recent document from the Committee for Climate Change is the Reducing emissions in Scotland 2019 Progress Report to Parliament which was published in December of 2019. The document is updated yearly with feedback given for the previous year, as well as recommendations for the next session. The CCC has been providing documentation to the Scottish Government through such other reports as Advice on the new Scottish Climate Change Bill which was published in March 2017 and advised on the targets of the 2015 Paris Agreement, which included reducing emissions by 50% of the 1990 emissions levels by 2020. By understanding the legislation and guidance that Scotland follows under the United Nations, UK Government and Scottish Government, it allows the limitations in sustainable management and funding to be understood. By doing this, recommendations for further support can be justified in order to instruct the construction industry and improve the sustainability and future of the trade.

4.2 T H E P A R I S C L I M A T E A G R E E M E N T The Paris Agreement was signed on December 12th, 2015 after six years of discussion to unite a global response to the climate emergency. The collective response was the result of the failed attempts from the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference which lasted 11 days in which no agreement was met. The main aim of the Paris Agreement is to keep global temperature levels limited to no more than 2 degrees above pre-industrial temperature levels. The agreement achieves to do this through limiting carbon emissions through shared technological advancements and available resources between nations, supporting developing nations in their efforts (United Nations Climate Change, 2020).

The Paris Agreement unfortunately has many limitations, despite its good intentions.

The report puts a lot of emphasis on the new development of technologies, rather than depending on making changes to existing infrastructures. In addition to this, there is no concrete timeline for reducing emissions, relying on each country to find its own specific 35

strategy to tackle carbon-neutral targets. The efforts of the leaders in place when the Paris Agreement was settled and in the hands of the following leaders. An example being the efforts of previous president of the United States, Barack Obama, who was preceded by President Donald Trump. Donald Trump backed out of the agreement in 2017 on June 1st.

The result of this, is an agreement which is defined by the leaders in place in 2015 and not assured by future political fluctuations (Selin & Najam, 2015).

The lack of commitment is the major downfall of the agreement. There is no accountability for the nations involved despite the aspirations and objectives of the targets regarding emissions and economic backing. For example, the reference to industrialised countries making changes to limit the effect of climate change, the word ‘shall’ was replaced with ‘should’ in Article 4.4 to deflect any real guarantee. The same could be said for financial backing where no financial promises were made where industrialised nations would support developing countries (Najam, 2015).

Although a discussion was started surrounding a global target of limiting climate change, countries have no real obligations to follow through with addressing the changes needed, and countries can withdraw as new leaders with different objectives come into power.

4.3 T H E A D V I C E O N T H E N E W S C O T T I S H C L I M A T E CHANGE BILL In March 2017 the Committee for Climate Change published their report The Advice on the new Scottish Climate Change Bill which directly references the Paris Agreement which was signed on April 22nd, 2016 by the European Union which included the United Kingdom and therefore Scotland.

The report initially acknowledges the momentum towards climate targets and the progress made, specifically in the energy industry. Carbon emissions are decreasing as a whole, at a faster rate than the rest of the UK, putting Scotland on track to reach its 2020 targets, with 2014 sitting at a reduction of 40 percent of the levels in 1990. The Committee makes a recommendation of changing the targets that have been set for 2050. The recommendation was to revaluate these targets of an 80 percent reduction from 1990 levels, to include a ‘stretch’ target. In this target an aim of either a 90 percent reduction, or a carbon-neutral aim by 2050, which would be a 100 percent reduction. The committee outlines interim targets for 2030 and 2040 in support of the 2020 and 2050 targets to review and keep on target, updating targets every 5 years. The advice also suggests different carbon targets for different 36

Figure 12 - Scottish Climate Change Bill

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industries which would allow for allowances across industries with higher carbon outputs (Committee on Climate Change, 2017). This helps the Scottish Government in reaching its targets, but doesn’t necessarily encourage the construction industry, one of the largest emitters of carbon, to push for major changes in order to reach carbon-neutrality.

