Blogs - Saint Gobain’s Cities and Buildings of Tomorrow

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

World leader in the domain of building materials and in particular high performance materials serving comfort (i.e.; acoustic, visual, thermal and air quality) and energy efficiency (i.e.; green, clean and renewable), the Saint Gobain Group has filed more than 300 patents just for its glass building materials, one of which is competing for the 2015 EPO Inventor Awards in the industrial category. 

Dutch Windwheel

Oxygen Eco-Tower

If you are interested in seeing some of the most spectacular and future-oriented cities and buildings of the world, login to one of the Saint-Gobain blogs called Cities and Buildings of Tomorrow…! You will discover plans for skyscrapers which cast no shadows, for they are built in pairs, each so that the sunlight reflected by one building fills the shadow of the other building! You will also find out about Dubai’s plans, to build a museum of the future in the Persian Gulf area, using 3D construction methods (see 3D construction patents here). You might see images of the Oxygen Eco-Tower in Jakarta, Indonesia, a 75-storey apartment building that stacks tropical gardens and dwellings at each level, or you might also see the Dutch WindWheel, which is both a wind turbine and a circular apartment building! 

Cities and Building of Tomorrow showcases the stuff of architect and engineering dreams….. already erected or at the planning stage – each subsuming the use of state of the art, highly patented building materials, many of which were invented by the Saint-Gobain Group. 

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Versailles Palace - Hall of Mirrors

And just FYI, Saint-Gobain, was the secret location of France's King Louis XIV's mirror glass workshop, which manufactured the Versailles Palace Hall of Mirrors -- 350 years ago! The location, north of Paris in the Picardie region, was selected in part because of its proximity to the River Oise and the possibility of transporting the large sheets of mirror glass to Paris via waterway. 

King Louis XIV granted letters patent, in 1665, for the exclusive Royal Manufacture of glass, a move designed to stave off competition from the Venetian glassmakers. "

References

Oh, patents! 3D printing construction

http://patentsonthesolesofyourshoes.blogspot.com/2013/10/oh-patents-3d-construction-printing.html

Saint-Gobain Cities and Buildings of tomorrow (blog)

https://www.saint-gobain.com/en/articles/scoopit/cities-and-buildings-of-tomorrow

2015 EPO Awards Finalist – Dynamically tintable glass

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Can you imagine being connected to a company celebrating 350 years of activity, founded as a secret, mirror glassmaking workshop for the King’s Palace? And then, 350 years later, can you believe the same company invented the most magical window panes on earth? There’s mystery, intrigues and a long history of glass technology at the Saint-Gobain Vitrage Company! Even the original 18th century location (in Saint-Gobain, France) and it’s buildings … are historic!

Today Saint-Gobain is a multinational enterprise, represented in more than 64 countries, with 180,000 employees and 12 research centers! The group’s activity focuses on habitat and industrial applications, and in particular, high-performance building materials serving comfort and energy efficiency.

The technology disclosed in European patent EP0831360, titled Electrochemical device, and competing as finalist in the industrial category of the 2015 EPO Inventor Awards, was developed by a Saint-Gobain subsidiary in the USA called SageGlass®. 

The invention pertains to dynamically tintable glass, that is, glass whose tint may be turned on or off, or automatically adjusted, according to the amount of sunlight and heat outside. The implications for energy efficiency are enormous since a whole building equipped with Sageglass® may be wired to adjust according to the external conditions of light and solar heat, without blinds, shutters or even human intervention, and thus keep the solar heat and  glare out or let it in, depending on the tint (and season).

This highly patented technology invokes clear, electrically conductive and electrochemical, nanoparticle layers applied to glass, enabling lithium ions and electrons to transfer from one layer to another, for the purposes of tinting the glass, at the flick of a switch that turns on very low voltage electricity; and for the ions and electrons to be able to back out of the layers, and reverse the glass back to clear, when the low voltage current is switched off. The process for applying the coatings is part of the invention.

