Materials are awesome. Although we might not associate new materials technology with green technology, we probably should. After all, if you can build a building that is stronger, lighter, cleaner and less resource-intensive it's a greener building, no?
Today's material is ETFE (ethylene tetrafluoroethylene). Described by one professor as "very sophisticated bubble wrap", it is a cheap, lightweight material that was used in the famous Water Cube swimming pool at the Beijing Olympics.
Here are some fun facts from this FOXNews article:
- Like Teflon (ETFE's cousin), ETFE is non-stick, thereby facilitating easy cleaning
- ETFE is a very good insulator
- ETFE can handle a lot of stress, but it can be easily cut with a knife
- Building with ETFE is substantially cheaper and less energy intensive than building with glass
Courtesy of FOXNews and Mordechai Treiger (although I don't know if Mr. Treiger wants to be associated with FOXNews...)
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