Within the field of ecological innovation and sustainable design, Biohm is a pathfinder. Established in the United Kingdom by Ehab Sayed, Biohm is a bio-based materials company that has reinterpreted building design and construction’s basic ideas.
Beyond only lowering environmental impact, the company’s goal is to design regenerative, circular systems that reflect nature itself. Using its innovative use of biological processes and organic waste, Biohm not only promotes environmental sustainability but also questions the whole underlying idea guiding the contemporary built environment.
Beginning And Philosophy
Inspired by biomimicry and design engineering, Ehab Sayed started Biohm, believing neither nature nor humans should create waste. Inspired by natural processes, Biohm’s works revolve around the idea that our buildings should be grown rather than constructed and that the materials we use should finally return to the land harm-free. The environmental damage brought about by traditional building, a sector accounting for almost 39% of world carbon emissions, energised Sayed’s vision.
Mycelium-Based Building Materials: Biohm’s Flagship Innovation
The most outstanding accomplishment of Biohm is the creation of mycelium insulating panels. An organic substance, mycelium, the root structure of fungus, can be grown to produce extremely insulating, lightweight, fire-resistant panels. In addition to being biodegradable, these panels are carbon-negative, meaning they store more carbon during growth than is released during manufacture and shipping.
These mycelium panels offer a direct substitute for conventional synthetic insulation materials like polystyrene, which are petrochemical-based, non-biodegradable, and generally hazardous. Conversely, mycelium grows in a matter of days using agricultural and industrial byproducts, therefore supporting a circular economy by using trash as feedstock.
Waste-Reducing Circular Economy
Biohm has created a range of products using waste sources straight into their manufacture. One such invention turns food and agricultural waste into a flexible building material: Orb (Organic Refuse Biocompound). Acting as both a construction component and a design feature, an orb may be fashioned into furniture, wall panels, and more.
This method addresses two important worldwide issues concurrently: the environmental impact of conventional building materials and the whole waste management issue. Biohm is matching itself with the ideas of the circular economy and regenerative design by building a business model whereby waste becomes a resource.
Innovation And Regulatory Difficulties
Although Biohm’s materials are innovative, they sometimes run across antiquated rules not yet ready to handle new biomaterials. For example, mycelium insulation does remarkably well in lab testing for fire resistance and insulation; nonetheless, certification authorities may be sluggish to authorise these for general use.
Notwithstanding these obstacles, Biohm is actively collaborating with academic and government agencies to set new criteria for sustainable building materials and has effectively tested its products in actual settings. Aiming to change not only materials but also the attitude of the building sector, their approach is both political and scientific.
The ethical production techniques of Biohm confirm their environmental credentials even more. Biohm creates all products using low-energy, low-impact methods that emphasise local sourcing, fair labour, and transparency. The business also spends a lot of its earnings on research and development, always improving its goods to be more scalable and efficient.
Mycelium products’ carbon-negative character and waste upcycling through Orb help Biohm to be a major contributor to net-zero goals in the built environment. Their approach shows how ethics, science, and design may come together to create really sustainable commercial operations.
Among the many honours Biohm has earned are those from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and appearances at prominent sustainability events such as the World Economic Forum and Dezeen. Around the world, architects, urban designers, and environmental activists have taken note of their creations when they were displayed in innovation fairs.
Globally Scalable Future Potential
Looking ahead, Biohm is likely to expand its activities all around. Their modular production technique makes local manufacture using locally obtained garbage possible, therefore enabling their strategy to be flexible over geographies. Along with lowering transportation emissions, this distributed strategy boosts nearby green businesses.
Apart from increasing their present resources, Biohm is funding R&D to investigate more fungus species, waste mixes, and manufacturing processes. The intention is to present a whole range of environmentally friendly substitutes for plastic, concrete, and other ecologically harmful materials.
To further education and biomaterial acceptance, the company is also forming strategic alliances with design colleges, building companies, and NGOs. This multi-stakeholder strategy might hasten a more general change in our perspective on infrastructure and its interaction with the surroundings.
Image Credits: Biohm