18 Feb 2005

Nanogel® Aerogel Named Best Innovative Product for Energy Savings at Bau 2005

Architects and Industry Professionals Select Cabot Corp. Product as Economic Solution to Improve Energy and Sound Insulation in Daylighting Applications

Nanogel® translucent aerogel, Cabot Corporation’s daylighting material that combines high light transmission with energy efficiency and sound insulation, was named “Best Innovative Product for Energy Savings” at Bau 2005, Germany's leading building and construction exhibition recently held in Munich. Based on feedback from Bau participants, the editors of Deutsche Architektenblatt (DAB) selected Nanogel as one of the best building products at the show designed to meet the needs of architects seeking economic solutions.

“Nanogel was one of the most widely discussed products at Bau because of its unique combination of high light transmission and energy efficiency,” said James Satterwhite, global business manager for Nanogel Construction Segment, Cabot Corporation. “Industry response to our product underscores the demand for improved energy efficiency in traditional daylighting applications.”

Cabot Corporation exhibited at Bau 2005 alongside product partners including Scobalit, GE Advanced Materials Structured Products, Kalwall and Okalux, who have all developed new glazing solutions incorporating Nanogel. Scobalit is responsible for one of the first installations of Cabot’s aerogel product in Europe, Nanogel filled Scobatherm daylighting elements on the roof and north wall of the Buchwiesen school sports hall in Zurich, Switzerland. EMPA (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research) and the University of Zurich tested the design and completed project and confirmed the architects' assumptions of high light diffusion and improved energy efficiency.

“This building couldn’t be built without the light diffusion and thermal insulation properties of Nanogel,” Satterwhite said. “Traditional glazing products aren’t able to bring such large amounts of natural light to indoor environments because the heat loss or gain from the outside world would be too great to comply with strict building regulations for energy efficiency.”

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Notes for editors

About Nanogel

Cabot Corporation created Nanogel, in part to insulate thermally inefficient glazing systems. The feather-light aerogel is based on Cabot's patented surface modification and fine-particle manufacturing technology. The nanoporous particles have an air content of 97% and weigh only 90 grams/liter, making Nanogel the lightest solid material in the world. It provides a superior combination of thermal and sound insulation as well as light transmission and diffusion over other insulation materials. These benefits offer new design solutions for architects where both maximum natural daylight levels and energy efficiency are required. Nanogel is manufactured exclusively by Cabot in Frankfurt, Germany.

About Cabot Corporation

Cabot Corporation is a global specialty chemicals and materials company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Cabot's major products are carbon black, fumed silica, inkjet colorants, capacitor materials, and cesium formate drilling fluids. The website address is: www.cabot-corp.com.

About the DAB Award

The new award, introduced by DAB publisher Forum-Verlag, highlights its launch of Exhibition Scout, a guide of innovative products presented at industry events for architects and product manufacturers. The Bau show was selected for the launch based on its audience of nearly 200,000 visitors from more than 102 countries. When asked, the majority of architects at the show named Nanogel the most Innovative Product for energy savings.

Nanogel is a registered trademark of Cabot Corporation.

Scobatherm is a registered trademark of Scobalit.