File this under…if you’re looking to start a small business construction type company.
If you own a construction company there are a number of innovative technologies that benefit both you and the owner of the residential home or commercial building. From self-healing concrete to eco-friendly wood, these new innovations are helping to pave the way to a brighter future.
Geofoam
Geofoam is lightweight, energy-efficient and eco-friendly. It also costs much less than other typical materials used in the foundation and insulating process. For residents looking to buy a new construction property, it provides an attractive incentive to future savings on home cooling and heating costs. Additionally, Geofoam is easy to load and unload at job sites and you can create blocks in any size you need.
Cooling Bricks
Newly designed bricks made of clay and hydrogel, and used typically on the exterior of buildings, have the ability to absorb moisture and store it. What this does is help to reduce heating and cooling costs in commercial structures. When the temperature rises outdoors the water stored then releases helping to keep the building’s interior cool.
Cigarette Butts
Millions of cigarette butts reach dump sites annually. Today, these very butts can now be incorporated into bricks, helping to improve not only their strength but also their energy efficiency. Additionally, reusing cigarette butts is better for the environment and the cost of a common building material ends up being less. Its not clear if the smell of tobacco is taken out, or not. But cigarette butts are mostly cotton so its doable.
Bricks With Pollution-Absorbing Properties
With a renewed focus on going green and providing better air quality inside commercial buildings, especially in cities where pollution is high, bricks with pollution-absorbing properties can make the environment for office workers and residents better. Composed of a double-layer that creates a highly insulating material, they remove up to 100% of large pollutants and up to 30% of the fine particles that travel through the air.
Self-Healing Concrete
A new technology is gaining ground as a beneficial material that can help repair buildings. Self-healing concrete is an amazing new innovation. The material contains bacteria within tiny pellets that are mixed into the concrete and a nutrient of an organic nature, known as calcite. Once a crack forms and allows water to enter, the previously dormant bacteria now revives and starts to feed on the organic matter. This process results in the creation of limestone that then fills the crack on its own. While the material is expensive, the bacteria can remain dormant for a period of up to 200 years.
Cement That Absorbs Light
What if you could create lighted areas without the need for adding street lights? Today, an up and coming building material promises to do just that. Light-absorbing cement captures and stores sunlight during the day and then releases the light after dark. This is a wonderful new technology that can benefit drivers on roads, bikers and joggers on walking paths, and help to illuminate public parking lots such as those at retail stores. Additionally, this innovation will also help to drastically reduce energy consumption.
Translucent Wood
Another new innovation is translucent wood. Derived through a process where lignin is removed from the wood and replaced by a transparent polymer to produce a material that’s translucent. It’s ideal for use in windows to allow light to enter without giving up privacy. The material is stronger than glass, shatter-resistant and prevents glare. Additionally, it allows you to maintain a steady regulated temperature, helping to reduce heating and cooling costs, and it’s biodegradable making it a good option for those who want to go green.
Bendable Concrete
In general, concrete is very brittle with limited stress acceptance that causes cracks. The new innovation, bendable concrete, hopes to reduce the need for many costly repairs. The composition consists of plastic and polymer fibers and everything else found in concrete except the coarse aggregates. This construction literally lets the material naturally expand and contract when stressed. It has the right amount of give that makes it highly beneficial in buildings located in regions that have earthquakes or other elements that often result in the formation of cracks.
There are so many new innovative materials, many of which are eco-friendly, that builders and their clients can benefit from in several different ways.
A follow on point – it might also make sense to look at investing in manufacturers who are producing these new materials.