SHROOM-BASED ROOMS

A farm in Kenya is producing mycelium for fungi-based panels, a cheaper and more sustainable alternative to bricks for home builders

- BY DESMOND TIRO AND NICHOLAS KOMU

BRIAN INGANGA Associated Press A HOME under construction in Nairobi uses agricultural waste and mushroom root materials for wall and roof insulation.

A large mushroom farm near the Kenyan capital of Nairobi is one of a kind: It grows fungi on an industrial scale-not as food for restaurants but as a building material that some Kenyans say could make more people homeowners.

The farm produces mycelium, the root structure of mushrooms that a local company then uses to make building materials it says are more sustainable than regular brick and mortar.

The company, MycoTile, combines the roots with natural fibers and agents to make panels for such uses as roof and wall insulation and interior decor, at a fraction of the cost of building with standard clay bricks. It currently produces nearly 3,600 square yards of such materials every month.

Street vendor Jedidah Murugi, whose house was made with fungi-based construction materials, said she believes "there is no huge difference in the quality of the houses made from brick and these boards."

"The only difference," she said, is in the cost. Her house, she added, "is not cold at night and neither is it hot during the day."

Answer to housing crisis