4.4 T H E R E D U C I N G E M I S S I O N S I N S C O T L A N D 2 0 1 9 PROGRESS REPORT The Reducing emissions in Scotland 2019 Progress Report to Parliament is an updated version of a similar report published in September 2018 named The Reducing emissions in Scotland 2018 Progress Report. The report is the eighth annual report in response to the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 which appraises Scotland’s advances in accomplishing its goals to reduce carbon emissions. The report gives an overall background to the reports before addressing key aspects of the climate change discussion: transport, aviation and shipping; industry; buildings; agriculture and land use, land-use change and forestry; waste; f-gases and power. The sections relating to the construction industry directly come under Chapter 4 Industry and Chapter 5 Buildings, however, waste, power and transport all link to the industry.

Since the last annual report, The Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019 has been introduced which is the most ambitious net-zero carbon emissions target globally. The report finds the Scottish Government’s targets powerful statements towards making environmental changes. The COP26 UN climate conference, will take place from 1st to 12th November 2021 in Glasgow, after being postponed due to coronavirus, which will be the largest climate summit since the Paris Agreement in 2015. The Committee encourages Scotland to enforce behaviour which will establish to the other members of the United Nations, a solid guarantee to reaching net-zero carbon emissions by the year 2045 (Committee on Climate Change, 2019).

As well as putting Scottish residents at the centre of the legislation and policy, the report states “Policy should provide a clear and stable direction and a simple investable set of rules and incentives that leave room for businesses to innovate and find the most effective means of switching to low-carbon solutions.” For the construction industry, this would include support and funding to provide new sustainable alternatives to the carbon intensive materials and processes that exist. Backing new technologies and investing in sustainable research into new and existing materials would allow for the industry to introduce a new model for Scottish industry. Tackling the construction industry’s carbon output would allow 38

for significant reductions in Scotland’s overall carbon emissions which would ensure strong prospects for reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2045.

4.5 S U M M A R Y In summary, there is legislation in place on a global and national level for the limitations of further global warming. The United Nations Paris Agreement puts in place a collaborative approach to tackling climate change after the failings six years prior. The agreement has its limitations in its accountability, despite the intentions, in order for an agreement to be reached amongst the leaders, a vague outline was specified with no real commitments pledged.

The Advice on the new Scottish Climate Change Bill was written in 2017, in response to the Paris Climate Agreement in which the Committee for Climate Change and later updated in two further reports. The most recent 2019 Progress Report from the Committee of Climate Change predates the report from 2018, the report highlights the lack of accountable legislation and guidance implemented by the Scottish Government in reference to sustainability and climate targets.

Overall, the legislation on both a national and international level is limited because of its vague approach which does not encourage, nor discourage through laws and legislation.

Instead, a weak attempt at claiming environmental responsibility has been achieved through signing and discussing targets of carbon-neutrality with no financial support for the industries responsible to provide encouragement. As a result, small changes are being made by individual companies with their own environmental concerns. Without a large backing and incentive, there is likely to be no drastic changes made, especially within industries such as construction where technologies are often slow to be adopted. Historically, there has been success in government schemes and legislation which is implemented in order to reduce environmental damages. On October 2014 the law brought in which charged for single-use carrier bags made people more aware of their environmental impacts through a financial charge, as a result, in the first year of implication Scotland saw a reduction of 80 percent.

This result saved 650 million bags worth 4,000 tonnes of material, showing how much a seemingly small government law can affect the environment. In addition to this, the money raised from the bags totalled to ÂŁ6.7 million which was used as funding (BBC News, 2015).

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5. C A S E S T U D I E S

The following case studies look at sustainable alternatives that currently exist on the market, comparing their sustainability through analysing their characteristics and growth conditions.

By doing so, a conclusion will be drawn to examine the most appropriate material for the Scottish Government to develop to assist reaching a sustainable construction paradigm.

