Attic Insulation Chicken Feathers

A b figure 3.

Attic insulation chicken feathers.

Birds survive in sub zero weather by fluffing their feathers creating layers of air and feathers. In its current form the company s product more closely resembles a solid brick of processed feathers. Initially the team at aeropowder experimented with using finely ground chicken feathers as insulation. One type of green insulation that you won t find in the united states yet is called industrial hemp which is a type of low narcotic hemp.

After the lightbulb moment masters student elena dieckmann ordered 10kg of chicken feathers and began to experiment using them as insulation in the home. Cleaned feathers were mechanically worked to separate fibrous material from the quills and ultimately classified into two components. Georgia tech is investigating the development of composite materials from chicken feathers for application in buildings including acoustic ceiling tiles moisture resistant drywall and insulation. It s obvious now that insulation would make sense because the feathers were air trapping the result of their research is a way to replace some of the polyurethane foam contained in boards.

Raw chicken feathers directly from a processing plant were washed with detergent and dried. Right now lots of chicken feathers are sent to landfill though not in britain or incinerated and that comes at a financial cost to the plant owners and an environmental cost to everyone else. In the age of bio design it s important to rethink the way we use waste. Many are the short fluffy kind the down that insulates the bird from the cold.

Aeropowder is an environmentally friendly insulation material made using old chicken feathers. Feathers make up 5 of a chicken s bodyweight and 80 chickens can produce about 22 pounds of raw material dieckman and robinson estimate. Just a fraction of an inch of this insulation can keep a bird s body temperature at 104 degrees even in freezing weather. In particular the poultry industry generates a large amount of feather waste that would otherwise go unused.

A fibrous material suitable for further textile processing and a residue containing large feathers and pieces of quill. The idea quickly progressed and now alongside fellow students ioannis tzouganatos and ryan robinson they have come up with the perfect mix of chicken feathers and foam which is sound absorbent lightweight water repulsive flame retardant and pest resistant. Micrograph of the secondary and tertiary struc ture of the chicken feather showing barbs and barbules 1. A α helix and b β pleated sheet structure 5.