Transparent wood and plastic bricks

[walkitout]

Lots of secondary coverage, here is the peer-reviewed research:

https://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/products/publications/specific_pub.php?posting_id=97297&header_id=p

This is not the transparent wood of days gone by (which I also did not know about), which involved removing lignin. This is a two step bleach (hydrogen peroxide plus sun) and then make the lignin transparent with marine epoxy (so, sounds like it would be waterproof afterwards as well, maybe?). Lighter, less climate impact and better insulation than glass.

Elsewhere, a woman in Kenya is taking non-PET plastic that is not readily recyclable and turning it into bricks:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-kenya-environment-recycling/kenyan-recycles-plastic-waste-into-bricks-stronger-than-concrete-idUSKBN2A211N

A couple of good news stories for future building products that will help us transition to a more sustainable, lower-impact future climate.

Comments

[ethelmay]

One thing this sounds awesome for is patterned windows in front doors, and maybe also storm doors. Plus frosted glass bathroom windows. If the first generation is slightly less transparent than you want it to be in a picture window, that would not make any difference in those applications, and they could have a market while they were ramping up and perfecting the process. Clear shutters/storm windows would be interesting, too. And if one layer is enough, the manufacturing process would be way less complex than with double/triple pane windows. No worrying about argon gas or fogging between layers.