The void formers, used for multiresidential, commercial and industrial applications, displace concrete that has no structural benefit to allow optimization of concrete slab thickness and building material volume. The Cobiax concrete flooring system uses void-forming technology developed by Swiss-based Cobiax Technology AG to remove nonworking dead load in a concrete slab by up to 35 percent, compared to a solid slab of the same bearing capacity while maintaining biaxial strength. Void-forming lightweight concrete is an emerging green building material technology to watch. This is particularly true in the evolution of green building material solutions. They "disrupt" an existing market by displacing earlier technology. This innovative technology helps to create a new market and value network, according to recent Plastics Institute of America market trend analysis. "Green building" is being transformed from a buzzword to a sophisticated approach using technology that redefines how we make and live in buildings that both reduce building energy consumption and provide for building energy production.Īdvances in technology involving electrochromic windows, natural lighting, sensor-based power lighting systems, high-tech IT, building dashboards coupled with cloud technology, microfuel cells and bio-based phase change solutions - wall fabric that melts and solidifies at room temperature to stabilize a space's heat gain/loss - can be called “disruptive.”
Note: This is the second article of a four-part series covering green-building plastics (1) trends, (2) material advances, (3) process technologies and (4) applications.