Mushroom Insulation Is No Hallucination

[Guest guest]

Mushroom Insulation Is No Hallucination

 

_http://www.blueegg.com/article/Mushroom-Insulation-Is-No-Hallucination.html_

(http://www.blueegg.com/article/Mushroom-Insulation-Is-No-Hallucination.html)

 

 

Two college kids having an aha! moment with some mushrooms might normally be

of dubious value to the general public. But the mushrooms Eben Bayer and

Gavin McIntyre have been growing under their beds inspired an idea that's far

out yet utterly practical: an _organic_

(http://www.blueegg.com/Green-Glossary/Organic.html) building _insulation_

(http://www.blueegg.com/Green-Glossary/Insulation.html) that's effective,

safe, and environmentally friendly. The

inventors have ambitious plans to bring their mushroom insulation, called

Greensulate, to market within a year.

By mixing water, flour, minerals, and mushroom spores, Bayer and McIntyre

discovered they could grow a foamy substance that would harden into sheets of

mesh that demonstrate an insulating power comparable to that of _fiberglass_

(http://www.blueegg.com/Green-Glossary/FIBERGLASS.html) . The two have just

graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where they developed the

product for a class, and are working full-time on testing it, making

improvements,

and preparing to manufacture it.

" If you look at the financial aspects of it, the material is so incredibly

inexpensive that it could save a substantial amount of money and energy, " says

McIntyre. " And it's good for the environment. It's kind of a win-win-win. "

If Greensulate takes off, it will join a growing list of natural insulation

materials that appeal to homeowners concerned about the environment. " I'm a

big fan of bio-inspired design-looking at nature to find solutions to everyday

problems that we face, " says Bayer. " I think there's a huge natural toolkit

available to us. "

Indeed, humans have been successfully insulating their homes for thousands

of years using materials found in nature. It appears our forefathers were on

to something that deserves-and is getting-a second look. " There certainly

seems to be a growing interest in more natural building materials in general.

In

terms of insulation, things like straw and straw-clay are having somewhat of

a resurgence. There's a discernible growth in interest in that, " says David

Eisenberg, co-author of _The Straw Bale House: Designing and Building with a

Resource-Efficient Material_

(http://www.amazon.com/dp/0930031717/ref=s9_asin_title_1/105-8529254-8240464?pf_\

rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER & pf_rd_s=center-1 & pf_rd_r=0720W

YE3V68070EBTM3S & pf_rd_t=101 & pf_rd_p=292858701 & pf_rd_i=507846) and director

of the _Development Center for Appropriate Technology_ (http://www.dcat.net/)

, a nonprofit that promotes sustainable building practices.

Straw-bale housing in the United States goes back more than a hundred years,

when enterprising Nebraskans, exposed on the chilly northern plains, worked

around a lumber shortage by stacking blocks of straw to build their homes.

Some of those structures, sealed with stucco, are still standing today-a

testament to straw's surprising durability. They've inspired a renewed interest

in

this inexpensive, completely natural resource, which boasts an _R-value_

(http://www.blueegg.com/Green-Glossary/R-value.html) as high as R-50.

Fiberglass, by comparison, ranges from R-11 to R-30, according to the U.S.

Department

of Energy.

Inspiration for insulation can also be found much further back in time.

Wool, in the form of felt, has been the traditional covering for yurt homes for

a

thousand years or more in Mongolia, where unforgiving winters regularly

register temperatures as low as -20°F. The mighty warrior Genghis Khan most

likely slept in a wool-insulated yurt and was none the worse for it. Wool is

still a common form of insulation among Mongolian nomads, and it's finding a

market in more modern communities, too. Sold in rolls (or batts), sheep's wool

is

desirable for its water and flame resistance. It's renewable and

_biodegradable_ (http://www.blueegg.com/Green-Glossary/Biodegradable.html) , and

insulates on a par with fiberglass.

Cotton is another natural material that's a good insulator, with an R-value

similar to that of popular _cellulose_

(http://www.blueegg.com/Green-Glossary/CELLULOSE.html) . An added bonus for

those interested in using

environmentally friendly building materials: There are cotton insulation

products made from

recycled fabric, usually denim scraps diverted from the _industrial waste_

(http://www.blueegg.com/Green-Glossary/Industrial-waste.html) supply. Its hip

factor got a boost when Entourage star Adrian Grenier used recycled denim in

a home he built in Brooklyn.

Rice hulls, which form the protective coating around the grain we eat, have

also demonstrated good insulating qualities, along with moisture and flame

resistance. Since the hulls are discarded as part of the milling process,

putting them to use as insulation keeps them out of the waste stream. Rice-hull

insulation is not widely available, but a small group of enthusiasts is pushing

to get the word out about it.

Building with nature can entail trade-offs. Some natural insulation products

are, for example, less water-resistant or are more expensive. But Eisenberg

argues that we are always making trade-offs anyway; the consequences are just

not always as immediate or obvious as, say, the shortcomings of a particular

insulation product. Choosing natural products is one way to minimize what he

calls " unintended consequences, " such as contributing non-biodegradable

construction waste to landfills or discovering toxins in building supplies that

affect the _indoor air quality_

(http://www.blueegg.com/Green-Glossary/Indoor-air-quality.html) in our homes.

Eisenberg's advice for those considering green insulation is to do your

research. " If you're going to use materials that are more natural, " he says,

" you

basically need to design with that in mind. With straw bales, for example,

you need to know more about moisture than if you use other kinds of

insulation, and you want to make sure you can keep things dry. "

With Greensulate, there's a more unique potential drawback: the appeal of

mushrooms to hungry little mammals. Bayer and McIntyre are already on it. They

plan to enclose the material in a popular kind of insulation product, a

structural insulated panel (SIP), which will also minimize exposure to

moisture.

They are also experimenting with sealants for an added layer of durability,

and are looking to the natural world for that, too.

" We are trying to stay entirely organic. There are obviously chemical

methods that we could apply, but those just would move away from our idea of

being

completely green, " says McIntyre. " We know what our overall goal is. And

honestly, nothing's impossible for us. "