Hacker News with Generative AI: Building Materials

Why Skyscrapers Became Glass Boxes (construction-physics.com)
The most common style for skyscrapers in the US (and probably the world) is the glass box — a structural skeleton of steel or concrete, with a skin of non-load bearing curtain wall made of glass and metal (typically aluminum), and without much in the way of decoration or ornament.
CoRncrete: A corn starch based building material (2017) (tudelft.nl)
Starch is a natural polymer which is commonly used as a cooking ingredient. The renewability and bio-degradability of starch has made it an interesting material for industrial applications, such as production of bioplastic. This paper introduces the application of corn starch in the production of a novel construction material, named CoRncrete.
New concrete can turn homes into giant batteries (independent.co.uk)
A highly insulating, translucent aerogel glass brick for building envelopes (2022) (sciencedirect.com)