Ecovative Design
after use. Credit: Ecovative Design
E-Team Award Mushrooms into a Sustainable Business
Insulation lowers heating and cooling costs—yet the most commonly used insulation foam is environmentally damaging to produce, and, because it is non-biodegradable, ecologically difficult to dispose of. To address these problems, a group of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) students funded by an NCIIA E-Team grant has created Greensulate, a sustainable alternative insulation made from agriculture waste products suspended in a matrix of mycelium-growth-stage mushroom cells.
Inspired by his childhood experience of harvesting gourmet fungi on his family's Vermont farm, Eben Bayer first explored the idea of mushroom-based insulation in a sophomore-year Inventor's Studio course at RPI. He partnered with fellow mechanical engineering student Gavin McIntyre to develop the technology through an E-Team grant, and by the time they graduated, the two had founded their own company, Ecovative Design. Today, Eben and Gavin are also using their innovation to develop and manufacture the 'Ecocradle', a packaging product that is 100% compostable and biodegradable. It’s made from seed husks and mushroom roots, and is being developed with a view to replacing petroleum-based packaging such as Styrofoam.
Read more: Ecovative's profile on the NCIIA website
 http://www.ecovativedesign.com |