The windows of the future may be made of transparent wood

How can we make our own four walls more sustainable? In the last few decades, the type and use of materials has changed continuously here. Nevertheless, one problem often remains: despite technologies such as double glazing, a large amount of energy is still escaping through windows today. Researchers would like to prevent this from happening soon.

The approach found for this sounds pretty interesting. Because no new material should replace good old glass, windows of the future should be made entirely of wood. It is made possible by a new manufacturing method that turns the opaque material into a transparent structure. Up to now this was already possible, but the process itself was quite complex and required large amounts of energy.

With the new approach, hydrogen peroxide is applied to wooden planks with a thickness of one millimeter using a brush. The boards are then exposed to UV light, in this way the wood loses its brown color. The white planks are then immersed in tough, transparent epoxy resin, after hardening the transparent wood is ready for further processing.

A big advantage of the window made of wood is that it can insulate interiors better and at the same time should have a significantly better durability. The researchers say that the windows are up to 50 times more stable than the classic glass models. The material is also lighter, so transport causes significantly fewer emissions.

Unfortunately, it is not yet clear when the innovative windows will be ready for series production. Given the wide range of possible uses (as a wall, for glazing high-rise buildings, on roofs, etc.), it is certainly only a matter of time before glass on the house is a thing of the past.

Own opinion:

If the windows made of wood make it into our everyday life, then we can certainly solve many problems with the new material. Unfortunately, with this publication, too, I lack the perspective a little, many promising technologies disappear after a short time mostly forever from the reporting. It is therefore up to the researchers to prove that transparent wood is a sustainable building material of the future.

via electrek