US Army Awards $1.9M Contract to Explore Mycelium-Hemp Insulation

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Dec 24

Written By Jean Lotus

*Zachery Popp, founder and CEO of Sativa Building Systems, displays his hempcrete Z-Panels at GreenBuild Expo in Philadelphia. Photo courtesy Ray Kaderli*

US Army Awards $1.9M Contract to Explore Mycelium-Hemp Insulation

By Jean Lotus

Hemp-lime innovators Wittenberg, WI-based Sativa Building Systems announced that the company has been awarded $1.9 million in a SBIR Phase II contract from the US Army. The two-year contract will focus on developing a bio-based insulation system using hemp hurd and mycelium, founder Zachery Popp told HempBuild Mag.

“We were exploring a bio-based binder alternative, but in that process of exploration, we landed on mycelium,” Popp said.

The mycelium binder replaces the lime binder Popp uses in the company's hempcrete Z-Panels to make a totally different product prototype, Popp said.

The hemp-mycelium product is an insulation batt, grown in a form via growth of the fungus over a week or so and then heated in a kiln to stop the mushroom growth.

Popp said the advantages are a lighter-weight product that can be used in ceilings and floors without adding additional weight to the foundation and costs of extra structural engineering to a building project.

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The product also appears to have a higher R-value – the measurement of insulation thermal resistance – up to R3 per inch. (Hempcrete averages about R 2.5 per inch).

Mycelium is used in industrial applications such as insoles for high-end running shoes or as a replacement for fatiguing metal in airplanes, according to California-based mycologist John Holliday, who advised Sativa on the use of mushrooms.

More than 1,500 types of fungi exist Holliday said, and different mycelium products can be used for different applications.

In the new insulation, Popp uses inoculated grain spawn or sawdust spawn from an edible mushroom. The hemp hurd is pasteurized to kill any other bacteria or fungus and then the mushroom culture is added to the wet hemp hurd.

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That makes the hemp a perfect growing medium, Holliday said.”It's pH-perfect, nutrient-perfect, moisture-perfect, and nothing else is growing in it.”

And after about five to 10 days, “that material is completely covered with mycelium. And at the same time, the mycelium is actually boring into the cells of the hemp itself to extract the nutrients. It's breaking down that hemp by sending fibers into the interior of the cell structure.”

The fibers, thinner than a human hair, begin to mesh together.

“Zach is creating a self-assembling biopolymer,” Holliday said.

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*A sample structure built from mycelium bricks is displayed at the New York Botanic Garden. Bricks were created by Ecovative. Creative Commons license*

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Popp says the US Army contract will demand deliverables for the next two years to push the technology forward. The company will work with the Army Corps of Engineers in the second year to develop a prototype structure to test the insulation, he said.

There may even be other grants to partner with a larger company to get the product into production for the market, Popp said.

Sativa’s hempcrete Z-Panel system is still the center of his business. Two new projects are planned for spring using the Z panels, he said. But thanks to this research grant, Sativa Building Systems can work to innovate new products.

“It’s huge for us. As a small company working to bring the next generation of building material products to the market, having support in the R&D stage is what will drive this innovation forward,” Popp said in a press release.

The year 2024 had its ups and downs for the company, Popp said, after a July fire destroyed his Wittenberg workshop and warehouse. “It was just a freaking roller coaster. To get this contract was a real confidence booster,” Popp said.