To be honest, it sounds like extremely low-hanging fruits. Due to research results the University of Maryland (UMD) and University of Colorado Boulder, between 20 and 50 percent, or even 60 percent in dry and hot climates, of the buildings cooling energy can be saved by processing common wood building material to cooling wood material in accordance to the described steps from the research team. These essentially comprise (a) simply removing the lignin from wood and (b) increasing the density of the delignified structure.
It enables a passive cooling by reflecting away infrared radiation. Because of the second step – the compression – the wood becomes mechanically strong. To be precise, a mechanical strength of 404.3 megapascals means to be eight or ten times higher than natural wood. With a tensile strength of 334.2 MPa·cm3/g, it is even more resistant than steel with 110 MPa·cm3/g. Due to Science, especially mid-infrared wavelengths are emitted heavily.
“This [latest work] is another major advancement in wood nanotechnologies that the Hu group at the University of Maryland achieved: cooling wood that is made of solely wood—that is, no other component such as polymers—can cool your house as a green building material,” said Hu, one of the paper’s co-authors.
