smart glass

ADVANCED GLASS TECHNOLOGIES

Smart Glass

SMARTGLASS at Glance 1

SMARTGLASS or switchable glass, also called smart windows or switchable windows in its application to windows or skylights, refers to electrically switchable glass or glazing which changes light transmission properties when voltage is applied.

SMARTGLASS at Glance 2

SMARTGLASS is the revolutionary new technology that marries glass with electronics, turning them into windows, doors and skylights which give you full control of light, sunglare and heat gain with the touch of a button.

SMARTGLASS products are produced with one of 2 core technologies - either SPD SmartGlass film, or liquid crystal film (LC SmarGlass). Each film has different properties and is suitable for different applications. These electronically activated films are then laminated between 2 or more pieces of glass and are used in various architectural products.

SPDSMARTGLASS is a soft blue tinted glass that gives the user the ability to "tune" the amount of light and sunglare streaming through a window or skylight. You can variably change the tint of the glass, and control the heat gain and view. SPDSMARTGLASS is perfect for Skylights and Windows.

LCSMARTGLASS is a privacy product, that allows you to instantly switch the glass from clear to frosted white, and achieve 100% privacy. LCGLASS is well suited to front entranceways, sidelites, windows, skylights, and partitions.

Experience The Revolution of SMARTGLASS

Why SmartGlass ?

The need is great. Buildings in the US

account for: (USGBC, 2008) 71% of the nation’s electricity

consumption 39% of energy use 38% of carbon dioxide

emissions

Driving forces - next 5 years: (Ernst & Young, 2007)

Rising energy costs Initiatives to raise energy

efficiency

Primary commercialization activities focus on the leveraging of renewable resources

Sustainability and Clean Technology

The movement to “go green” for preserving resources, protecting the environment,

benefiting individuals and communities

Clean Technology Innovations that support

sustainability while providing attractive ROI

Investments are large, growing rapidly and global

Architectural Daylighting and Smart Glass: Opportunities

A. Transformation of Conventional Windows into High-Performing Smart Windows

B. Blended Approach of Smart and Non-Smart Glazings

C. Daylight Harvesting

A. Transformation of Conventional WindowsInto High-Performing Smart Windows

Conventional Commercial Window W/Static Tint And Interior Blind

• Static tint degrades view to outside during low/no-sun periods

• Partial shading obstructs view

• Space-consumption is high

• Shading/privacy requires manualeffort to close blinds

• Likelihood of occupant light-controlinertia is high

• Daylighting benefits are notoptimized

Commercial Smart Window

• View to the outside is optimized evenduring low/no-sun periods

• Variable shading does not obstructview

• Space-consumption is very low

• Sensors adjust light conditionsautomatically; manual tuning is assimple as turning a dial

• Ease-of-use and integration withsensors minimize likelihood of inertia

• Daylighting benefits are optimized

B. Blended Approach of Smart and Non-Smart Glazing

Supports balanced distribution of natural light

Provides some shading of work area closest to the façade

View preservation Shading, glare reduction Energy savings

Light shelf on the building’s exterior (located near the room’s ceiling) reflects natural light through a smaller, non-smart glazing deep into a room.

Smart glazing (located below the non-smart glazing) offers dynamic light-control benefits:

C. Daylight Harvesting

Integration with:

Local (i.e. room) sensors or broad-based master building control systems

Automated control of the smart glazing to:

Support interior lighting needs

Optimize human well-being

Principal of operation SMARTGLASS can allow users to control

the amount of light and heat passing through: with the press of a button, it changes from transparent to opaque, partially blocking light while maintaining a clear view of what lies behind the window. Another type of SMARTGLASS can provide privacy at the turn of a switch.

The entire film is sealed between 2 pieces

of Tempered and laminated glass. The glass is then hermetically sealed around all of the edges, and all electrical connectors are concealed and insulated from the user.

SMARTGLASS technologies are, suspended particle devices SPD, and liquid crystal devices LC.

Suspended Particle Devices (SPD)

Our company is trying to offer a technology that enables a window to quickly change from clear to opaque and anywhere in between with the flip of a switch.

Our company has developed a type of window that uses small light-absorbing microscopic particles

known as suspended particle devices (SPD), or light valves to make it go from clear to dark in a matter of seconds. Here's a breakdown of the parts that make up SPD light-control windows:

1. Two panels of glass or plastic 2. Conductive material - used to coat the panes of glass 3. Suspended particle devices - millions of these black particles are placed between the two panes of

glass 4. Liquid suspension or film - allows the particles to float freely between the glass 5. Control device - automatic or manual

How SPD works ?

