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Young SoRo Entrepreneur Develops
Eben Bayer of South Royalton, who graduated last month from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has hit the ground running. He has developed an environmentally friendly organic insulation, which he calls Greensulate, and has already founded a business, "Ecovative Design LLC," to promote it. Bayer says his product, a patented combination of water, flour, minerals, and mushroom spores, could replace conventional foam insulation, which is expensive to synthesize and harmful to the environment. "We are currently in the process of producing full sized insulating panels and will test them in the coming months," Bayer told The Herald. Households use nearly one-fifth the total energy consumed in the U.S. every year, and of that energy, 50-70% is spent on heating and cooling. "To reduce this massive energy expenditure, new and existing homes must be fitted with more insulation," Bayer said. "While conventional polystyrene and polyurethane foam blends are typically used because of their excellent capacity to insulate, they require petroleum for production, and are non-biodegradable, causing landfill pile-ups at the end of their life cycle." Bayer, who grew up on a farm, used his knowledge of fungal growth to develop an organic insulation, placing the ingredients in a panel mold sown with mushroom spores. The spores digest the starch, converting it to a tightly meshed network of mineral and mycelium (the vegetative growth stage of a fungus). The panels are then dried to prevent fungal growth and molded into sheets suitable for home or commercial insulation. The result is a new energy-saving, cost-effective, environmentally-friendly class of insulation which could replace traditional insulators. Beyond insulation applications, Bayer envisions modifying the growing mixture slightly to include reinforcing materials that could be used to create strong, sustainable "growable" homes. Inexpensive structural panels could be grown and assembled on-site in developing nations where housing is scarce, or disaster areas where temporary housing is essential. Bayer says the commercialization of his affordable, environmentally-friendly organic insulation would result in better insulation that saves energy, at a lower cost, in harmony with the environment. "This idea developed in a studio I was taking on sustainable housing," Bayer explained. "The task was to improve the insulation in a conventional home and I began to search for other ways of naturally insulating a building. Most organic insulators, such as wool, are costly to produce." During his research on natural insulators, Bayer discovered an article that talked about how loose fill perlite had been used as a home insulator in the past. Perlite can be used as a substrate base when growing mushrooms commercially, and he began to think about the potentials for ‘growing’ or bonding particles together using the mycelium growth stage of a fungus. After doing some additional research on fungus growth, he bought some oyster mushroom spawn, and produced a sample. He then worked with another student, Gavin McIntyre, to produce larger samples, using different substrates and growth conditions. These samples were recently tested at NIST (National Institute of Standards and Testing) in Gaithersburg, Md. for an R-Value and flammability characteristics. Greensulate is a composite board that is made up of perlite suspended in a mycelium cellular matrix. It is produced by mixing perlite, vermiculite, hydrogen peroxide, trace nutrients, starch, and water, and placing the resulting slurry in a mold that matches the desired product dimensions. Mushroom spores grow through the slurry forming a mesh of mycelium cells that holds the insulating particles in place adding structural strength. This results in a lightweight panel that has insulating properties comparable to existing products on the market while removing the negative health, environmental, and economic effects, that are present in the current insulators. The final step is to remove the panel from the mold for drying. Drying both kills the mycelium network, rendering it biologically inert, and reduces the density of the composite. "Our strategy is to first target individuals and businesses constructing new green buildings," Bayer said. "Greensulate’s lower material cost, about 50% from that of traditional foam board, and biodegradability, make it an attractive alternative to conventional insulators such as fiberglass, loose fill cellulose, and expanded foam." A provisional patent for Greensulate was filed last December 15. Currently, Bayer is working on two different production models. One would use perlite, vermiculite, and sawdust to produce a composite board. This panel would function as an insulating batt as well as a firewall, and would be less expensive than most foam board. The second production model would use ground up Styrofoam and sawdust as a substrate. "As there is only a 10% Styrofoam recycling rate in the U.S., we estimate that the material cost for this model would be equal to or lower than conventional insulators such a fiberglass or cellulose, while providing an equivalent R-value, and having positive environmental effects," Bayer told the Herald. For more information about Greensulate e-mail Bayer at eben@ecovativedesign.com. ____________ |
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