5.1 R E C Y C L E D P L A S T I C T I L E S Plastic is arguably one of the waste extensive and devastating forms of waste that we face currently. The durability of the material means by producing large quantities of plastic, especially single-use plastic, there is no way for recycling and safe disposal to take place. It has been estimated that since 1950, 8.8 billion tonnes of plastic have been produced globally (Danner, 2019). As a result of this, companies have investigated using plastic waste to create new materials, therefore harnessing the embodied carbon of the material and repurposing it. The construction industry has been just one of the industries utilising this excess waste product and giving it a longer useable life. Construction companies have been using recycled plastic to create façade panels, weatherboarding, pvc windows, flooring, insulation and even countertops (Anupoju, 2020). Plastic recycling can often add unique aesthetic qualities to materials, and so its use is being seen used more widely for commercial purposes.

An example of plastic reuse comes from Enis Akiev, a Kazakhstani designer who studied at KÜln International School of Design. As part of her bachelor’s degree she used single-use plastic waste to create tiles for interiors. Revaluing plastic waste, she was able to collect, heat and pressurise the plastic to create distinct layered patterns, taking inspiration from rock formations (Hahn, 2019). This is one example of plastic tiles which are becoming increasingly popular, however, there are downsides to using plastic. Melting down the material can release harmful toxins and pollutants. Reusing plastics tend to change the properties of the plastic and so certain items such as food containers only use small amounts, if any, of recycled plastic as the resin can contaminate the food being stored. For this reason, many plastics are downcycled, which is using recycled plastics for less demanding second uses, however, after a second use, often the material still ends in landfill. In addition to this, melting down plastic to recycle it is carbon intensive and so the process as a whole is not sustainable (Hartman, 2017).

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Figure 13 - Recycled Plastic Tiles by Enis Akiev

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5.2 F E R R O C K In addition to plastic, another material that is being used to create recycled materials in cement. For 1000kg produced, 900kg of CO2 is emitted, this is for the most part due to limestone needing to reach temperatures 2,800 degrees Fahrenheit to be processed (Build Abroad, 2020). An alternative to cement, David Stone unintentionally developed Ferrock, a more sustainable, stronger material. For almost 20 years since, he has been developing the product, which is made from waste steel dust, which requires less demanding heat intensity as carbon. However, what makes the material even more sustainable is the fact the material is carbon negative. The material sets or hardens when it absorbs and holds CO2 meaning it traps more carbon than it produces.

In summary, recycled materials have an increased sustainability over virgin materials, and therefore are a more environmentally considerate solution. However, they still have many negatives associated with their creations. As such, although they are important, more research should be channelled into natural material alternatives. This is due to the embodied carbon associated with the materials in the first instance, recycled materials like Ferrock and plastic tiles would not exist without the initial product expelling carbon. There are, however, lots of natural alternatives such as cork, seaweed and Mycelium.

5.3 T H E C O R K H O U S E The Cork House is one of the UK’s most influential recent sustainable builds. A collaborative project, the building was designed by Matthew Barnett Howland with Dido Milne and Oliver Wilton. The design was collaborated with MPH Architects, The Bartlett School of Architecture UCL, University of Bath, Amorim UK and Ty-Mawr and was completed in 2019 (CSK Architects, 2020).

The project attracted a lot of media attention with lots of architecture journals such as Dezeen and ArchDaily showcasing the project. In addition, the build won several awards including RIBA National Award 2019, RIBA South Sustainability Award 2019, RIBA South Award 2019 and was longlisted for RIBA ‘House of the Year’ 2019 (RIBA Architecture, 2020). The project was also nominated for the Stirling Prize and awarded the Stephen Lawrence Prize, which is specifically aimed at new, experimental architecture for projects under £1million, winning included a £5,000 prize (Jessel & Waite, 2019). The project was able to take place due to the part-funding from Innovate UK and EPSRC which came from the 2015 Building Whole Life Performance competition (CSK Architects, 2020).

