Now experts from the Federal Polytechnic School in Lausanne (EPFL) are engaged in the development of new components for construction, which can produce electricity. Engineers from EPFL decided to combine constructive, thermal insulation and aesthetic functions of traditional building materials into one building multifunctional unit. Moreover, this block, according to the plan of the creators, should not only be better than modern materials on safety, lightness, energy efficiency, but will also be able to produce electricity. Innovative sandwich – a panel – this is a dense construction foam, which is enclosed in a glass -reinforced polymer. The development of this composite material was started more than a decade ago, in 2009 it was used on the roof of the novartis campus building in Basel. Today, experts set a target under the translucent glass -targeted polymer encapsulate a flexible sheet consisting of photocells. The emergence of a new composite material, thanks to the ease and ease of manufacturing curved surfaces from it, provides architects with more opportunities in finding the image of the building than materials based on traditional reinforced concrete and glass. Innovative sandwich – panels have other significant advantages. Their production takes place in ideal factory conditions, the panels are transported to the finished form to the construction site. The use of this new material allows you to reduce the time of construction of buildings, improve the safety and quality of buildings. Significantly simplifies the repair of the modality of the sandwich panels, as it allows you to make a simple replacement of individual damaged components. According to engineers, they are required to develop a block fully prepared for the beginning of production, about 2 years.
