Production, Consumption & Waste

Q&A: A how-to guide to mushroom toilets, by the team that made one

jgarner — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 17:42:33 +0000

Q&A: A how-to guide to mushroom toilets, by the team that made one jgarner Tue, 09/23/2025 - 10:42

A Campus as a Living Lab team of faculty, staff, and students explain how a new composting toilet uses mushrooms – instead of water, electricity and chemicals – to break down human waste into safe, nutrient-rich compost soil.

Untreated human waste is a leading cause of disease and mortality among the 2.3B people who lack access to adequate sanitation globally¹. Current centralized approaches to waste treatment are energy intensive and require significant amounts of water. While decentralized approaches, such as chemical toilets, reduce energy and water use, they require toxic chemicals which create economic, operational and disposal challenges.

That’s why a team of faculty, staff, and students at UBC have been working on the development of a fully biodegradable process for composting toilets that speeds the decomposition of waste and eliminates the need for energy and chemical inputs.

1. Kubba, S. (2017). In Handbook of Green Building Design and Construction (Second Edition) (pp. 413-441), essay, Elsevier, B-H.

Q. How did interdisciplinary collaboration—linking architecture, microbiology, and campus operations—shape the project?

A. This project was transdisciplinary from its initial conception. It grew out of a competition that included students from four different faculties at UBC. The proposal, which won the Biodesign Challenge in 2019, proposed a mycelium-based toilet for intended for refugee camps. The entry proposed a new conceptual framework for approaching waste that was beyond any single discipline. It would not have occurred had we not had a team that represented so many diverse fields.

Actually realizing the vision as a working prototype required a different kind of interdisciplinary collaboration – which included laboratory testing at the Hallam Lab at UBC Microbiology and Immunology, as well as designers working at the Biogenic Architecture Lab at UBC SALA.

JOSEPH DAHMEN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, FOUNDER OF BIOGENIC ARCHITECTURE LAB, SALA, APPLIED SCIENCE.

Q. How did working on the MycoToilet shape your perspective on sustainability? What did you learn about linking research to real-world challenges?

A. The MycoToilet project allowed me to gain first-hand experience with how designers can collaborate with microbiology and other researchers, to generate new ways of making the built environment more sustainable.

“Through the process of growing material – working with something that is literally alive – you develop a strange relationship with this unique non-human actor. You have to quickly learn to accept its autonomy, and work with it, instead of control it.”

Mycelium bio-composites and other similar materials are only recently starting to scale up and become commercially available, but there are challenges related to the consistency of growth, the adaptability of the building industry, and public perception.

CHRISTY-ANNA CHUNG, RESEARCH ASSISTANT, M.ARCH CANDIDATE, SALA, APPLIED SCIENCE

A. Mycotoilet allowed me to apply some of the sustainability concepts I was learning in school to an actual project with impact. While the project is supported by a strong scientific idea, it is the design of the enclosure itself that I think best describes the sustainability through material and form. It allows the inhabitants to not only engage with sustainability as a concept, but link their actions into positive environmental impact.

The Mycotoilet project exposed me to a whole new way of thinking about the role of architecture in ecological systems and gave me the connections and skills to launch a career I didn’t even know existed just over three years ago.

ISOBEL MCLEAN, RESEARCH TECHNICIAN, HALLAM LAB, FACULTY OF SCIENCE

A. By involving the contractors in the design process, we were able to shift from CLT (cross-laminated timber, which relies on adhesives), to a newer technology DLT (dowel-laminated timber) which uses neither nails nor glue. Its ability to come apart means that the MycoToilet can contribute to a circular economy at the end of its life.

I think this is the greatest take-away for me, the ability to learn from and design in response to the interdisciplinary members of a team, which enabled us to advance the studies of DLT, but also gave a local business the opportunity to create their first-ever DLT product.

JAMI HOLDEN, RESEARCH ASSISTANT, M.ARCH CANDIDATE, SALA, APPLIED SCIENCE

Q. What were some practical considerations in bringing Mycotoilet to the Garden?

A. We had to consider the best location for the Mycotoilet that would support visitors to the Garden Tree Walk, and how to install it without damage to valuable plant collections in the area.

Our Botanical Garden Horticulturists helped support with preparation of the area which meant transplanting and protection of plants, base preparation and landscaping restoration around the MycoToilet. One of the biggest challenges we were involved with was the movement and placement of the mostly pre-assembled structure into the garden. While challenging to protect our collections, there was great collaboration between Joe’s team, UBC Plant Operations and the Botanical Garden.

We also helped with the installation of the green roof planting and will be installing irrigation a later date to maintain plants for that green roof. Our Curator of the Asian Garden, Andrew Hill, was instrumental in coordinating efforts between Joe’s team and the Botanical Garden crew.

