User:PeterEastern/Mushroom materials

A thermal insulation panel made by Ecovative Design ready for installation,

Mushroom materials are a novel class of renewable biomaterial grown from fungal mycelium and low-value non-food agricultural materials using a patented process. After being left to grow in a former in a dark place for about five days during which time the fungal mycelial network binds the mixture, the resulting light robust organic compostable material can be used to within many products, including building materials, thermal insulation panels and protective packaging.

History

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Whilst studying at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York in 2007 Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre created rigid, molded material using mycelium and agricultural waste. They found that by manipulating the growth environment, they could influence the properties of the material, such as strength, flexibility and temperature tolerance.[1][2] With support from the Institute's business incubator they formed Ecovative Design, based in Green Island, New York[3] and filed a patent for the process was filed in 2009, which was published in 2011.[4]

Philip Ross was working with the material in 2010[3] and demonstrated architectural structures made from the material in 2012.[5] Ecovative Design opened a production facility in 2012.[6][7] Architect David Benjamin of The Living, working with Evovative Design and Arup, built the 40 feet (12 m) height 'Hy-Fi' structure at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 2014.[8][9]

Process

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Agricultural waste product such as cotton hulls, rice, buckwheat and cottonseed. cleaning the material, heating it up, inoculating it to create growth of the fungal mycelium and left in a dark environment for period of about five days permitting growth of a fungal mycelial network to bind the mixture. It is then dried to prevent further fungal growth, thus preventing moss or fungus allergy due to exposure to the product.[10][1][11]

Properties

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The organic and compostable material is water-, mold- and fire resistance and is stronger weight for weight than concrete.

Applications

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A bio-degradable wine shipping container made by Ecovative Design
  • Building materials
  • Thermal Insulation
  • Protective packaging
  • Automotive

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, “Environmentally Friendly Organic Insulation Uses Mushroom Spores”, 2007, May 7, “[1]”, Retrieved November 28, 2009
  2. ^ Amber Cleveland (2007-05-04). "Commencement 2007: Graduate Develops "Growable" Solution to Energy Issues".
  3. ^ a b "Industrial-Strength Fungus -Densely packed rootlike fibers can do the job of Styrofoam, insulation and, yes, even bricks". Time. 2010-02-08.
  4. ^ US patent 8001719, Bayer, Eben & McIntyre, Gavin, "Method for producing rapidly renewable chitinous material using fungal fruiting bodies and product made thereby", published 2011-08-23, assigned to Ecovative Design, LLC 
  5. ^ "Mycotecture: Building with Mushrooms? This Inventor Says Yes". Treehugger. 2012-09-26.
  6. ^ "Sealed Air and Ecovative Complete Agreement to Accelerate Commercialization of New Sustainable Packaging Material". The New York Times. 20 June 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  7. ^ Nearing, Brian (4 June 2012). "Ecovative keeps growing". Times Union. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  8. ^ "Hy-Fi". Museum of Modern Art, New York.
  9. ^ "Engineering a mushroom tower". Arup. 2014-06-24.
  10. ^ "Eben Bayer: Are mushrooms the new plastic?". TED. July 2010.
  11. ^ Boch, Adam. “Staying Cool: Green insulation gets warm reception.” Scientific American. May 28, 2008. “[2]”, Retrieved November 28, 2009
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Category:Biomaterials Category:Packaging materials Category:Building insulation materials Category:Building materials