The next buildings will be translucent and super-efficient
After many years of stagnation, smart materials revolution is finally reaching the construction sector. In this new era of efficient construction, bamboo can replace glass, and the new aerogel can replace all the insulation materials currently used in construction.
What is Aerogel? The New Building Material That Could Change Everything
In the search for more sustainable and safer insulation materials, many innovative solutions have been tested that promise to shape the direction the construction industry will take in the coming years. Traditional materials emit large amounts of greenhouse gases throughout the production chain and, in many cases, They can be very toxic.
This is why many companies and institutions are working full time to develop new materials that provide greater efficiency and that can be produced sustainably to reduce the emissions for which this sector is largely responsible.
This search led to the creation of the revolutionary aerogel, or aerogel. It is a material that has the consistency of a gel, but the water content is replaced by air, creating a substance that many classify as the lightest known to date. These properties make it a fire-resistant material. thermal efficiency about 90%.
What Makes Aerogel So Special? The Next Buildings Could Be Translucent
Aerogel was developed seventy years ago, although at that time we did not have the technology for its practical application, so it was considered more as a chemical curiosity and a source of scientific research on its special composition. That is why it has only recently been successfully implemented in the construction sector.
Since aerogel is a substance in a gaseous state, it provides the lowest thermal conductivity of all insulators known to date. It is completely fireproof, capable of reduce the temperature from 1000° to just 100°And all this with a layer thickness of only 6 mm applied to any type of building.
Aerogel is capable of removing heat in any form of transfer, be it radiation, convection or conduction. It can be given any shape and size, which makes it ideal for use in all types of finishes, profiles and partitions. It can already be found mixed with other traditional materials such as mineral wool and rock wool.
Where to get it? What is known at the moment
The widespread use of aerogel is still in its infancy, so hard work is being done to make it reduce your production costs to reduce the cost of large-scale production. Its most common use is in the aerospace industry to reduce the high temperatures experienced by parts of structures intended to orbit our planet.
Tests have been conducted on mixing this material with glass to create insulating glass for all types of building purposes. Mixing aerogel with traditional insulators has shown very positive results in increasing its flexibility. Its use is expected to expand rapidly in the coming years due to rapid advances in cutting-edge research.
New insulation for construction
Aerogel would significantly reduce the amount of materials used in construction because it a very thin layer is required to achieve much more significant resultsWhether it’s a new industrial-grade material or insulating beads made from recycled plastic, these new super-efficient insulators will help reduce costs and CO2 emissions within a few years.