Unfortunately, some of the most commonly used building materials aren’t particularly good for our health and for the environment. However, after you learn about this innovation, you’ll see that there’s hope.
Even though this round building may look like a giant birthday cake, when you look at it closely, you’ll realize that it’s actually full of love for the environment.
The Growing Pavilion is made from materials which grow on our planet earth and unlike concrete and insulation, they’re not harming us. It’s located in the Netherlands.
Innovation in Building Materials: the Growing Pavilion
The frame of this eco-friendly building is timber whereas the floor is made from compressed cattail panels.
The walls are mycelium or mushrooms, once they flower in order to reproduce. This building debuted at the Dutch Design Week which happened several months ago in Eindhoven.
The two companies who worked on this mushroom-based building are New Heroes and Krown-design.
The latter specializes in production of structures and furnishings from mycelium.
According to the co-founder of the company, Jan Berbee, the standard rigid foam plastic EPS panels seen on most buildings releases three times of their weight in CO2.
However, growing mycelium helps offset the carbon footprint thanks to its ability to capture it twice in its weight in CO2.
How Did the Companies Created this Innovative Building?
The growth process wasn’t very hard. They shaped molds and filled them with hemp waste substrate which the mycelium would grow on.
The molds were big-6 feet tall and almost 3 feet wide. After a week, the panels filled with mycelium and they were baked to destroy the fungus, harden the panel, and make sure it doesn’t grow wildly.
Then, the mycelium was painted with a protective, bio-based layer.
According to Berbee, mycelium is better than wood since it gets the strength in bulk. And, it also possesses some insulating characteristics, making it one of the main reasons why it’s being considered for building development on Mars.
What Is Mycelium Exactly?
Mycelium is the root structure for mushrooms and a workable, natural material. It helped the companies create a light, yet rigid product that’s fire-retardant and shock-absorbing.
For New Heroes, natural building material development is pivotal in the fight against climate change crisis.
Diana van Bokhoven, creator of the company said that social challenges like climate change, CO2 emission, and lack of fossil fuels requires for new and more sustainable solutions.
More than 75,000 people from the industry and government visited the Growing Pavilion during the Design Week.
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