With energy prices rising around the world, maximizing thermal performance in today’s building materials is top of mind for architects, builders, and building and home owners. The emotional and ergonomic benefits of natural daylight often compromise the desire for energy efficiency. Cabot Corporation today announced that its Nanogel(R) translucent aerogel material, provides superior energy savings and is the best translucent insulating and lightest solid material in the world.

Nanogel is now incorporated into the skylight, window and wall system products of six leaders in the fenestration systems industry -- GRP (glass reinforced polyester) panels, polycarbonate, U-channel and insulated glass systems. This means that the material is now available in fenestration systems of all materials available to architects and builders who are looking for high light transmission and superior thermal performance.

“Nanogel makes the best fenestration products better,” said James Satterwhite, Cabot Marketing Director, Building and Construction. “It makes them more energy- and cost-efficient with thermal capacities unmatched in building materials today. In addition, Nanogel repels water which limits the build-up of condensation, and will not degrade over time, two features which can substantially extend the life cycles of skylight, window and wall system products.”

Manufactured exclusively by Cabot through its patented process, Nanogel translucent aerogel is a highly light transmissive, lightweight, nanoporous material, and is permanently hydrophobic, making it both moisture and mildew resistant. Cabot’s continuous aerogel manufacturing process based on a new technology route, is housed in the first commercial plant in Frankfurt, Germany.

“Nanogel-filled systems will allow architects substantially greater design freedom, allowing a wider scope to maximize natural light and thermal performance, and at the same time meet the increasingly stringent building insulation regulations,” said Satterwhite. “We see Nanogel as a breakthrough product that will stimulate innovation in building design and be a tool to create better and more efficient buildings worldwide.”

In the United States, the state-of-the-art incorporators and distributors are:

· Kalwall Corporation (www.kalwall.com), the leader in the field of translucent building panel systems, having invented the translucent, structural building panel. Kalwall is recognized worldwide for highly insulating, translucent panel technology.

· SuperSky Products Inc. (www.supersky.com) markets a polycarbonate skylight panel system filled with Nanogel translucent aerogel. The 10 mm and 16 mm panels are composed of GE Lexan(R) Thermoclear(R) polycarbonate, produced by GE Structured Products, and Macrolux BDL(R) polycarbonate. The Super Sky panels are impact resistant and energy saving, multi-wall glazing sheets that feature a proprietary surface treatment providing nearly total resistance to the degrading effect of UV light. The combination of Nanogel and polycarbonate enables a nearly two-fold increase in thermal performance without significantly compromising light transmission and creates the first polycarbonate panel resistant to condensation. This in turn allows the flexibility of both vertical and horizontal wall alignment adding to overall design freedom.

· Westcrowns Inc. (www.westcrowns.com) designs and supplies Pilkington Profilit(TM) translucent linear structural glazing systems where glass performance meets or exceeds building code criteria for thermal insulation and light transmission. Pilkington Profilit has been used in Europe for 40 years, and is now being recognized in North America as an innovative alternative to conventional glass products.