The transparent wood, tightly packed and perpendicularly aligned cellulose fibers operate as wideband wave-guides with high transmission scattering losses for light. This unique light management capacity results in a light propagation effect. By measuring its optical properties with an integrated sphere, Li and her colleagues found that transparent wood exhibits a high transmittance of 90% (lower than for pure PMMA) and a high optical haze of 95%. As a result, transparent wood as an energy efficient material could be used to decrease the daytime lighting energy usage by efficiently guiding the sunlight into the house while providing uniform and consistent illumination throughout the day.
Similarly, the transparent woods thermal conductivity is attributed to the alignment of the wood cellulose fibers, which has been preserved after lignin removal and polymer infiltration. Transparent wood has a thermal conductivity of 0.32 W⋅m⋅K in the axial direction and 0.15 W⋅m⋅K in the radial direction respectably. Based on the study done by Céline Montanari of the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, the transparent woods thermal conductivity, which transforms from semi-transparent to transparent when heated, could be used to make buildings more energy-efficient by capturing the sun's energy during the day and releasing it later at night into the interior.