Kevin Kramer, the president of Alcoa Growth Initiatives, gives the inside story about the development of Alcoa's innovative smog-eating building panels.

During a 15-minute segment at the GreenBiz Innovation Forum, Kramer presented the story behind its EcoClean technology: 

The backstory: The economy was in turmoil when Alcoa began developing EcoClean, forcing the company to make a big bet in a sector that was also in decline. Alcoa wanted to help building owners with a product that could help keep their buildings clean. The company worked with Japanese plumbing manufacturer Toto, which had developed a photocatalyst titanium dioxide technology called Hydrotect. The partners used the technology to apply EcoClean, a titanium dioxide coating, to Reynobond, pre-painted aluminum architectural panels.

EcoClean reacts to sunlight by breaking down organic matter so it washes away with the rain. The result is a cleaner and brighter facade, saving building owners money in maintenance costs. But while testing the product, Kramer said, the company made an unexpected discovery: EcoClean also cleans the air and consumes smog by removing pollutants near its surface.

"For a 10,000-square-foot building, and as a frame of reference, that's about 10 canopies at a gas station, that's the equivalent of planting 80 trees," Kramer said. "So if we take just 1 percent of the market -- the aluminum exterior sheet market -- and convert it to EcoClean, that's the equivalent of planting 1 million trees."