Below, you will find the Abstract for EP0831360, titled Electrochemical device, and an exploded view of the invention glass and electrochemical and conductive nanoparticle layers.

In an electrochemical device having one or more substrates (1, 7), one or more electrically conductive layers (2, 6), one or more electrochemically active layers capable of reversible ion insertion (especially of H<+>, Li<+>, Na<+> and Ag<+>) and an electrolyte, the electrolyte (4) comprises one or more layers of mineral oxide-type material in which ionic conduction is created or enhanced by incorporation of hydrogen and/or nitrogen compounds, especially nitrides. Also claimed are (i) electrochromic glazing including the above device, especially having variable energy and/or light transmission, together with one or more transparent glass or plastic substrates preferably assembled as multiple or laminated glazing; (ii) energy storage elements, especially a battery, including the above device; and (iii) a gas sensor including the above device.; Further claimed is a process for making the above device, involving deposition of the hydrogen and/or nitrogen compound layer of the electrolyte by a vacuum method (cathodic sputtering, vapour deposition or plasma CVD), by a sol-gel synthesis method (especially by dipping, spray coating or laminar coating) or even by gas, powder or liquid phase pyrolysis. [EP0831360]

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Thus, the most magical glass on earth, now competing for the 2015 EPO Inventor awards, comes 350 years after the magic of Versailles’ Hall of Mirrors!

References
SageGlass®
http://sageglass.com/
Saint-Gobain 350 – From 1665 to 2015 – The Exhibition
http://www.saint-gobain350years.com/#!/en

Oh, patents! The Fischer Plug

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Going back a bit to the 2014 European Patent Oscars, held in Berlin on June 17, the 2014 Life Time Achievement award was bestowed upon 94-year old Arthur Fischer, the German inventor of the ubiquitous Fisher Plug, and more than 1,100 additional patented inventions, including the defunct flash cube and Fishertechnik toys!

 

Even if you know nothing about construction or hammering a nail in the wall, you will surely find a discarded Fischer plug in your basement, spot one inserted in your walls, or recognize one that looks just like the picture included here.

 

Disclosed  the United States in 1967, in US3315558 titled Expansion plug, there are about 10 million of these plugs -- called screw anchors, wall plugs or S-plugs – produced each day at the Fisher production plant, in different sizes and for different types of walls,

A Fischer plug is designed to maximize the load bearing capacity of the wall and to expand so as to engage and form a strong bond with the brittle material, such as brick, cement or plaster, on the surface of the anchor hole. When the screw is inserted in the plug, the plug expands to engage with the surface of the bored hole. The tapered tip of the plug was designed for easy insertion of the plug into the drilled hole. The plug is made of plastic, easily manufactured as a single part of any specified length, in contrast to the prevailing prior art, and it was designed for use by both skilled and non-skilled workers.

 

 
In the absence of an abstract, two patent drawings are included for the expansion plug utility patent US3315558.

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More than half a century after the invention of the Fischer expansion plug, there are many different sorts of Fischer expansion plugs depending on different types of walls. The video below shows the animated expansion of various types of Fischer plugs..

 

 

 

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Hope this flies with the paperclips…

2014 EPO Award nominations! Self-cleaning cement

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

 Dreaming of cleaner city… with cleaner buildings… less pollution… The EPO award nomination disclosing self-cleaning cement may make a part of your dreams come true!

And for those living in the San Francisco Bay Area… there are patents in the New Bay Bridge’s sparkling white appearance!

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Self-cleaning cement is an Italian invention based on the principles of photocatalysis, discovered in the 1970s. Photocatalysis is a light driven chemical reaction that decomposes and transforms a wide range of pollutants and contaminants into harmless or potentially beneficial matter, in particular via the chemical reaction of the sun and titanium dioxide (TiO₂).  Other uses of the principles of photocatalysis using TiO₂ are invoked in a wide variety of applications such as solar water purification (Salih, F, 2004); asphalt pavements for the mitigation of vehicle emissions (Hassan et. al, 2013), or micro particles in various applications intended for the oxidation of organic contaminants (Venugopal, Tezier and Tezier, 2009).