BRENDAN FISHER, HEAD TRADES - HORTICULTURIST, UBC BOTANICAL GARDEN

Q. How did you support the project team throughout the lifecycle of the project?

A. The Campus as a Living Lab program, managed by the Sustainability Hub, provided both funding and a structured platform that enabled the researchers, students, and operations staff to work together effectively.

I expected to help with turning an ambitious concept into a practical demonstration. But what surprised me is how the project has grown and evolved over time into something long-term. It began as a pilot, but with strong support from the Botanical Garden is now developing into a full-scale mycelium composting toilet intended to permanently replace a chemical unit.

Looking forward, I hope this project sets a strong example and encourages more researchers, staff, and external partners to collaborate through Campus as a Living Lab.

ANTHONY AN, RESEARCH MANAGER, SUSTAINABILITY HUB

Q. What lessons or skills from this project do you expect to carry forward into your future studies or career?

A. I use almost all the technical skills that I learned throughout the project daily. However, in working with Joe Dahmen and Steven Hallam, I think the most important lesson that was modelled throughout the project was that it won’t be a singular discipline that comes up with the solutions to the complex problems that we, as a society, are currently facing.

“Working in this transdisciplinary mode created something with the possibility for much greater impact than either architecture or microbiology could have proposed alone, and it was the willingness of everyone on the team to take the time to communicate and listen to each other’s perspectives that made it possible.”

Being willing to listen to people with other forms of knowledge and work towards creative solutions together is what brought the concept of the Mycotoilet together several years ago, and it is also what made it a reality today.

ISOBEL MCLEAN, RESEARCH TECHNICIAN, HALLAM LAB, FACULTY OF SCIENCE

Q. The MycoToilet was inspired in part by the Garden’s goal of ‘demonstrating sustainable practices’. What made you choose this project above others?

A. Sustainability was the primary reason, but also the innovative and botanical nature of the toilet were both important factors, as were the opportunity to collaborate with other UBC departments and our ability to share the costs with the designers.

DOUGLAS JUSTICE, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, HORTICULTURE AND COLLECTIONS, BOTANICAL GARDEN

Q. How do you see the MycoToilet improving operations compared to the chemical toilet it is intended to replace?

A. We see an opportunity for improving operations that should result in both cost savings and environmental benefits. Chemical toilets were trucked in and out of the garden seasonally and weekly truck service was required to vacuum out and clean.

“Allowing this new structure to become part of the Botanical Garden’s regular cleaning schedule with UBC Custodial will provide some cost savings – and more importantly reduce the environmental impact of multiple truck visits into the garden for cleaning and service.”

BRENDAN FISHER, HEAD TRADES - HORTICULTURIST, UBC BOTANICAL GARDEN

Q. What opportunities do you see to scale this technology to other contexts — such as urban parks or remote communities?

A. Part of the reason for developing the full-scale prototype at the Botanical Garden is to demonstrate the modular toilet to municipalities and the provincial government. Connecting to plumbing typically accounts for around half the cost to develop a public toilet. In parks or other locations far from plumbing the percentage cost can be significantly higher.

The modular waste-separating toilet we’ve developed incurs none of these costs, with servicing requirements that can be as low as 3-4 times per year. This could be an excellent solution when connecting to centralized systems is difficult or costly.

JOSEPH DAHMEN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, FOUNDER OF BIOGENIC ARCHITECTURE LAB, SALA, APPLIED SCIENCE.

Learn more about UBC’s Campus as a Living Lab program, the UBC Botanical Garden, the Biogenic Architecture Lab, the Hallam Lab and UBC School of Architecture + Landscape Architecture,

Human Wellbeing & Social Systems

Production, Consumption & Waste

Interview: Dr. Ryan Ziels and Jake Li

dlopez — Fri, 12 Aug 2022 18:40:59 +0000

Interview: Dr. Ryan Ziels and Jake Li dlopez Fri, 08/12/2022 - 11:40

Meet project leads Dr. Ryan Ziels, Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, and Jake Li, Green Infrastructure Engineer at UBC Campus + Community Planning. We asked them about their project, its impact, challenges, and lessons learned.

A Nutrient, Energy, and Water Resource Recovery (NEWateR) Facility transforms waste from wastewater into a resource. For instance, recovered nutrients can be used to make renewable fertilizers, including biofuel or bioenergy.

“We are looking at establishing technologies that allow us to not only treat the water, which is still a high priority to protect public and environmental health, but also to develop new technologies that allow us to move forward in the circular economy,” explains Ryan Ziels, Assistant Professor in the Civil Engineering department and one of the project's leads.

