The Green Parent

Eben Bayer grew up around mushrooms, helping his father harvest fungi on their farm in Vermont. But he probably never realized he might be inspired by mushrooms to patent an invention that would take the green building movement by storm. Bayer, and his classmate Gavin McIntyre, graduates of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., recently launched “Greensulate” a organic product they developed together that uses mushrooms as insulation. The fire-retardant board is made of water, flour, oyster mushroom spores and perlite, a mineral blend found in potting soil. While studying at Rensselear, the two grew the mushrooms under their beds. But now they are hoping to take their product wide-scale. The two inventors are hoping the invention will soon be part of the growing market for eco-friendly products.