 

In this EPO nominated invention concerning “self-cleaning cement”, the principle of photocatalysis using TiO₂ was transferred to cement (in the right proportions and after extensive experimentation in the 1990s, involving 85 patents). The cleansing and brightening effects of the reaction are mixed in with the cement which is then used for construction.

 

One of the first constructions using this titanium dioxide-enriched cement was the Dives in Misericordia Church in Rome, designed by American architect Richard Meier [Dives, Italicimenti]. After construction of the church, scientists discovered that the air next to the church was also cleaner, and that harmful substances in the air surrounding the church also oxidized faster. It follows then, that a photocatalytic city, that is, one where all the buildings are covered with photocatalytic titanium dioxide-enriched cement, paint or plaster, could potentially reduce the levels of harmful substances by means of the sunlight.

 

Adding a titanium-enriched surface to a building increases construction costs 15%, but it is also estimated that it decreases pollution by 20% in the immediate vicinity. The cement, plaint or plaster repels dirt and cleanses the air, using sunlight! This is also the reason why the New San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge might retain its sparkling white color, while creating a better work environment for maintenance crews, and perhaps for the Toll Plaza workers also (Hassan, 2009; Lence et. al, 2014).

The following three patents awarded to Luigi Cassar et. al and the Italian firm Italicimenti, are cited as part of the nomination of this invention:

•  EP0946450 titled Hydraulic binder and cement compositions containing photocatalyst particles
•   EP2242806 titled Titanium dioxide photocatalytic composites and derived products on a metakoalin support
•   EP2282203 titled Method of measuring the photocatalytic activity of cementitious material

An mage of the Dives in Misericordia Church (Rome, Italy) built with titanium-dioxide-enriched and photocatalytic materials is included above, and to the right a detail of the sparkling San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge….

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Now… stop dreaming… and start building a photocatalytic city!

 

References

 Dives in Misericordia Church – Italicimenti http://www.italcementigroup.com/ENG/Architecture/Dives+in+Misericordia+Church/

 Hassan, M, Mohammad, L. N., Asadi, S., Dylla, H., and S. Cooperill (2013) Sustainable photocatalytic asphalt pavements for mitigation of nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide vehicle emissions. Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, vol. 23 (3), 365-371.

http://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/%28ASCE%29MT.1943-5533.0000613    

 Hassan, M. (2009) Life cycle assessment of titanium dioxide coatings. Proceedings of the Construction Research Congress – Building a Sustainable Future, Seattle, Washington, April 5-7, 2009,  – pp. 836-845.

http://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/41020%28339%2985

 Lence, A., Hassan, M. Zaylor, A and R. Rupnow (2014) Best practices for maintenance of concrete bridge elements against mold and mildew growth. Proceedings of the Construction Research Congress - Construction in a Global Network, Atlanta, GA, May 19-21, 2014. pp. 1556-1565.

http://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/9780784413517.159

 Nader, M., and B. Mahoney (2013) The New San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Proceedings of the Structures Congress 2013- Bridging your passion with your profession, in Pittsburgh, PA, May 2-4, 2013.

http://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/9780784412848.052

 Salih, F. (2004) Water purification by a combination of sunlight, titanium dioxide and alum. Proceedings of the  World Water and Environmental Congress, 2004, Salt Lake City, UT, June 27- July 1, 2004, pp. 1-9. http://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/40737%282004%29341

 Venugopal, M., Tezier, J and W. Tezier (2009) Nanotechnology: Benefits, Barriers and Impact on Construction. Proceedings of the Construction Research Congress – Building a Sustainable Future, Seattle, Washington, April 5-7, 2009,  pp.447-456.

http://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/41020%28339%2946

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, patents! 3D construction printing

