The RESGELECO projectwhich they are carrying out CTCON and the Norwegian University Høgskolen i Østfold (HIOF)seeks the development of aerogels and derived products, from waste and materials that are affordable and have a low environmental impact. Due to their good characteristics, aerogels can be used in the building sector to improve the insulation and energy efficiency of buildings.
An aerogel is a very light, highly porous material with a much higher thermal resistance than conventional insulating materials. Therefore, its use is very beneficial in terms of improving energy efficiency of buildings, which results in economic savings and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, aerogels allow very high insulation values to be obtained using reduced thicknesses, which, together with their high vapour permeability, makes them particularly suitable for the renovation of historic and heritage buildings whose appearance must not be altered.
However, more conventional aerogels have a high economic and environmental cost, making it a priority to look for circular economy solutions and more eco-efficient manufacturing processes, using waste and bio-based resources as raw materials. Due to their great potential, the raw materials being studied are rice husk ash, recycled diatomite and cellulose fibres.
In this project, the products proposed to contain the aerogels to be developed will be a window, a cladding mortar specially designed for renovation work, and a multilayer opaque enclosure. All of them are elements that already contribute to the maintenance of good hygrothermal comfort conditions in buildings and, therefore, their performance can be improved by incorporating an aerogel in the building. high performance insulation such as aerogel.
Interest in aerogels is growing in both academic and industrial circles. RESGELECO's clear objective is to motivation to provide greater knowledge about this product, to encourage the incorporation of this technology and the emergence of new lines of research and related business initiatives in the construction sector.
