Trend New building materials for a hotter Spain: transparent wood and passive cooling aerogels

Summary

The report expects Spain's climate in 2050 to be much hotter and more water-stressed, with higher average temperatures, less but more concentrated rainfall, longer summers and more likely droughts. In response, the construction sector is already testing new materials that raise buildings' energy efficiency and help the housing stock adapt. These materials aim not only to insulate better but to manage solar radiation and heat exchange more effectively, reducing heating and cooling demand. Transparent wood, made by removing light-absorbing compounds and filling the microstructure with transparent material, keeps good strength, lets light through and may insulate better than ordinary glass. Super-cooling materials such as salmon DNA aerogel reflect most sunlight and shed heat as thermal radiation to cool surfaces without energy, and being made from fishing industry by-products they could support a circular economy. The report cautions that their real durability and total environmental impact must be confirmed before wide use.