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Figure 14 - The Cork House

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The Cork House is situated on an island in the Thames near Eton College Chapel. The building uses solid load-bearing cork for much of its construction, which is a sustainable, bio-based renewable material. The building itself boasts a carbon-negative construction, proof of the possibilities sustainable materials hold. In addition to this, the building has been designed with its use taken into consideration and so has a carbon efficient future. The carbon-negative aspect of the building was possible due to the cork absorbing more carbon that produced, its carbon usage over its lifetimes is expected to be 15% of a standard newbuild house.

The build focuses on using sustainable processes and techniques such as prefabricated offsite construction, allowing for on-site tasks to take place by hand and without the use of glues or adhesives, which often release harmful chemicals and toxins into the building. In addition to this, it makes the building easier to deconstruct and recycle. The benefits of cork are for the most part undisputed. Being the only tree that can be part harvested and allow the trees to remain living, undisturbed, you are preserving as well as utilising the natural landscape (RIBA Architecture, 2020).

However, cork is not found naturally growing within the UK. And such, harvesting from natural landscapes will always have its downsides. With the forests where the cork is taken from hosting animals such as the endangered Iberian lynx, there is questions as to how much involvement humans should have manufacturing and harvesting within a natural landscape.

The building uses a cork system which was developed over a period of 5 years which uses cork blocks which is aided by timber segments with the design principles in place that allow the structure to adapt over time. This included being easily deconstructed and recycled.

The blocks themselves are an interlocking system which allows for a structure without added adhesives, the blocks are made from cork granules with are heated, allowing for modular construction with load-bearing walls. The roof was also constructed from cork using pyramid-like structures. The designers hope to use the technology and systems created for the Cork House to roll out a new construction kit that would be available for purchase in order to progress the project further. In addition, there is talk of using the same techniques with other sustainable construction materials to produce further ranges (Crook, 2019).

In summary, the success of the project is down to the participant’s understanding and application of the material and how it can be utilised and developed to produce a structure that pushes the boundaries of the design and specification of sustainable materials. The project 44

was made possible, not only by the dedication of the participants to create a sustainable built example to showcase the potentials of the project, but also due to the available funding from competitions and grants made available that allow companies to really push forward their research.

5.4 N E P T U T H E R M NeptuTherm is a German company that utilises the Pasidonia oceanica seaweed that is found on the beaches in the Mediterranean. The seaweed, known as Neptune grass, is where the company gets its name. The natural plant-like organisms are swept up onto the beach and their potentials often overlooked, with much of the material ending in landfill (Transmaterial, 2017). However, the material has many characteristics that make it a potential sustainable construction material.

NeptuTherm has a high insulative quality, according to the manufacturers, it is approximately 20% higher heat storage capacity than other standard insulative materials at 2.502 J / (K * kg). As well as the insulative capabilities, the same can be said of the acoustic properties with the material performing better than many commonly used foam acoustic insulators (NeptuGmbH, 2020). In addition, the material has the highest rating of mould resistance and a flammability rating of B2 – normal flammability. However, the sustainability of the material comes from its lack of treatment needed, which requires no chemical additives. The lack of chemicals is both good for the environment, and for the occupants of the buildings as it is free from harmful VOCs. The seaweed fibres absorb and release water vapour, making it a breathable material whilst still ensuring the same thermal insulation capacity.

The durability of the product is high, partly because the fibre is not desirable to insects of vermin. Due to the natural, untreated properties of the material, it is entirely recyclable and can be used as compost as its end of life.

Other seaweed products include seaweed thatch panels developed by Kathryn Larsen. The architectural technologist researched into traditional seaweed houses before progressing her prefabricated panels for the Copenhagen School of Design and Technology. After 8 months of use, the panels withstood their testing, which was to be expected as the traditional seaweed buildings that inspired the project have lasted in excess of 200 years, proving the materials durability. When the project was disassembled, the materials were able to be recycled, further calling attention to the sustainability of the material (Buckley, 2020).

