Transparent Cement that Saves Electricity

This is a new technical innovation that lets sunlight through cement. This cement material is named
i.light. There is no compromise with reference to quality or the strength of a structure built with it.
Gap in this material will be 2 to 3 mm and this lets light through it thus creating beautiful pattern
when viewed from certain distance or angle. To look, this resembles a normal cement material
though on sunny days, one will likely mistake the wall to be a mesh to let light into room.

This wonder transparent cement “i.Light” has been made with mixing special resins by architects
of the Italian company Italcementi Group Innovation. A pavilion built with this material was
showcased in the last year’s expo at Shanghai. This has become famous already as it can save
electricity, for lighting used during the day. 40 percent of the Expo pavilion wall which was 18 m high
consisted of i.light, giving transparent panels of about 3774 and semi-transparent panels amounting
to 189. For each panel there were around 50 holes. And semi-transparent panels were made by
changing the way resins were inserted.

A similar innovation to the transparent cement done earlier used optical cables to let light in, though

it proved to be a costly affair. With resin plastic insertions, Italcementi Group Innovation’s Director
Mr. Enrico Borgarello claims to have found a feasible and effective solution over optical fiber cement.
Not only that, resins capture daylight more efficiently because of wide visual angle. It is under patent
and not yet known if it will be sold worldwide.

Presented by:
Nupoor Agrawal
EEE-4th sem