Hey ladies and gent's, I wanted to share with you this cool product that is being developed for insulation alternatives. It is called Greensulate. This is really cool! It is a replacement for Styrofoam, polystyrene, and home insulation. The neatest thing about this product is that it is grown not manufactured. It can be grown in space without light and without any artificial growth sources. So how they do it is they take wood chips, buckwheat hulls, or rice hulls, (which mind you are all environmental waste) and place it in molds. They then infuse it with mycelium, which is a fungus that produces "root-like fibers". This is what creates the ridged foam form that can be used for insulation. After it grows, approximately 10 day growth period, they then remove it from the form and treat it to stop the growth processes and to sterilize it.
How cool is that to find an eco friendly way to replace Styrofoam, which among other materials is so harmful for the environment!
As you all know, here at SCAD, we have connections with Steelcase, a furniture design company. Believe it or not they are now using this material in replacement of Styrofoam for their packing needs. Utilizing this for the protection of the product during shipping, allow them to take their mission statement into another aspect of their green business.
