Dispatches from the Field: Ecovative in the Built Environment

Since they were awarded the $100,000 Fuller Challenge grand prize six months ago, the team at Ecovative Design has grown their disruptive technology portfolio from home-compostable Mushroom Packaging to Myco Foam and Myco Board, two new applications poised to revolutionize the building design and construction markets. Set to displace the dominant paradigm of petrochemical extraction resulting in toxic and wasteful materials, the Ecovative designs combine mushroom mycelium with agricultural waste for natural, rapidly renewable insulation products.

“We answered the Fuller Challenge because we believe in the power of people to make a real, positive impact. We look forward to further answering Bucky’s challenge as we continue to innovate mycological biomaterials and reach what Bucky called the preferred state, with social and environmental issues considered equally with economics,” said Ecovative co-founder and Chief Scientist, Gavin McIntyre.

You can see some of Ecovative’s building materials in action at The Museum of Modern Art’s PS1 this summer in Long Island City, New York: they have been contracted to supply ten thousand mushroom bricks for the construction of a 40-foot tower as part of PS1’s Young Architect Program. The installation will be on display from June 5 – September 5, 2014.