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann  There is more to 3D printing than bio-printing your prion-free T-bone steak! In the future, houses will be printed too! The University of California Industrial Systems Engineering program, in collaboration with NASA, are designing new robotic construction systems to build dwellings using 3D printing processes called Contour Crafting (CC). [www.contourcrafting.org] Contour Crafting uses CAD/CAM (Computer-Aided Design/ Computer-Aided Manufacture) to streamline and automate the construction process. The automated dwelling programs are then produced using various types of scaled-up 3D printers. The giant (scaled-up) 3d printers, mounted on a robotic gantry, are designed to deliver concrete through a nozzle, layer by layer, to make the hollow (or ribbed) walls of the whole floor plan, complete with openings for windows, automated reinforcement, plumbing and electrical conduits, even automated tile work and ink-jet painting!. In a single run, it is estimated that it would take approximately 20 hours to extrude a 2500 sq. ft dwelling. Additionally, no single dwelling would have to be identical, nor would it have to be “box-shaped”, with 90-degree angles. The computer programs create the multiplicity of designs, and there are 3-D printers that can also handle curves! Below is an animation of the Contour Crafting of a whole house. This well patented technology, awarded to Dr. Behrokh Khoshnevis at USC, invokes multiple components and processes: Metering and plumbing devices [EP2623782]; Apparatus for automated construction comprising an extrusion nozzle and a robotic arm [EP2610417]; Extrusion of cementatious material with different leveling characteristics [US2013059025]; Automated plumbing, wiring and reinforcement [US2012038074]; Dry material transport and extrusion [US2010136340], Robotic Gantry System [HK1136810]; Multi-chamber vibrating valve for cementitious material [US2010112119]; Technologies for sensing material flow rate in automated extrusion [WO2009070580]; Contour crafting extrusion nozzles [WO2009055580]; Extruded wall with rib-like interior [ZA200804559]; Material delivery system using decoupling accumulator [US2007148006]; Compliant, low profile, independently releasing, non-protruding and genderless docking system for robotic modules [US2007286674]; Deployable contour crafting [US2007181519]; Process of making a three-dimensional object [WO0138061]; Hand-heal electronic stereoscopic imaging system with improved three-dimensional imaging capabilities [US2003020807] Advantageous applications are numerous. First, this technology is both energy and labor-efficient.  Construction of a typical single family home generates 5 to 7 tons of waste while contributing significantly to harmful emissions. Contour Crafting is zero-emission and zero-waste technology, due to high precision of the robotic extrusion process.  The 45- to 55% in reduced labor costs will raise controversy… But so did personal computers, when no one could have imagined the www, or the new economy that was subsumed, including thousands of new professions. And in support of labor efficiency, reduced danger and work-related hazards will surely tip the scales. There are 10,000 construction-related deaths yearly, and more than 400,000 construction-related injuries, yearly, in the US alone.  Secondly, this is technology that could potentially resolve shelter crises in impoverished areas and urbanized centers, where lo-income neighborhoods could be computer-generated and swiftly erected. There are an estimated 1 billion people living in sub-standard conditions worldwide, according to the UN.  Similarly, this technology also appears to have applications in natural or man-made disaster areas, that is, in locations wiped out by hurricanes, tsunamis and earthquakes, or warfare and strife in refugee situations, involving the massive and permanent displacement of populations. There are 37 million uprooted people world-wide.  Thirdly, NASA is also participating in the development of Contour Crafting technology to build lunar colonies (i.e.; landing pads, roads, hangars, radiation protections walls). Contour Crafting is assumed capable of utilizing in situ resources, lunar regolith to make the cementitious materials that will be used to build colonies with integrated radiation shielding, plumbing, electrical and sensor networks (!)  And finally, one could be permitted to envision that such an infinitely variable construction process might become fashionable and interesting enough for architects to explore, so that in turn, it might become a more mainstream, real and affordable option, for  anyone who wants a new abode. Below is a TED talk by Dr. Behrokh Khoshnevis, Director of the Graduate Manufacturing Engineering program at USC and the inventor of Contour Crafting Technology.

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