In summary, sustainability is made possible by utilising natural materials that exist in our biosphere. Materials such as seaweed and cork are potential building materials that can 45

replace existing high-carbon materials; however, they are both limited by their availability.

Both materials are region and climate specific and are only sustainable if used within those regions. By transporting the materials to areas far from their naturally found landscape, their embodied carbon rises, and the materials themselves become less sustainable. For this reason, sustainable materials that can be found in many climates are preferable to be developed globally.

5.5 B I O H M Biohm is a company that looks towards developing sustainability in every aspect of their process. They have adopted the slogan “Nothing is ever-lasting. Everything is ever-changing.

We do not design. We refine what nature has given us.� Using nature as the inspiration for all their designs, they hope to find solutions to environmental challenges through creating a sustainable built world.

Biohm takes pride in creating a company which is successful in its environmental goals as much as its financial goals. It looks at building, manufacturing and waste as the key components that must find new sustainable paradigms in order to create substantial changes. The company focuses on five main points to ensure its sustainability; circular economy; biomimicry; human-centred design; off-site manufacturing; energy and carbon; and technology. By addressing these concerns, the aim is to have beneficial impacts on the planet, going further than neutrality. By adopting sustainable approaches to these five agendas, the company hopes to show others how businesses can work in conjunction with the environment, rather than to its detriment, to benefit industry, education and community.

By recognising the impacts that the construction industry has on the environment, the research focuses on understanding the limits of our natural resources and the extensive extraction of raw materials. By analysing this information, it is possible to look at less conventional strategies that include cultivation rather than extraction. Looking forward, the company expresses an understanding of the future climate predictions and looks to not only prevent these events but adapt to these changing demands (Biohm, 2020).

The most prevalent product to date developed by Biohm is their insulation panels which are the first accredited Mycelium insulation product. The panel combine Mycelium spores with commercial and agricultural waste products, which avoids the carbon impacts of these materials ending in landfill. The entire process is carbon-negative, going further than the aims of other guidelines to become carbon-neutral. The process is estimated to capture over 46

16 tonnes of carbon per month which would otherwise pollute the biosphere.

The indoor air quality of the buildings using this Mycelium insulation is greater than many artificial products, achieving an A+ rating. The breathability of the product and lack of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) allow for a safe regulation of the air travelling through the insulation making it a healthier building for the occupants. The lack of synthetic products also means the Mycelium chars, rather than producing excess damaging smoke and heat.

The thermal and acoustic properties of Mycelium are where it lends itself well to insulative panels. The panels have a thermal conductivity of 0.024W/m.K., with glass fibre achieving (0.032-0.044W/m.K.), mineral wool (0.032-0.044W/m.K), expanded polystyrene (0.036W/m.K) and extruded polystyrene (0.029-0.036W/m.K). It therefore outperforms all the above materials. Its acoustic properties show an absorption of at least 75% at 1000Hz which is the suitable rate for measuring traffic (Biohm, 2020).

A unique selling-point of Mycelium within the construction industry is its growth process.

Although the company produces the panels in standard sheet sizes of 1200 x 2400mm, the product grows organically into any desired shape which allows custom sizes to be grown on demand. This process allows for less waste product as well as being able to fit specific shapes and needs. As with all Mycelium products, it is fully biodegradable. The end-oflife of the product can be considered in its sustainability to create a full circular economy without waste and unused by-products. Following on from the success of the insulative panels, Biohm is producing and developing new Mycelium-based products. Orb (Organic Refuse Biocompound) is the latest development which is a semi-structural sustainable product.

