Aerogel-Filled Translucent Bricks: Unparalleled Insulation and Daylight for Modern Buildings

Brief 

Discover the ground-breaking aerogel-filled translucent bricks, offering exceptional insulation, privacy, and natural light, transforming the future of building design.

 

Insight

Innovative Aerogel-Filled Translucent Bricks: Maximising Daylight and Insulation in Buildings

Translucent bricks, while effective in allowing daylight to permeate buildings, lack sufficient insulation properties and are unsuitable for constructing entire load-bearing walls. However, cutting-edge aerogel-filled translucent bricks reportedly overcome these limitations.

Dr. Jannis Wernery and his team from Switzerland’s Empa research group developed the concept of “aerobricks” six years ago. They filled the cavities of hollow clay bricks with aerogel particles, resulting in bricks with impressive thermal insulation properties. Now, the scientists have progressed their innovation by utilising translucent silica aerogel granules.

The researchers filled the gaps between sheets of clear glass with these granules, joining them together with epoxy resin spacers to create a long rectangular box shape. When sealed, these aerogel-filled glass boxes function as bricks that permit sunlight to pass through while maintaining the privacy of individuals inside the building.

The Empa bricks exhibit a measured thermal conductivity of 53 milliwatts per meter kelvin, which the researchers claim is “the highest insulating performance of any brick found in the technical literature, let alone on the market.”

Furthermore, due to the strategic arrangement of vertically oriented spacers within each brick, the bricks demonstrate a compressive strength of 44.9 megapascals. This figure is reportedly “several times higher than clay insulating bricks and brick blocks available on the market,” indicating their potential for use in constructing load-bearing walls.

 

Highlight

1. The Empa bricks exhibit a measured thermal conductivity of 53 milliwatts per meter kelvin, which the researchers claim is “the highest insulating performance of any brick found in the technical literature, let alone on the market.
2. Furthermore, due to the strategic arrangement of vertically oriented spacers within each brick, the bricks demonstrate a compressive strength of 44.9 megapascals.
3. This figure is reportedly “several times higher than clay insulating bricks and brick blocks available on the market,” indicating their potential for use in constructing load-bearing walls.

 

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