Growing Green Home Building Materials From The Ground Up

Green building innovators are making serious headway by developing materials that contribute to healthier and sustainable home building. One organization in particular is pushing innovation and rewarding companies that excel in the development of products that contribute to human health and environmental safety.

The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute is a nonprofit organization that works to certify and support companies that create products that are “more good” rather than “less bad” by using a rating system based on renewable energy, material health, clean water, social responsibility and material reutilization. The winners of the recent Cradle to Cradle Product Innovation Challenge have developed products aimed at solving the environmental and health concerns of current home building materials.

BioMason received first place in the Cradle to Cradle Product Innovation Challenge for developing a brick made with a CO2-free process that uses bacteria to grow bricks out of readily available materials such as sand,creating a durable substance. The standard process for creating masonry bricks requires high heat--in fact the fuel for the kiln is 40 percent of the cost of a brick. This new product innovation by bioMason does not require bricks to be fired, saving energy and reducing emissions.

Receiving second place in the innovation challenge is Ecovative for its development of Mushroom Insulation. Composed of agricultural wastes like corn stalks and seed husks, this insulation is bound together by a fungal material called mycelium, the root structure of mushrooms. This Mushroom Insulation is naturally fire-resistant and compostable. Current insulation materials have toxic flame retardants and other harmful volatile organic compounds that that are unhealthy for both the environment and people.

Taking third place is ECOR, a company dedicated to developing sustainable alternatives to wood, composite, aluminum and plastic. Their raw panels are the building blocks for all of their products and are made with 100 percent cellulose fibers including post consumer paper, forest wood and agricultural raw materials. There are no toxic additives or adhesives, making this a much healthier alternative to current building materials.

For more information about the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute visit, c2ccertified.org