BIO-FABRICATED MATERIALS AS ECO-FRIENDLY BUILDING SOLUTIONS|新型態環保素材! 菌絲體纖維運用日益廣泛

In the United States, a new industry is thriving as people are looking for eco-friendly building solutions. Instead of using conventional materials, a lot of companies are now using bio-fabricated materials in making furniture boards and building bricks. In a factory in New York, workers are putting together stools that took shape with the help of mushrooms. Micro-organisms now shape up to be the new building blocks as more businesses are looking for eco-friendly building solutions. Ecovative Design is one of the businesses. The company makes furniture boards with mycelium, the stringy root fibers from fungus. ==GAVIN MCINTYRE, Ecovative Design co-founder== It's like growing a tree into the shape of your furniture, but rather than a tree, we're using mushrooms. Stalks and stems are packed with mycelium into bags. After a few days, these will grow into a moldable mix and be sold as packaging materials. ==EBEN BAYER, Ecovative Design co-founder== I think we are becoming like a Dow or a Dupont. We have applications in packaging, in insulation. Essentially, everything for your home, grown, right from your walls to the structural material, to the furniture, to even the things you put on your desk. Similarly, in North Carolina, bioMASON makes bricks without firing up a kiln. Bacteria is added into sand and placed into molds. The bricks get their strength from the same process that makes coral reefs so solid. ==GINGER KRIEG DOSIER, bioMASON co-founder== So the bacteria that we use are good bacteria as well and it can found in a marine environment, in seashells and marine waters. BioMASON is working to license the process to companies that pave and face bricks. The industry is still young, but proponents think bio-fabricated materials will one day stack up in the market. TRANSLATED BY：ARIEL HSIEH