Or include a picture of the actual material instead of a stock photo of a glass brick stairwell…
Branch_Ranch@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I wish the article would have mentioned an R-value or at least something to describe the actual efficiency of its insulating ability.
gibmiser@lemmy.world 7 months ago
abhibeckert@lemmy.world 7 months ago
pastermil@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
It’s also good at broadcasting to your neighborhood whether or not you’re home.
Hule@lemmy.world 7 months ago
In these times?
You install smart lighting to mimic human presence.
Burglars put up wireless cameras to be sure You left.
samus12345@lemmy.world 7 months ago
You mean like how windows do now?
Death_Equity@lemmy.world 7 months ago
A quick search yields an R value of 9.6-20 per inch for already available aerogel insulating materials. So a standard exterior wall would have a 3.5"(2x4) or 5.5" (2x6) cavity giving R values of 33.6 and 52.8 respectively at the lower efficiency and cheaper options. That is better performance than pretty much any other option, but the cost is like 10-30 times that of other options.
If they are containing the aerogel granules in glass, which seems to be the case, the thermal bridging would be an issue for efficiency. A solid glass block has an R value of 1.15… A triple glazed window has an R value of 7-8.
The better option than glass block would be filling the cavity of a double glazed window with aerogel granules, which would cut down on thermal bridging to the just the sash/casing and would be more economically viable for production.
abhibeckert@lemmy.world 7 months ago
but the cost is like 10-30 times that of other options
Are you just talking construction costs? What about if you consider the lifetime energy consumption costs of a building that lasts, I dunno, 50 years?
Natanael@slrpnk.net 7 months ago
Aerogel is also fragile
Ilgaz@lemm.ee 7 months ago
Isn’t aeorogel really expensive to begin with? I mean we have tech like Ytong and they are still using bricks in buildings. Why? Ytong seems expensive to uneducated who have no clue about TCO and engineering.
ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Aerogel is insanely expensive. It has an R-value of 10 per inch and the handy property of costing about $1 per R-value per square foot. So a piece of aerogel 1" thick by 4’ x 8’ would cost $320; the equivalent piece of 2" thick XPS foam board (also R-10) costs about $50 these days. So with aerogel you’re paying a 500% to 600% premium to have your insulation be half as thick as XPS would be - and to essentially have no compression resistance at all (vs. the 20+ PSI of foam board).
JakenVeina@lemm.ee 7 months ago
Me, I’m noticing the distinct lack of any information on cost or cost-effectiveness.
givesomefucks@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Any time an article references another, immediately jump ship and read the original.
Atelopus-zeteki@kbin.run 7 months ago
For comparison: From Seves Glass Block: "Unlike standard glass blocks that have a thermal transmission coefficient "U"of 2.8 W/sq mt x K), HTI has a "U" value of 1.8 W/(sq mt x K). (https://www.sevesglassblock.com/product/191916-hti-wave-sahara-2s/). So common glass block is 2.8, fancier glass block is 1.8, and this new Aeroblock 0.053!! I think I did my numbers correctly, and DANG! I wan't to start building walls with this stuff tomorrow!!
Also: Get the light & keep the warmth - A highly insulating, translucent aerogel glass brick for building envelopes https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352710222016060
givesomefucks@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Anything to get rid of modern vinyl houses.
Masonry is always worth it for housing, we need to go back to building houses that’ll still be habitable a century later.
usualsuspect191@lemmy.ca 7 months ago
Except earthquake prone areas, and maybe others I’m not thinking if. Wood isn’t the problem, cheap+fast wood is.
frezik@midwest.social 7 months ago
Houses generally will last a century with basic maintenance. Modern US construction techniques are a lot more thought out than is generally acknowledged.
I’m more concerned with things becoming “outdated” in aesthetic ways. A properly installed tiled bathroom (including the bath stall) can last a long, long time, but future owners might not like the look at tear it all out. Recycling it all is a laughable dream. There are designs, though, that stand up to the test of time, and we should be pushing those more.
A_A@lemmy.world 7 months ago
You are confusing the units : the value for aerogel is for a 1 m thick wall, while the value for your glass blocks is for 16 centimeter (one block thick). So an error of 16/100 ratio (or 100/16).
Atelopus-zeteki@kbin.run 7 months ago
whoops! TY!