The Potential Benefits of Nanotechnology for Innovative Solutions in the Construction Sector

F.H. Halicioglu1

Abstract. The world of the construction sector is being changed by new technolo-gies, new materials, new building typologies, new concerns and opportunities. The construction sector has been slow to embrace nanotechnology, but nanotech innovations have an enormous impact on building design and construction. Nanotechnology represents a major opportunity for the construction sector to develop new products, substantially increase quality, and open new markets. The paper aims to describe and examine the potential benefits of nanotechnology for innovative solutions in the construction sector. It offers a possibility of a revised understanding of the relationship between nanotechnology and the building design and construction in the understanding of innovative approaches.

1 Introduction

Nanotechnology has the potential to transform the built environment in ways almost unimaginable today. Nanotechnology is already employed in the manufacture of everyday items from sunscreen to clothing, and its introduction to architecture is not far behind. On the near horizon, it may take building enclosure materials (coatings, panels and insulation) to dramatic new levels of performance in terms of energy, light, security and intelligence. Even these first steps into the world of nanotechnology could dramatically alter the nature of building enclosure and the way our buildings relate to environment and user. At mid-horizon, the development of carbon nanotubes and other breakthrough materials could radically alter building design and performance [3]. Novel construction materials could result from the application of nano-technology (e.g. through the use of nano-particles, nano-tubes and nano-fibres), offering new combinations of strength, durability and toughness. Examples are bio-mimetic materials based on structures and compounds found in nature, composites with self adjusting interfaces, shape-memory, self-repairing and strain hardening materials [13].

F.H. Halicioglu Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Architecture, Izmir, Turkey e-mail: hilal.halicioglu@deu.edu.tr

210 F.H. Halicioglu

If nanotechnology is to change how we design and how we live, then a study of nanotechnology’s implications for architecture is clearly needed. Many nano-engineered materials are already available to architects and builders, and are beginning to transform our buildings. Looking further ahead, nanotechnologies now in research and development will likely have a significant impact on building within the next twenty years. For example, carbon nanotubes, fifty to one hundred times stronger than steel at one-sixth of the weight, could bring unprecedented strength and flexibility to our buildings. On the far horizon, the full impact of nanotechnology on our lives and our environment into the next century and beyond is impossible to predict but important to consider [4].

With a view to executing significant innovations in nanotechnology, specifically in the construction sector, it is necessary to do research in their development. The paper aims to describe and examine the potential benefits of nanotechnology for innovative solutions in the construction sector. It offers a possibility of a revised understanding of the relationship between nanotechnology and the building design and construction in the understanding of innovative approaches.

2 Nanotech Innovations in Building Construction and Potential Benefits of Nanotechnology for Innovative Solutions in Construction Sector

Innovations with nanotechnologies in construction sector depend on technological developments. Nanotechnology has the potential to create radical innovations in buildings. Since materials are construction’s core business the sector is expected to be an important beneficiary of nanomaterials [1]. Already, dozens of nanomaterials are available in the architectural marketplace, yet their chemistry, performance capabilities, environmental and health effects, costs, risks and benefits remain a mystery to most designers. Some, for example, may be familiar with the self-cleaning windows marketed by PPG, Pilkington and others, or with the depolluting or “smog-eating” concrete used in Richard Meier’s Jubilee Church (Fig. 1), but only a handful could cite titanium dioxide nanoparticles as the material that makes these marvels possible. The wide range of nanocoatings available today are also relatively unknown despite their promising potential to dramatically improve insulation, kill bacteria, prevent mildew, and reduce maintenance and environmental harm [4].

Nanotechnology will result in a unique next generation of bio-products that have hyper-performance and superior serviceability. These products will have strength properties now only seen with carbon-based composites materials. These new hyper-performance bioproducts will be capable of longer service lives in severe moisture environments. Enhancements to existing uses will include development of resin-free biocomposites or wood-plastic composites having enhanced strength and serviceability because of nanoenhanced and nanomanipulated fiber-to-fiber and

The Potential Benefits of Nanotechnology for Innovative Solutions 211

Fig. 1 Church Dio Padre Misericordioso (Jubilee Church), Rome, Richard Meier 2003 [2]

fiber-to-plastic bonding. Nanotechnology will allow the development of intelligent wood- and biocomposite products with an array of nanosensors to measure forces, loads, moisture levels, temperature, pressure, and chemical emissions [14].

Two nano-sized particles that stand out in their application to construction materials are titanium dioxide (TiO2) and carbon nanotubes (CNT’s). The former is being used for its ability to break down dirt or pollution and then allow it to be washed off by rain water on everything from concrete to glass and the latter is being used to strengthen and monitor concrete. CNT’s though, have many more properties, apart from exceptional strength, that are being researched in computing, aerospace and other areas and the construction industry will benefit directly or indirectly from those advancements as well [9].

Fig. 2 Structure of the nanoporous SiO2 network of silica aerogel [12]

212 F.H. Halicioglu

Fig. 3 The Nanohouse Initiative [5]

Silica aerogel is a translucent material consisting of a nanostructured SiO2 network (Fig. 2) with a porosity of up to 99%. Silica aerogel is a promising material for applications in building envelopes because of its high visual transmittance and its low thermal conductivity [7] Besides its low thermal conductivity the aerogel is load bearing which makes it attractive for evacuated transparent insulation applications. An interesting application for aerogels in buildings is in evacuated solar collectors [11, 12].

The Nanohouse Initiative (Fig. 3) is a collaboration between the best of Australia's scientists, engineers, architects, designers and builders - working together to design and build a new type of ultra-energy efficient house and exploiting the new materials being developed by nanotechnology [5]. The NanoHouse Initiative, conceived in 2002 by Dr Carl Masens at the Institute for Nanoscale Technology and visualised and implemented by architect James Muir, has proven a successful method of explaining what nanotechnologies are

Fig. 4 The Carbon Tower Prototype [8]

The Potential Benefits of Nanotechnology for Innovative Solutions 213 and how they work; for example, how the latest technology windows clean themselves, how tiles might resist build up of soap scum, or timber surfaces resist UV damage [10].

The Carbon Tower Prototype (Fig. 4) is a 40-story mixed-use high-rise that incorporates five innovative systems: pre-compressed double-helix primary structure, tensile-laminated composite floors, two external filament-bound ramps, breathable thin-film membrane, and vritual duct displacement ventilation. Studies conducted by Arup suggest that, if built, the tower would the lightest and strongest building of its type [6].

3 Conclusions

Nanotech innovations represent the application of nanotechnologies in the field of materials science and engineering and have a great impact on construction sector. All of these potential uses and benefits of nanotechnology in construction, as described above, will play a key role in innovative approaches used in new building design and construction.

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