As well as their insulated panels, Biohm is looking at developing a new construction system called Triagomy. These are offsite constructed systems which can work for internal or external uses. The system looks at interlocking units without binders or fasteners which allow for the addition or removal of sections to create structures which can grow or downsize as the building’s function changes. By allowing for adaptations to be made, the process is considering an extension to the expected lifespan of buildings, which makes them a more sustainable option. In addition, the bio-based materials reduce the environmental impacts created by standard building materials by considering the end-of-life of the material through the deconstruction of the building. This avoids demolition of the building which causes waste and instead allows for the re-use and recycling of the product.

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Figure 15 - Mycelium Rigid Insulation

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Triagomy uses off-site construction to limit the time spent on site, which allows a reduction in costs for labour and machinery. According to Biohm “Life-cycle assessments comparing Triagomy with traditional construction methods have shown 40% to 90% reductions in the environmental impact, using conventional materials such as eco-concrete. Further assessments show that by incorporating our bio-based materials, Triagomy is able to achieve reductions of up to 120% in the environmental impact.” (Biohm, 2020) Biohm is researching widely into the sustainability of Mycelium as a future material, focussing their efforts towards the construction industry. Utilising their knowledge of the organism with other sustainable construction technologies, such as off-site construction, allows a product to be created that is not only carbon-neutral, but carbon-negative.

5.6 E C O V A T I V E Ecovative is another Mycelium focused company which looks at developing the material to create and cultivate more sustainable products. Ecovative was the first company to create Mycelium-based products back in 2006, and in Green Island, New York. Since establishing Ecovative, there have been several consequent businesses across a range of industries, as well as collaborations with other companies and brands. Their first packaging innovations led to many awards and grants as well as recognition which led to working with companies such as Dell and Puma SE. The company now holds 40 patents in 31 countries and openly encourages the development of Mycelium by other businesses, developers and consumers.

The company sells its own GIY (Grow It Yourself) kit for growing mushrooms and Mycelium from your home, to training other companies and industries about the potentials of Mycelium introduction (Rockefeller, 2020).

“It’s predicted that by 2030 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. If our Mushroom Packaging ends up in the ocean, it’s fish food.”

- Eden Bayer CEO and Founder of Ecovative The company has these product ranges thus far: Atlast, Mycoflex and Mycocomposite.

All three products focus on replacing carbon extensive materials with Mycelium-based alternatives.

Atlast is the most recent product to come from Ecovative beginning in 2019. After experimenting with household Mycelium products, there was an obvious demand for vegan 49

meat-replacements. Atlast Food Co is a spin-off of Ecovative and is a food product which acts as a base to hold flavours and textures. The vegan alternative is an ‘edible scaffolding’ of Mycelium which acts as a binding structure for other foods and spices. The first came in March 2019, “We go into nature and we select gourmet mushrooms known by mushroom foragers and we take biopsies of them,” says founding member Eden Bayer. After which slabs of the product are made. The range has now grown to five different types of food product (Feldman, 2019). The first product of the range expected to be released in 2020 or 2021 is a bacon replacement.

MycoFlex is an adaptable technology which is made from 100% Mycelium. The foam-like texture is a replacement for plastic-based materials which are often carbon intensive and large waste producers. Unlike commonly used plastics, Mycelium is biodegradable and limits waste produce which contribute towards emissions. The material has many different uses including footwear, leather replacements and non-toxic skincare sponges (Ecovative, 2020).

The third product, MycoComposite, is another vegan material which uses agricultural waste and wood chips to bind with Mycelium to create a natural product. This product is a packaging material which replaces materials such as polystyrene plastics. The company strive to replace as many plastic products with mushroom replacements (Rockefeller, 2020). MycoComposite has since grown into a company of its own, trading under Paradise Packaging and relocating to California for their growth and distribution. They now boast 7-day growth cycles of compostable custom-moulded Mycelium packaging (Paradise Packaging, 2020).

