A Review of Mycelium-Based Composites

Concrete production contributes substantially to global carbon emissions, mineral extraction, and construction waste. This narrative literature review evaluates mycelium-based composites (MBCs) as lower-carbon materials for selected non-structural construction applications. It examines their biological basis, production methods, material properties, environmental performance, commercial development, and current technical limitations. MBCs are produced by growing fungal mycelium through agricultural residues, forming lightweight composites without the high-temperature processing required for cement or mineral insulation. Published studies indicate that standard MBCs can achieve thermal conductivity values of approximately 0.038–0.058 W/m·K, overlapping the ranges reported for several conventional insulation materials (Babenko et al., 2024; Lewandowska et al., 2025). However, reported results vary according to fungal species, substrate, density, processing method, electricity source, transportation distance, production scale, treatment of biogenic carbon, and life-cycle assessment (LCA) boundaries. MBCs also remain limited by low structural strength, moisture sensitivity, uncertain fire performance, variable feedstocks, uncertain industrial-scale production costs, and the absence of harmonized construction standards. Commercial products and architectural demonstrations show that production beyond the laboratory is possible, although long-term durability and industrial-scale economic data remain limited. MBCs are thus not replacements for structural concrete, but they may reduce the unnecessary use of high-carbon materials in insulation, interior panels, acoustic products, and packaging.