How the SPD windows work is very simple, if you think of SPDs as light valves. In an SPD window, millions of these SPDs are placed between two panels of glass or plastic, which is coated with a transparent conductive material. When electricity comes into contact with the SPDs via the conductive coating, they line up in a straight line and allow light to flow through. Once the electricity is taken away, they move back into a random pattern and block light. When the amount of voltage is decreased, the window darkens until it's completely dark after all electricity is taken away.

Liquid Crystals (LC) SMARTGLASS

Windows are undergoing a change the likes of which haven't been seen since the horizontal mini-blind was developed 50 years ago. Soon, curtains and window blinds could be obsolete.

In these Windows, electricity is used to change the status of the liquid crystals to allow light to pass through..

How LC SMARTGLASS Works ?

In these windows, the liquid crystals respond to an electrical charge by aligning parallel and letting light through. When the electrical charge is absent, the liquid crystals in the window are randomly oriented. With liquid crystals, the glass is either clear or translucent. There are no intermediate settings.

the secret of the transformation between clear

glass and translucent glass is found in the Liquid Crystal sheet. In their non-energized state, the Liquid Crystal molecules disperse light. When voltage is applied, however, these same molecules arrange themselves in a specific direction in a way that permits parallel light to pass through the glass.

SMARTGLASS Advantages

The use of SMARTGLASS can save costs for heating, air-conditioning and lighting and avoid the cost of installing and maintaining motorized light screens or blinds or curtains.

.

Skylight with SMARTGLASS units provide maximum daylight in bathroom when desired and cut the glare and heat when the sun is too intense

Benefits / Performance

SmartGlass glazing gives you the power to change your environment by doing what ordinary glass can’t do: It switches from clear to darkly tinted at the push of a button. Now you can enjoy the sun’s benefits while rejecting its undesirable effects such as fading, glare, and excessive heat — all without losing the view and connection to the outdoors. This grants architects the freedom to design with more day lighting without the drawbacks typically associated with glass.One revolutionary product delivers all these benefits:

• Blocks glare •Stops solar heat • Dramatically reduces fading • Always keeps view and connection to the outdoors

Blocks Glare

SMARTGLASS windows and skylights can be tinted to allow in only 3.5% visible light. By comparison, commercial buildings typically have windows that transmit around 45% visible light

In their tinted state, SMARTGLASS windows usually

transmit from 10% to 30% of the light. Therfore, You can see your computer display or TV screen without closing the blinds and losing your connection to the outdoors. If you have a great view, but you have to have your blinds closed most of the time, it almost negates the reason for having the window there in the first place.

SMARTGLASS is Commercial Alternative

Cleaning window treatments can be a hassle. In this regard, smart windows are an easy alternative -- no more blinds to clean, or expensive drapery to be professionally cared for. Not only will smart windows cut down on your dry-cleaning bill, but they can save money on your power bill, too. When the summer sun is bathing your house in rays, things can really heat up inside your home, making your air conditioning work overtime. Smart windows can be used to block that extra heat. By blocking UV radiation, smart windows can protect paintings and furnishings in your home or office, too.

Stops Solar Heat- dramatically reducing cooling energy.

SMARTGLASS Classic has an unparalleled SHGC value of 0.09 in its tinted state, which is about three times better than that offered by most commercial glazings. In this state, the glass transmits 3.5% visible light. The breakthrough benefit is that when the glass doesn’t need to be that dark—for instance, when it’s cloudy outside and you want light or it’s winter and you want heat from the sun—you can untint the glass and bring the visible light transmission up to 62% and the SHGC up to 0.48. It’s like having two types of glass in one window opening.

Reducing solar heat gain directly impacts energy and other expenses associated with operating a building. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that electronically tintable window systems are capable of providing up to :• 40% savings on energy bills• 20% savings on operating costs• 24% reduction in peak demand• 25% decrease in the size of HVAC systems

The red points represent some of today's popular static solar control glazing products. Each has a fixed solar heat gain coefficient and level of visible light transmission (each is optimal for one set of environmental conditions).

The arrow across the chart indicates the dynamic range of the SageGlass window product, which can be darkened to a highly tinted state (3.5%) or untinted to a highly transmissive state (62%).

Greatly Reduces Interior Fading- Protecting Furniture

artwork, and Carpet

When it comes to fading and damage, UV rays are the primary culprit. However, there is also a part of the visible spectrum that causes fading, up to about 700 nanometers (see chart ).

