News
Overcoming the Winter Heating Penalty: A Scalable Solution for All-Season Thermal Regulation
Researchers have developed an innovative dynamic wall design called FinWall that achieves tunable angular emissivity for all-season thermal regulation of buildings. The FinWall features rotatable fins with high emissivity surfaces on top and low emissivity surfaces on the bottom. By adjusting the fin angles, it can switch between a cooling mode in summer and a heating mode in winter, effectively addressing the heating penalty issue associated with conventional radiative cooling walls. Field tests and simulations demonstrate the FinWall’s excellent thermal regulation performance and substantial energy-saving potential across different climates. This scalable design presents a promising solution for sustainable and energy-efficient building envelopes.
The Cyphochilus Beetle: Nature’s Master of Radiative Cooling
The Cyphochilus beetle, native to Southeast Asia, may hold the key to more energy-efficient cooling of buildings, thanks to its brilliant white shell that reflects sunlight and radiates heat with incredible efficiency. By studying the unique structure of this beetle’s scales, researchers have unlocked new insights into the science of radiative cooling and how it can be harnessed for sustainable temperature regulation.
The Fascinating History of Radiative Cooling
Radiative cooling, a phenomenon that allows objects to dissipate heat into the cold depths of space, has a rich and fascinating history spanning thousands of years. From ancient civilizations to modern-day scientists, humans have long sought to harness the power of...
Nature’s Ingenious Thermal Regulators: Insects and Animals Mastering Radiative Cooling
From the scorching deserts to the dense rainforests, nature has endowed many insects and animals with remarkable abilities to regulate their body temperatures through radiative cooling. This passive and energy-efficient process allows these creatures to dissipate excess heat without relying on external energy sources, enabling them to thrive in even the harshest of environments. Radiative cooling provides a unique opportunity to achieve passive cooling to the vast cold sink of outer space. With its renewable nature and recent materials advances enabling daytime operation, radiative cooling represents an innovative thermal solution with tremendous potential energy savings.
Ancient Persian Yakhchals: Marvels of Passive Radiative Cooling
The ancient Persian Yakhchals were ingenious examples of passive radiative cooling technology. These structures consisted of a domed above-ground structure with a deep underground storage chamber below. Water from nearby aqueducts would be channeled into shallow pools adjacent to the Yakhchal at night. Through radiative cooling, where heat is lost as infrared radiation to the cold night sky, the water in these pools would freeze, aided by the arid desert’s low humidity levels.
Jozef Janovec’s Award-Winning Research on Photonic Metaconcrete
In sustainable construction materials research, the MIRACLE project has consistently pushed the boundaries of innovation. A recent highlight from this initiative was the recognition of Jozef Janovec's research, which earned him the prestigious CECAM Poster Prize. The...
Photonic Metaconcrete Takes Center Stage at Heidelberg Materials’ “Gama evo”
On March 18, 2024, Heidelberg Materials held the groundbreaking event "Gama evo: Building the Future Together" in Spain, where they presented their latest innovations in sustainable construction materials. From Net-Zero Cement to Radiative Cooling Concrete:...
MIRACLE Project Leader Presents at ANEFHOP Assembly
On Thursday, March 7, 2024, the National Spanish Association of Ready-Mixed Concrete Manufacturers (ANEFHOP) held its Euskadi Assembly in Donostia. NEFHOP is the leading national trade association representing the interests of ready-mixed concrete manufacturers in...
COOLCRETE Project for Boosting Technology Readiness Levels
European Innovation Council (EIC) Work Programme 2023 funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. Funded by the European Commission's HORIZON-EIC-2023-BOOSTER-IBA-01-01 grant and driven by a collaborative effort...
PHOTOKRETE Earns a Spot Among CSIC’s Top 10 – Toward Market
In a significant milestone for the commercialization of innovative technologies, the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) has selected PhotoKrete as one of the top 10 projects in its prestigious Impulsa-T entrepreneurship program. This recognition comes with...
Green Concrete: Ally for Sustainability
Jorge Sanchez Dolado, work package leader for WP1 and WP6 on the MIRACLE concrete project, recently gave a talk at Tabakalera in San Sebastian, Spain titled "Green Concrete: Cementing a Sustainable Future". Sanchez Dolado discussed innovative solutions to reduce the...
New Research Presented on Using Cement Materials to Improve Solar Cell Efficiency
Earlier this month, the latest research on using cement-based radiative coolers to enhance solar photovoltaics was presented at the 16th International Congress on the Chemistry of Cement (ICCC2023). Part of the European Union's MIRACLE project exploring sustainable...
Advancing Thermal Energy Storage at the Eurotherm 2023 Seminar
The Eurotherm 2023 Seminar on "Innovative Solutions for Thermal Energy Storage Deployment" was held on May 24-26, 2023 at the University of Lleida in Spain. This brought together over 200 researchers working on thermal energy storage from academia and industry across...
MIRACLE Training Course Successfully Concludes in Germany
The Institute of Construction and Building Materials (WiB) at Technische Universität Darmstadt recently hosted an innovative training course as part of the H2020 MIRACLE project, funded by the EU-H2020/FET Open program. The MIRACLE Training Course, which took place...
MIRACLE Researcher Receives Prestigious Award for Pioneering Metamaterials Work
Dr. Iñigo Liberal Olleta, a researcher at the Public University of Navarre (UPNA), was recently honored with an Early Career Award from the journal Nanophotonics. This prestigious award recognizes Dr. Liberal's groundbreaking contributions to the field of...
Spotlight Event on November 30th
Do you want to know about the Photonic Meta Concrete we are developing in MIRACLE project to fight global warming and save energy in building? Join us for a panel discussion between European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) and EIT Climate-KIC and...
Building Smarter Cities – How Photonic Concrete Cuts Energy Use
If you would like to learn more about photonic metaconcrete and other exciting technologies for smart cities of the future, we recommend listening to the podcast 'Science to the Point' from the Public University of Navarra, which features an in-depth discussion with...
1st MIRACLE workshop; 4-6 May 2022 San Sebastián/Donostia (Spain)
The 1st MIRACLE Workshop will take place on the 4-6 of May 2022. The venue will be the CFM (CSIC-UPV/EHU) headquarters in San Sebastián/Donostia (Spain). The workshop aims to be a discussion forum for exploring current scientific and technological possibilities...
Kick-off meeting of MIRACLE
The Kick-off meeting of MIRACLE took place on the 5th of February 2021. Due to the Covid situation, The KoM took place online. Hopefully, we will meet in person soon to take due revenge…Lets start the MIRACLE