‘Transparent cement’ for the Shanghai World Expo officially unveiled

Italcementi, a leading player on the innovation stage to provide the building community with new products and solutions, is present with its i.nova project focused on searching innovative and eco-compatible materials to two important events dedicated to architecture: the MADE expo and the Green Life exhibition in Milan.

Italcementi showcases three eco-compatible key products developed by its researchers: ‘transparent cement’, ‘thermal cement’ and the world-renowned ‘smog-eating’ TX Active® cement.

The most recent among newly developed materials is ‘transparent cement’, specifically set up for the construction of the Italian Pavilion at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai. The material ensures optical transport of light and images thanks to the presence of special components that exploit angles of light incidence better than optical fibres. Such components interact with both natural and artificial light bringing soft, warm brightness inside the building and creating a distinct image on the outside.
Some prototypes of the precast panels produced by Italcementi for cladding the Italian Pavilion are on show at the MADE expo and the Green Life exhibition.

With regard to energy saving materials, Italcementi presents its ‘thermal cement’ for the production of concrete featuring very low thermal conductivity thanks to the presence of vitreous aggregate recycled from such waste as TV and computer screens. ‘Thermal cement’, for use as external cladding and on inner partition walls and floor screeds, can contribute to keeping buildings cool in summer and warm in winter, with outstanding savings on CO2 emissions and bills. First-time application will be on the 100K€ house designed by architect Mario Cucinella as an example of sustainable housing architecture.

Italcementi’s long tradition of innovation includes TX Active®, one of its best and top-rated products, that is world renowned and marketed as the ‘smog-eating cement’.
The materials in this range take advantage of photocatalytic properties which, when applied to any cementitious material, are capable of abating air pollutants thanks to the action of light.
The product exemplifies the possible applications of the photocatalytic principle. The innovative architectural skin possesses excellent aesthetic and functional features, with brightness, solidity and free geometries pleasing both sight and touch.

At the heart of Italcementi’s innovation are the laboratories based in Bergamo and Paris where the daily work of about 170 researchers, including chemists, geologists and engineers, has made it possible to file over 50 patents in the last decade. 
Italcementi’s new research centre, known as ITCLab - Innovation and Technology Central Laboratory, is rising on the Kilometro Rosso site in Bergamo. The new construction will boast a surface area of 11,000, of which over 7,000 m2 totally devoted to research laboratories.