Greensulate - Mushroom Insulation

Source: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/05/11/insulation_tec.html?category=technology

"An engineer with an agricultural background recently developed a new kind of "eco-friendly" building insulation using mushroom spores. The "Greensulate formula [is] an organic, fire-retardant board made of water, flour, oyster mushroom spores and perlite, a mineral blend found in potting soil...A 1-inch-thick sample of the perlite-mushroom composite had a 2.9 R-value, the measure of a substance's ability to resist heat flow. Commercially produced fiberglass insulation typically has an R-value between 2.7 and 3.7 per inch of thickness." Clearly this is a way to avoid carcinogenic materials and petrochemicals in the walls of our homes and offices, and it also demonstrates the extent of what's possible when we innovate across disciplines."

Source: http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/006892.html

"Bringing the insulation to market is still at least a year away though, said McIntyre, and will require much more research and work, not to mention more sophisticated equipment and a better work space."

Source: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070624/eco_mushrooms_070624/20070624?hub=SciTech