Scaled Growth and Production of Mycelium Resin for Low Density Engineered Wood

Traditional engineered wood products, ubiquitous in our lives, are a human health hazard due to the carcinogenic nature of the binders used and lack of economical alternatives. The potential of mycelium binders as an alternative has become a primary research focus for Ecovative. Through the Phase I portion of this grant, Ecovative has identified low density (160-480 kg/m^3) engineered wood products as the most attractive commercial entry point for mycelium binders for a variety of reasons. First, existing low density boards consume the greatest amount of toxic resins per kg of wood due to the inefficiencies of surface coated particle binders. Second, the mechanical specifications of these low density boards can be achieved by a mycelium board with no press step and therefore dramatically less energy in manufacturing. Lastly uncompressed mycelium bound boards supply the same mechanical specifications while using as little as half the mass of wood products due to the unique gap filling and binding ability of mycelium, which far exceeds what is possible with a surface coated adhesive system.These factors enable Ecovative to produce an engineered wood product which offers a unique combination of density and performance, detoxifying existing low density engineered wood products while opening new areas for competition with rigid foam sheets, and hollow-core multi-component constructions, each of which have their own shortfalls. Additionally, the mycelium composite offers unique flame resistance, acoustic damping, and thermal insulation properties which further expand the possible applications for an engineered wood product far beyond the markets that can be reached with today's thermally compressed surface coated resin technologies.While the potential product pipeline which has been identified through Phase I work is broad, Ecovative has identified a narrow scope of higher margin smaller markets (<1MM ft^2 per year) to serve as beachheads for adoption. This work plan outlines a course of action both for direct sales to early adopters and to licensing for partner manufacturing within these markets. This work plan will set Ecovative on a long-term path to approach higher volume and higher impact markets as the usage of engineered wood products is redefined.