October 29, 2007—The convergence of nanotechnology and environmentally sensitive “green building” is already taking place and is the way of the future, according to a new report from the Green Technology Forum.
The report explains that nanotech’s many environmental performance benefits “will be led by current improvements in solar insulation and coatings, followed by advances in water and air filtration, solar technology and, more distant, in lighting and structural components.”
Currently available examples include improvements in nanocoatings for insulating, self-cleaning, UV protection, corrosion resistance, and waterproofing. Some available coatings are considered “healers,” in that they remove and render benign pollutants from a building’s surrounding atmosphere.
The report notes the case of one company that is “saving $2.6 million in energy costs and reducing their CO2 emissions by 35 million pounds per year thanks to a single nanotech innovation.”
The resource-packed report facilitates Green Technology Forum’s mission of helping the two industries find out more about each other, highlighting numerous successful examples. It identifies over 130 startups and established companies offering or developing nanomaterials for green building, more than 50 projects underway at universities and research centers, and 40-plus patents available for licensing, with over 250 links to these resources.
For information on ordering the 116-page “Nanotechnology for Green Building”report, visit online.
