Sustainable Building Materials

By 2050, 70% if the world's population will live in cities, an increase from 52% today. Residential, commercial, and government buildings consume 40% of energy in the developed world, in addition to vast quantities of water and raw materials. Therefore, ensuring that the urban environment is designed and operated in the most efficient and sustainable fashion is of critical importance to overall resource optimization and economic efficiency.

Sustainable building materials technologies can greatly curtail economic and resource inputs, improve labor productivity of building inhabitants, and reduce environmental impacts. This promise presents large opportunities for chemicals and materials companies to carve out early entry and incumbent positions in the buildings and infrastructure space.

Companies looking to capitalize on this opportunity need to be able to:
  • Monitor rapidly evolving technology innovations around the globe
  • Assess a wide variety of companies operating in areas ranging from synthetic chemistry to optical physics to bio-based materials
  • Navigate a crowded intellectual property landscape
  • Identify integration and non-standard application opportunities for existing portfolios
  • Understand and forecast market dynamics: size, players, and cross-segment trends
  • Understand an uncertain, regionally-unique regulatory outlook

Sample topics covered by Lux Research:

Technologies:

  • Advanced insulation, phase change and high thermal mass materials
  • Windows: low-e, thermochromic, electrochromic , photochromic
  • Building integrated photovoltaics
  • Structural materials
  • Concrete/Cement: transparent, photocatalytic, carbon/smog capturing, insulating
  • Recycled metals: steel, aluminum, copper
  • Polymers: roofing, siding
  • Wood: sustainable forestry, recycled wood, GM trees for wood
  • Glass: low–e, optical films for daylighting and solar heat gain control
  • Membranes and admixtures for improved durability
  • Paints and Coatings
  • Low VOC and water-efficient materials, reflective
  • Materials from renewable feedstock

Industries:

  • Increasing building thermal efficiency
  • Reducing electricity and fuel use
  • Improving lighting
  • Improving indoor environment and productivity
  • Improving building water efficiency
  • Enhancing durability of structural materials in buildings, roads and bridges
  • Reducing the resource consumption(carbon, water, non-renewable feedstock,wood) and its supply chain impact
  • Reducing energy consumption during material synthesis, processing and forming
  • Identifying integrated solution and non-standard application opportunities for existing building materials

Companies:

  • Serious Windows
  • Calstar
  • RavenBrick
  • ARXX
  • Calix
  • Sorgenia Solar
  • Va-Q-tec
  • DIRTT
  • Interpane
  • Johns Manville
  • Cabot
  • Saint-Gobain
  • DOW Building Solutions
  • View a sample Company Profile