So Cool: Fungi, Carbon, and the Built Environment

When we talk about climate change, the spotlight usually falls on solar panels, electric vehicles, wind turbines, and carbon capture technologies. Rarely do we talk about fungi. Yet beneath our feet, fungal networks are quietly doing something extraordinary: moving, storing, and stabilizing carbon in ways scientists are only beginning to fully understand.

Fungi are among the planet’s most powerful yet underrecognized climate allies. Through vast underground mycorrhizal networks, fungi store, stabilize, and transfer carbon within soils, playing a fundamental role in ecosystem resilience and global carbon balance. Recent scientific research has revealed that these biological systems are not peripheral to climate mitigation—they are central to it.

At the same time, the built environment accounts for nearly 40% of global energy-related carbon emissions, with embodied carbon from materials becoming an increasingly urgent concern. As sustainability frameworks expand beyond operational efficiency to address material sourcing, circularity, soil protection, and regenerative outcomes, fungal biology offers new perspectives for design and construction professionals.

This course bridges ecology and the built environment. Learners will examine the science of fungal carbon sequestration and explore how these natural systems inform low-carbon materials such as mycelium composites, bio-enabled construction systems, and regenerative site practices. Through case studies and applied examples, the course translates biological intelligence into practical insights for architects, engineers, planners, and sustainability professionals seeking innovative approaches to embodied carbon reduction and circular design.