An energy research building in Germany has been coated in what its creators call ‘frozen smoke’ designed to deliver natural light while providing thermal insulation.The aerogel technology, designed by specialty chemicals company Cabot, has been used in the window system of the Energy Efficiency Center (EEC) at the Bavarian Center for Applied Energy Research — a demo building to showcase new energy efficiency technologies.The Lumira aerogel is said to be the lightest and best insulating solid in the world. It is a hydrophobic aerogel, produced as particles with each particle consisting of more than 90% air, contained in a structure that prevents heat transfer.
An energy research building in Germany has been coated in what its creators call ‘frozen smoke’ designed to deliver natural light while providing thermal insulation.
The aerogel technology, designed by specialty chemicals company Cabot, has been used in the window system of the Energy Efficiency Center (EEC) at the Bavarian Center for Applied Energy Research — a demo building to showcase new energy efficiency technologies.
The Lumira aerogel is said to be the lightest and best insulating solid in the world. It is a hydrophobic aerogel, produced as particles with each particle consisting of more than 90% air, contained in a structure that prevents heat transfer.
Cabot’s product was used within the OKAGEL insulating glass system, created by OKALUX, as well as Scobalit’s SCOBATHERM — a translucent, highly-insulating panel used for roofs and walls.
“The functional requirements of modern buildings have become more demanding, and today's fenestration systems need to cover a variety of tasks,” said Raj Chary, vice president and general manager at Cabot Aerogel. “We’re proud to be a part of this EEC project to showcase some of the ways that our aerogel technology can be applied by designers and architects in order to address some of today’s functional challenges. [It] offers a number of new technical possibilities such as sustainable daylighting, light diffusion, UV stability and thermal insulation.”
The EEC project was established in a bid to showcase and prove new energy-efficient technology in building construction by using intelligent building design that focused on energy yield.
The two-story building is covered by a translucent roof membrane that serves as weather protection as well as an outer layer of the multi-layer structured roof.
In part of the inner insulating layer, the EEC utilizes SCOBATHERM panels consisting of glass-fiber reinforced polyester that are filled with Cabot Lumira aerogel in the ceiling of the rooms.
The project has been funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, the Bavarian Ministry of Economics, Transport, Infrastructure and Technology, as well as a number of industrial partners that provided the various building components used in the construction of the project.
This post first appeared in the 2degrees blog on September 19, 2013.
Published Sep 30, 2013 6pm EDT / 3pm PDT / 11pm BST / 12am CEST