Homeowners eager for green ways to keep their houses cool in the summer and warm in the winter may soon have an alternative to the pink fiberglass insulation they have used for decades. Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre of Evocative Design have created Greensulate, a strong, low-cost biomaterial that replaces the expensive, non-biodegradable plastics and Styrofoam used in wall insulation. Not only this, Greensulate is also suitable for use in modern packaging.
Greensulate
It is a sustainable building material made from mushroom fibers, rice hulls and recycled paper—to resist temperature change, stop fire and repel water in accordance with American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International standards.
The material is completely green and biodegrades when it is no longer wanted. It is cheaper than petroleum-based products and serves as an alternative to these for both building and packaging insulation.
It has a very competitive R-factor that enables it to act as a firewall thanks to its very good flammable properties.
Building Process
A mixture of water, mineral particles, starch and hydrogen peroxide are poured into 7-by-7-inch molds and then injected with living mushroom cells. The hydrogen peroxide is used to prevent the growth of other specimens within the material.
Placed in a dark environment, the cells start to grow, digesting the starch as food and sprouting thousands of root-like cellular strands. Within two weeks, a 1-inch-thick panel of insulation is fully-grown. It is, then dried to prevent fungal growth, making it unlikely to trigger mold and fungus allergies. The finished product resembles a giant cracker in texture.
The process uses minimal energy.
The following video shows the process:
Benefits
• It is inexpensive as compared to Styrofoam.
• It is environmental-friendly.
• It acts as both an insulator and as a firewall, keeping your home efficient and safe.
• It has no allergy or health risks.
• It is produced in a facility close to the market it serves, further reducing the product’s reliance on fossil fuels.
• It is energy efficient requiring 5 times less energy to produce then conventional rigid boards, and saving you energy over the life of your home.
Synthetics consume 10% of Earth’s oil and Styrofoam fills 25% of our landfills forever. Replacing Styrofoam saves 15billion lbs CO2. I would suggest you to replace Styrofoam with Greensulate. Greensulate benefits us as well as our environment. It could be produced locally by farmers or specialized cooperatives, hence producing more jobs.
Via: topcultured
AWESOME!
Only 1 question, if it gets wet, won’t it rot since it is made of vegetable matter?
Which mushroom— Are local mushrooms recommended, like just go out and find the lightest weight, prolific mushroom close by– In case you were in Maine for example??? We have interesting tree mushroom-like growths in the local woods....
Hey Bo I found this,
Are your materials made out of mushrooms?
”””No. We use fungal mycelium, which is basically the roots of mushrooms. The mycelium acts as a resin to bond agricultural byproducts together into a rigid material. We don’t let the mycelium grow long enough to produce mushrooms. That means you never have to worry about spores or allergens.”””
So I guess it could be any kind of mushroom.
We have some shelf mushrooms that grow in the swamp that are almost as hard as rock, wonder if that would be good to use?