Ecovative has grown as a company into a sustainable brand and frontrunner which is pushing and developing Mycelium at a rate which has allowed it to consider Mycelium as a replacement for not only all things plastic, but now an edible structure in addition. The research and development of this product through testing demonstrates its endless possibilities across different disciplines. The use of collaboration and shared knowledge creates a good foundation for future endeavours, allowing the future of Mycelium to progress further. With companies establishing Mycelium within the manufacturing industry, this opens discussions for the construction industry to further develop load bearing and insulative products using the gained experience of companies such as Ecovative.

It is this experience that led Ecovative to collaborate with the The Living. This collaboration resulted in a 10,000 brick 40 ft tower built in 2014. The project included the advice of 50

Figure 16 - Ecovative Atlast Food Replacement

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structural engineers to ensure a safe, viable structure that would remain intact and steady for months until the structure was to be dismantled and the compostable remains given to local allotments to biodegrade. The durability of the product was tested prior to its construction using an accelerated aging process which stimulated three years of weathering over three weeks. In this time, the brick’s performance was unhindered, not changing its properties post-aging (Interesting Engineering, 2017).

5.9 S U M M A R Y In summary, the construction industry is seeing developments of sustainable alternative materials which utilise and cultivate natural and semi-synthetic materials to produce new paradigms for the industry. However, although the materials utilising recycled materials pay a key role in limiting waste that is otherwise headed for landfill, materials which can be cultivated or harvested at speed from natural materials are eliminating the subsequent creation of waste and by-products all together.

For this reason, this is where the industry should be focussing its future development towards.

In addition, the materials detailed often require certain climates for their growth. Due to this, many of these options are region and space specific. Seaweed, for example, requires collecting from areas which it is present naturally, without access to this, it would need to be transported, increasing the embodied energy of the material. Materials such as cork and bamboo often require warmer climates and large open forest space which comes with its limitations as the population rises. As a result, a material that can be cultivated in an indoor, controlled environmental in contained conditions could instead be a suitable alternative for a wider variety of climates – Scotland included.

The limitations of Mycelium lie in a lack of construction research. The material itself is wellknown to biologists and chemists with its scientific properties extensively researched and tested. However, the limitations of Mycelium as a building material within the construction industry lie within the progress of the industry as whole. The lack of regulations regarding the carbon impacts of specified materials mean the same three materials; timber, steel and concrete will continue to be specified due to the knowledge surrounding these products.

There is an ease surrounding specifying materials that have been used for hundreds of years as there is a deep knowledge of their properties, however, Mycelium has been studied by scientists for just as long – if not longer. By encouraging more research into the materials building potential, there is a stronger likelihood that companies will develop Mycelium products for manufacturing. Further development of Mycelium products will need to be 52

encouraged at a government level in order to aid the probability of sustainable material design. Without guidance and restrictions on current carbon usage, or economic rewards, large companies have no incentive – apart from moral obligation – to change their current operations.

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6. C O N C L U S I O N S

6.1 I N T R O D U C T I O N This investigation stemmed from an understanding of the environmental damages caused by increasing industrialisation and the impacts of the construction industry on rising temperatures caused by global warming. The continuing destruction of the natural world, caused by the built world set a basis for the research, where sustainable practises, and specifically sustainable materials could replace an existing template which involves taking, and not returning resources to the biosphere.

The initial research examined the possibilities of sustainable materials as an answer to the shortcomings found in the guidance and legislation set out by the Scottish Government. By analysing the limitations of the guidance through the reports published by the Committee for Climate Change, the lack of funding and support for research and development of sustainable technology was highlighted. In doing so, sustainable alternative materials for use in the construction industry were analysed and the development of Mycelium was examined to understand the potentials and limitations of the material. Through analysing existing Mycelium construction products and finding adaptive technology from other industries, Mycelium was acknowledged as a suitable sustainable material type to develop for the construction industry, not only for use in Scotland, but to be adopted on a global scale.

6.2 R E S E A R C H O B J E C T I V E S F I N D I N G S Referring to the research objectives, the findings are summarised below.

Objective 1: To establish an understanding of the impacts of construction waste on climate change and how it can be limited.

