Are Smart Windows the future?

Advanced materials can change the way you feel, what you see and how you interact between the inside and outside environment

The Why

Windows are a fascinating part of building design. They create a connection between the inside and outside. They are fragile and thus make us more vulnerable. This fascination with windows as a building material since the 13th Century BC and has been a critical material to introduce light into a building. Though it wasn’t until the 1950’s that the modern float glass process for making large scale glass panes that we started to see a movement towards all glass buildings. It is hard to see a modern building that doesn’t have a facade that is largely made of glass.

The downside of a glass window is that it allows the sun’s heat through the window. This is called the solar heat gain. This is where smart windows enter the equation. People often use blinds and curtains to avoid this solar heat gain, but now are disconnected from the outside. A smart window is intended to reduce the solar heat gain while also creating a transparent view to the outside. Below is an example of two companies I evaluated in 2010 for a project. These are two thermochromic solutions where a chemical is activated when the glass heats up with the sun and thus limits the solar heat that can penetrate the glass.