New light-transmissive metamaterial cools rooms and self-cleans

Maximizing natural light in buildings is a popular trend due to its potential to save on energy costs. However, traditional glass roofs and walls often lead to issues such as glare, lack of privacy, and overheating. While alternative solutions like coatings and light-diffusing materials have been explored, they haven’t fully addressed these problems.

Now, researchers at the Institute for Microstructure Technology (IMT) and the Light Technology Institute (LTI) at KIT have developed a novel polymer-based metamaterial that is not only more transparent to light but adds privacy, cools the room inside, and automatically cleans itself. It could potentially have significant implications for the future of building design and energy efficiency....
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RSK: Unique! Now if they could reverse this and increase the average temp by 6 C for us people in the northern climes, we might have something.