![\"A](\"https:\/\/wp-assets.futurism.com\/2020\/10\/scientists-create-clear-transparent-wood-glass-300x158.jpg\"){kind=spacer}
<\/div>Transparent Wood<\/h2>
Heating and cooling a home is costly, and inefficient building materials often make a house’s carbon footprint even worse.<\/p>
But thanks to a new generation of futuristic building materials, those materials could be poised for a significant upgrade. A team of researchers at the USDA and several research institutions say they’ve developed “transparent wood,” a glass-like material made almost entirely out of trees that they claim is stronger, safer, more cost efficient and more thermally efficient than glass.<\/p>
Kicking Glass<\/h2>
It’s a lucrative concept that has drawn the attention<\/a> of multiple research teams across the globe<\/a>, all working on similar concepts.<\/p> The problem with conventional glass is that especially in a single pane configuration, it’s a terrible insulator. Producing it can also come with a heavy carbon footprint, emitting about 25,000 metric tons per year, according to a recent statement<\/a> by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).<\/p> In their paper<\/a> published in the Journal of Advanced Functional Materials<\/em>, the researchers claim their transparent wood result in windows five times more thermally efficient than glass.<\/p> Creating the novel material is also a far greener process. For one, it’s made from the sustainable, fast-growing balsa tree. The wood is oxidized in a special bleach bath and then penetrated with a synthetic polymer.<\/p> The resulting material is not only virtually transparent, it acts more like plastic — it can withstand impacts much better than glass and tends to bend and splinter like wood instead of shattering into pieces.<\/p> Color the USDA impressed.<\/p> “With all of these potential benefits for consumers, manufacturing and the environment, the case for transparent wood couldn’t be… clearer,” reads the statement.<\/p> READ MORE: <\/strong>Transparent Wood Could Be the Window of the Future<\/a> [USDA] More on transparent wood:<\/strong> This “Transparent Wood” Could Cut the Cost of Heating Your Home<\/a><\/em><\/p> The post Scientists Create Clear, Glasslike Material Out of Wood<\/a> appeared first on Futurism<\/a>.<\/p> Continued here: Transparent Wood Heating and cooling a home is costly, and inefficient building materials often make a house\u2019s carbon footprint even worse. Continue reading Going Green<\/h2>
<\/strong><\/p>
Scientists Create Clear, Glasslike Material Out of Wood<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"