The Nutrient, Energy, and Water Resource Recovery facility will be hosted in the Annex Building located at the Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability, (CIRS) which the Department of Civil Engineering is converting into a lab. Once converted, CLL funds will be used to start placing pilot equipment in the facility and to start building the wastewater treatment technologies that several departments across campus are currently investigating.

“This project does not only involve UBC engineers,” adds Jake Li, Green Infrastructure Engineer at Campus + Community Planning. “Several groups across campus are looking at different aspects of resource recovery from wastewater.”

The Resource Recovery Facility will essentially combine this expertise into a living system that can be studied on a larger scale. The long-term goal is to build a system that interconnects related research and CIRS is the ideal space to do so since it is already connected to the campus wastewater system.

“Ramping inflation is definitely a concern, implementing five treatment units might no longer be feasible,” says Ziels when asked about potential challenges encountered, “but CLL funding will definitely act as seed funding, which can potentially allow us to apply to other granting agencies across Canada in the future.”

This project comes at a time when Metro Vancouver also needs to upgrade a significant number of wastewater treatment plants, which makes the topic of resource recovery extremely timely.

“Our project can showcase new technologies and thus inform the design and engineering of new infrastructures in Canada,” suggests Li. Furthermore, since the project is treating wastewater within a building there may be significant implications in terms of decentralized treatment - which could in turn benefit remote and low-resource communities.

The wastewater facility will also engage the public on campus. Thanks to the glass building within which it will be located, this research will be highly visible to the public. Additionally, students take part through classes and lab sessions, enhancing education and raising awareness over issues like the circular economy and recovering resources from waste.

Learn more about the CLL Project

Climate Change & Energy

Production, Consumption & Waste

Interview: Sara Kozicky, Min Jung Kim, Amy Dong

dlopez — Fri, 12 Aug 2022 17:43:00 +0000

Interview: Sara Kozicky, Min Jung Kim, Amy Dong dlopez Fri, 08/12/2022 - 10:43

Food Insecurity Project Manager at UBC Wellbeing, Sara Kozicky – along with students Min Jung Kim and Amy Dong – offered insight into the need for and work towards establishing a Community Food Security Hub at UBC.

Concerns around food security are increasingly common, especially in higher education settings. Initiatives like food banks or emergency food programs are often adopted as a response, but they represent temporary measures and do not have the ability to comprehensively address food insecurity.

“The main and overarching component of the project was developing a strategy for envisioning a Community Food Security Hub on the UBC Vancouver campus,” explains Sara Kozicky, project lead. “To do so, we realized that involving the community was central and we adopted community-based participatory action research as the main method for engagement.”

The Community Food Security Hub differs from other CLL projects due to its strong student leadership component. “Ever since the beginning, students were given a leadership role,” says Min Jung Kim, a work-learn student who has been working on the project since its kickoff. “We would play a major role in the initial stakeholder consultation, but also in planning and conducting community engagement.”

The UBC community was engaged through various activities, such as dialogue sessions and community meals, both online and in-person. Throughout engagement sessions, students working on the project had the opportunity to ask how participants envisioned the Community Food Security Hub. These engagement sessions were made possible thanks to partnerships with student groups like AMS student clubs, Sprouts, and Agora, as well as other major student-led food security leaders on campus.

“People want to see a very welcoming, inclusive, and accessible space that reminds them of ‘grandma’s living room’” says Amy Dong, another work-learn student involved in the project. “People are genuinely interested in food security; I was impressed by all the ideas that they shared”.

While a Community Food Security Hub is clearly centred around food and access to food, what most people mentioned in the engagement session was that they envisioned a space that could give them a sense of community, as well as a place that fostered relationships and allowed for diverse representation. Additionally, people showed support for areas that intersect with food insecurity, such as mental health, and financial and academic support.

The project team has carefully collected inputs provided by the UBC community and is now moving towards the next step of the project – the launch of the Community Food Security Hub – expected in fall 2022.

“The model we are envisioning involves a central, physical location, probably including the Food Hub Market, which we have already introduced and is a low-cost grocery store at the bottom of CIRS,” explains Min. “But, considering what emerged in the engagement sessions, we want to install multiple locations to enhance physical accessibility and frequency of usage. These locations could be managed by partners.”

Partners who envisioned the Community Food Security Hub will support its development and remain involved in the future beyond the engagement phase.

It will be one of the first of its kind in a post-secondary institute in Canada, re-affirming UBC’s commitment to lead health promotion action as guided by the Okanagan Charter.

Learn more about the CLL Project

Human Wellbeing & Social Systems

Production, Consumption & Waste