Alcoa, in partnership with Japanese firm Toto, just announced a new building material that actually cleans the air around it. The new product, called Reynobond with EcoClean, comes in the form of aluminum panels, pre-painted with a special coating that breaks down pollutants. In addition to keeping the air cleaner, the new panels should create savings on maintenance, because the buildings using them stay cleaner as well.
In widespread use, Reynobond could make a real environmental difference. Alcoa claims that 10,000 square feet of the stuff is equal to about 80 medium-sized desiduous trees, enough to offset four cars per day.
The coating is a variant on Toto technology that destroys microbes on toilets and other fixtures. In this case, the coating, when exposed to sunlight, breaks down organic pollutants. (Does that mean it won’t work in Seattle?)
Read more at SmartPlanet.
