The enormous demand for glass in the construction industry is linked to energy-intensive manufacturing processes for basic and finishing products as well as a simultaneous lack of lightweight construction in glass and façade construction. The concern of the L3ICHTGLAS development project is therefore to create more space in glass and facade building sector for lightweighting construction with the development of a light, insulating, and at the same time stable facade composite element.
The L3ICHTGLAS product is a lightweight composite element made of thin glass with a 3D-printed biopolymer core. The thin glass used should at least halve the material consumption for glass, while the customisable core structure, based on renewable materials, ensures stability. The L3ICHTGLAS product is said to be significantly more ecological with comparable resilience and to be used in both flat and curved facades. The resulting lower facade weight also ensures a lighter foundation construction.
Six partners from the German industry and research sectors are involved in the project during its 3-year runtime. It is coordinated by the Institute for Building Construction at the TU Dresden and funded by the “Technologietransfer-Programm Leichtbau” (TTP LB) of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK). The TTP LB itself has 73 million euros at its disposal each year to support innovative lightweighting construction projects.
EurA supports the project by analyzing the ecological and economic effects, identifying weaknesses, and deriving recommendations for action. The environmental impacts are quantified with the help of life cycle assessment (LCA) according to DIN EN ISO 14040:2006 and DIN EN ISO 14044:2006.
Through participation in a TTP LB-funded project, EurA is also registered in the LEICHTBAUATLAS, an "interactive portal which illustrates the lightweighting-related skills in Germany".
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Author: Ron Bischof
Copyright: Felix Hegewald and Daniel Pfarr
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