The key finding of understanding the impacts of waste, and specifically construction waste, comes from a further knowledge of a circular economy. Waste needs to be limited due to the carbon emissions released from landfill, by limiting the waste and by-products of any process, sustainability can be increased. Carefully selecting materials with low-carbon embodied energy, allows designers to help reduce the impacts of the construction industry by finding alternative materials to those commonly used which have high embodied carbon.

In addition to this, there is less pressure on the extraction of raw materials which are not a 54

finite supply and often require carbon intensive extraction process.

Objective 2: To establish an understanding of what Mycelium is, how it is currently used and its potentials for the future.

The abundant material properties that Mycelium has make it suitable for a circular economy which would contribute towards a decrease in carbon emissions from the construction industry if implemented. The organism’s ability to be cultivated and decompose at the end of its life, without a need for added adhesive binding, make it suitable as a circular alternative with no waste.

Objective 3: To establish an understanding of the environmental aims of the Scottish government regarding the construction industry, why the guidelines have been published, who this affects, and how they intend on achieving their carbon budget.

The legislation in place, effects Scotland internationally through the Paris Agreement, however, the guidance in place has no ramifications if not met. The lack of financial aid to developing nations is a good example of the lack of accountability that the statements hold.

Although the principle of the legislation is supportive of limiting climate change, the content of the agreement leaves the nations to individually find solutions out with the agreement and therefore the Paris Agreement has no real effect. As with the international guidance, the national guidance set out by the Scottish Government has similar limitations. With no real promise of funding and support in the development of new sustainable technology, there are little government backed incentives to push Scotland towards reaching carbon-neutrality by 2045.

Objective 4: To analyse existing economically viable alternative construction materials with sustainable paradigms and compare these to Mycelium to understand its benefits and limitations.

By acknowledging other sustainable materials on the market which use natural and seminatural products, it was concluded that the future of sustainability looks towards natural alternatives over recycled products. Recycled products, although more sustainable than virgin alternatives, still hold high embodied energy from their initial creation, and so, it is more favourable to encourage materials with no historic carbon emissions. In addition, natural materials have a more sustainable end of life as they natural decompose, acting as compost for new growth.

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Mycelium is a desirable alternative due to its sustainable growing habits which can be easily adapted for indoor cultivation which allows for water recycling, limiting further waste. In addition, this capability allows the material to be rolled out worldwide by taking away the natural seasons and climates that would need to be considered when harvesting, for example, cork bark.

Objective 5: To present a series of recommendations for the Scottish Government’s construction industry guidelines, based on the consolidated findings regarding sustainable materials.

In summary, in order of Mycelium development to be fully realised, there needs to be government incentives to limit the current materials with high carbon emissions. This would force new sustainable materials to be developed and tested at a much greater speed which would change the future of the construction industry. By introducing a new paradigm, the Scottish government would have a much higher probability of reaching their carbon targets prior to any other nation.

6.3 C O N C L U D I N G R E M A R K S This masters research has demonstrated that Mycelium has the potential to act as a multiuse organism that can adapt beyond its traditional use as a fungus to become a sustainable material for several different industries. The transfer of knowledge between trades could allow for sustainable Mycelium manufacturing on a large scale. Thus, legislation and guidance which supports the development of sustainable material alternatives should be implemented by the Scottish Government.

6.4 D I R E C T I O N S F O R F U T U R E R E S E A R C H The research into Mycelium as a sustainable material for use within the construction industry in response to the targets set by the Scottish Government for carbon-neutrality is only one aspect of sustainable materials. Although this work highlights Mycelium as a key contender for further research, there are other sustainable options which would be good alternatives to carbon heavy materials such as concrete and steel. In addition to this, mindful material selection is only one aspect of the construction industry. There are also considerations to be examined surrounding the running of a building and its carbon output, post completion. This combined with focusing on other industries out with construction need to be considered in their entirety for Scotland to reach carbon neutrality before any other nation globally.

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