The Smog Eating Tile is an innovative piece of technology that neutralises the harmful compounds emitted from most cars. Its creator, Boral Roofing is a company based in Los Angeles, which is one of the most polluted cities in the world when it comes to air quality.
The city’s dire pollution problem, as also documented in certain areas of China, India and Russia, comes due to years of unchecked fossil fuel emissions from highway traffic, farm equipment and diesel trucks.
To help reduce the accumulating levels of dangerous nitrogen oxide released by most vehicles into the environment, scientists have developed an anti-pollution tile that can be applied to the roofs of normal buildings. At its base, this product is made of concrete like most protective roof tiles, but it contains an important chemical instigator that activates with the ultraviolet content of sunshine.
The Smog Eating Tile works with a sustainable photocatalyst built into its makeup. In the light of day, each tile starts to break the pollutant compounds of smog down into harmless calcium nitrate (which washes away with rain and actually nourishes plant growth in soil).
It is estimated that 2 000 square feet of the Smog Eating Tile gobbles up the same amount of pollutants produced by a regular car that has been driven 17 500 kilometers during a single year.
This environmentally-conscious roofing material, though not flamboyantly dynamic or futuristic in its design, represents one more dimension in the race to rebalance humanity’s impact on nature. Architects and homeowners now have the ability to make a difference in the air without having to lift a finger while it happens.
