Using multifunctional “sandwiches” as building material
© 2013 EPFL
In a research project funded by EPFL’s campus in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, scientists and engineers from the Composite Construction Laboratory are working on a new generation of structural building components, composed of a polyurethane foam layer sandwiched between two layers of glass-fiber reinforced polymers.
These new pre-fabricated composite building components provide a lightweight, thermally insulating, and architecturally stimulating alternative to reinforced concrete, which is traditionally used as the load bearing core of a building and has to be wrapped by the facade. The focus of the current project is on optimizing the integration of a thin photovoltaic film beneath the translucent outer glass-fiber reinforced polymer layer, thus adding electricity generation to this already highly multi-functional building component.