Mycelium (fungal) insulation panel

Grows Pleurotus ostreatus (oyster mushroom) mycelium through a pasteurized cardboard substrate in a mold to bind it into a rigid insulation panel, then kills the mycelium and cures the panel by baking (~80C, 1hr). Fire-resistant and partially water-resistant after baking; sensitive to humidity if it were ever left uncooked, so keep out of wet rooms regardless. A genuinely bio-based, home-growable insulation material distinct from purchased wood-wool or straw board.

Cost
Low
Upkeep
None
Skill to build
Basic
Lifespan
Building-lifetime once baked/cured (fire-resistant, partially water-resistant per its own description); a genuinely new material with limited long-term field data, so treat this as a plausible estimate rather than a verified figure
Embodied carbon
Low
Space / material use
Medium
Output timing
On-demand/controllable
Skill to repair
Basic
Regulation (FR example)
New construction falls under RE2020, which sets thermal and carbon performance thresholds for the building as a whole rather than approving individual materials.

Note: Cost, carbon and footprint are rated against the other options for this same need, not in absolute terms.

What your site needs

Keep out of consistently wet rooms regardless of curing, per its own description

Inputs

none

Outputs

none

Sources

Tutorials

What this page does not tell you

No sizing or quantities: how much a technique yields, and how much a household needs, both depend on the build and the people, so the catalogue compares options rather than dimensioning them. It carries no bill of materials and no build sequence, and it is written for an oceanic, clay-soil climate (Normandy, France). Regulatory notes are indicative and need confirming locally.