Translucent Concrete and Smart Glass for Sustainable Daylighting

Introduction

Hungarian architect Áron Losonczi patented a material in 2001 made from water, sand, gravel and cement, enhanced by plastic or quartz fibres embedded throughout it’s bulk.

This undeniably smart material is called ‘translucent concrete’, or ‘light-transmitting concrete’.

The end result is an architectural tool which transmits and scatters daylight throughout a building, improving daylighting, sustainability and privacy.

Translucent concrete is usually delivered as prefabricated blocks, each incorporating thousands of optical elements, oriented perpendicular to the face of the facade. This facilitates the transmission of daylight into interior spaces which would otherwise be dark.

End-products created with translucent concrete include walls, internal partitions, staircases, decorative tiles and even furniture.

Translucent concrete from our Samples shop

Passive vs Active Smart Materials

Translucent concrete, thermochromic glass and photochromic glass are examples of ‘passive’ daylighting technologies since they are not powered electrically.

Thermochromic glass changes its transmittance based on changes in temperature, whereas photochromic smart glass depends on UV and visible light.

Translucent concrete is essentially static, but can be enhanced by LEDs, offering an innovative display behind the concrete blocks.

Green Buildings

The above technologies contribute positively to green building certifications, which require a minimum level of daylight throughout the building space.

Using translucent concrete allows more daylight to permeate the building envelope, while still reducing heat gain and lowering air conditioning costs in warmer months.

Active Materials

On the other hand, ‘active’ materials such as PDLC, SPD and electrochromic smart glass change their behaviour in real time because they are driven by an electrical signal. They can be controlled for example via sensors or building automation systems.

Active materials can also contribute to green building certifications, but require electrical power, which can offset the benefits of reduced artificial lighting.

Net-Zero Buildings

When used with artificial lighting, translucent concrete can facilitate creative designs for retail and residential properties.

The “Energy Performance of Buildings Directive” from the European Union requires all new buildings to be ‘nearly zero-energy’ since 2020, and mandates the use of renewable energy sources.

The aim of this EU Directive is to “promote the improvement of the energy performance of buildings within the EU, taking into account outdoor climatic and local conditions, as well as indoor climate requirements and cost-effectiveness”.

Furthermore, the combination of translucent concrete and dynamic smart glass can help property developers and architects achieve LEED v5 compliance by allowing the building to adapt to its environment and to occupant wellness.

It is clear that translucent concrete contributes positively towards the sustainability goals of the built environment.

Composition of Translucent Concrete

Typically, the optical fibres inside translucent concrete constitute about 4% of the total mix, resulting in reduced weight and yet with a tensile strength of around 70 MPascals (or 10,000 psi).

The materials can be customised by choosing the density and diameter of the optical fibres and this modifies the transmittance (i.e. the amount of light) that the material lets in.

The fibres suffer minimal loss of light within a distance of about 20m.

Translucent Concrete and Smart Glass

If you consider combining translucent concrete with smart glass, this opens up the possibility of ‘switching off’ the translucent concrete wall whenever needed.

This could be implemented with a layer of SPD smartglass, electrochromic smartglass, or dark grey PDLC smartglass, affixed on the interior face of the translucent concrete, thus allowing light to come in on-demand.

Whenever users need to ‘switch off the wall’, they simply switch off the smart glass, blocking any incoming daylight.

This feature could be useful for corporate offices, retailers, healthcare, and residential constructions which need to control incoming light during the daytime and throughout the year.

The closest idea we can get is by looking at an installation of SPD smart glass by the market leader, Gauzy, who kindly shared the below images with us.

Manufacturers

If you are looking for manufacturers and distributors of translucent concrete, look no further than our parameterised Search.

The screenshot below shows that we have some companies listed already, and these can be filtered further if you specify product attributes, such as minimum transmittance or composition:

Smartglass World Marketplace Search for manufacturers and distributors of translucent concrete