Mycelium-Based Thermal Insulation for Domestic Cooling Footprint Reduction

Domestic cooling demands in arid and hot climate regions, including Qatar, pose a significant challenge to reduce its cooling energy consumption and carbon footprint, primarily due to the heavy reliance on electricity-intensive air conditioning systems. The inadequacy and inefficiency of conventional insulation materials and their improper implementation further exacerbate this issue. Considering these challenges, this research comprehensively evaluates an unconventional and innovative solution recently proposed for this purpose: mycelium-based thermal insulation. Mycelium is a fungus's vegetative component, consisting of white or cream-colored fungal threads or filaments recognized as hyphae. This research comprehensively analyzes mycelium-based composites (MBC), focusing on their mechanical, physical, and chemical characteristics. Moreover, this study explores MBC's potential applications in indoor temperature regulation, particulate matter absorption, and bioremediation. Furthermore, it conducts a comparative assessment of MBC against traditional insulation materials and uses DesignBuilder simulation software to evaluate the thermal performance of residential buildings incorporating mycelium. It also presents a comprehensive life-cycle assessment (LCA) of mycelium as an insulator. In addition, this work conducts a cost-benefit analysis to evaluate material costs, annual thermal energy savings, and long-term benefits.

The results show that MBC insulation tremendously reduces thermal energy consumption, enhances thermal comfort, and minimizes carbon emissions. Simulation results also reveal that incorporating mycelium on both inner and outer building surfaces leads to noteworthy annual energy savings of 8.11 TWh, for which the monetary savings amount to about $216-243 million per year in Qatar. The study concludes with policy recommendations to mitigate Qatar's domestic cooling footprint.