Oftentimes, when glass manufacturers say their product reduces the radiation that causes fading, they mean the UV portion only. SMARTGLASS products block not only nearly 100% of the UV radiation, but also the portion of visible light that causes fading because the glass gets so dark. On a weighted average—which is quantified in two ways: the Krochmann Damage Function and the TDW-ISO—SMARTGLASS products in their tinted state block 98% and 97%, respectively, of the total radiation that causes fading.

Energy Saving

Windows contribute about 30% to building heating and cooling electrical loads nationwide. Thus, potential energy savings from the wide-scale use of advanced windows is nearly 6% of the national energy consumption. Researches proved that smart glass is playing key role in saving the energy via combining very high thermal efficiency and dynamic transmittance of light.

How it is made ?

Always Keeps The View and Connection To The Outdoors

Many studies point to the importance of natural daylight and outdoor views to people’s happiness and well-being. Because with SMARTGLASS windows and skylights you can eliminate most of the negative aspects of sunlight, buildings can be designed with vision area in spaces and elevations where it was not possible to do so before.

SMARTGLASS products give those who design buildings, whether commercial or residential, a new tool for creating spaces that take more full advantage of available daylight. And this is important because research shows that providing people with daylight and a connection to the outdoors can increase retail sales, improve children’s scholastic achievement, reduce absenteeism and boost productivity in the workplace.

In human factors evaluations carried out by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif., people greatly preferred to be in the room with SMARTGLASS windows versus the room with regular static glass and blinds because of the level of comfort it brought to the space.

In human factors evaluations carried out by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif., people greatly preferred to be in the room with SMARTGLASS windows versus the room with regular static glass and blinds because of the level of comfort it brought to the space.

Customization

SMARTGLASS provides a choice of coating, tinting, toughening, laminating and double glazing options that can be combined to meet specific performance requirements.

Our intuitive and beautifully designed controllers are easy to operate and gracefully blend into your home and lifestyle. Convenient remote controls are also provided for convenient hand-held operation and can be integrated into any Home Automation System

A range of finishes, colours and patterns give you the freedom to incorporate glass into dazzling architectural and interior designs.

Controls and Smart Sensors

The glass is controlled through ordinary household power, at a very low power, and interfaces with standard electrical switches, state of the art Designer Dimmers, as well as most Home Automation Systems and Remote Controls.

SmartSensors can also be incorporated into your environment, which can automatically control the Glass according to any dynamic changes that take place in the room (i.e. Sun, light, temperature, time of day, etc.).

Largest available size Smart Glass

The largest size currently available is 40" x 60" (in either dimension, W x L, or L x W).

An important point to keep in mind with SmartGlass products is that they allow for tinting of the glass to be controlled in zones, which is desirable because the sun's glare is directional. This introduces the opportunity to design with glass in such a way that it can be programmed to “track” the sun as it moves around the building. In this scenario, smaller panes can be desirable by providing more zones of control within a given glazing area.   The greater the number of zones, the greater the opportunity to optimize and balance glare, daylighting and energy issues.

Comparing cost to low-e insulated glass

Because in most installations, Smart Glass products eliminate the need for interior and exterior blinds and shading systems, glass-to-glass price comparisons are not appropriate.

The reduction of other costs must also be considered given the unprecedented benefits provided by the SmartGlass product. Until now, glass and its necessary solar control devices were two different things. With SmarGlass , the glass IS the solar control device. Moreover, SmartGlass products conserve energy and reduce first costs (smaller HVAC systems, for instance, can be used in many situations). Building maintenance costs are also lower because HVAC systems run less often, and there is no need to replace or repair shades and blinds. Thus, when the higher initial cost of SmartGlass glazing is balanced with the reduced facilities and operating costs, the result can be a neutral impact on the project budget and in some cases could create cost savings.

Like many breakthrough products SmartGlass technology initially carries a premium price.   Importantly, the SmartGlass IGU product lends itself to strong processing efficiencies and economies of scale.   SmartGlass product is in the early stages of growth and cost reductions, not unlike the cost history of low-e, flat panel displays and cell phones.   As the market becomes aware of the many benefits of SmartGlass products, and volumes increase,

We are expecting to set up a 60-70% cost reduction over the next five years, and then a further cost reduction of 30-40% over the following five years.   During this time the product performance and features will advance as well, including wireless installation and controls.

Has SmartGlass technology been tested? How durable is it?

SmartGlass technology has undergone rigorous performance and durability testing both in-house and through independent third parties including the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and leaders in the glass fabricating and OEM skylight industry. 

In fact, the SmartGlass technology survived over 100,000 cycles of accelerated environmental durability testing, which is twice the test standard and equivalent to switching a window nine times per day for 365 days/year over a 30-year lifetime, according to the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

SmartGlass warranty is from 5 up to 10 years depending on the building application; the electronics and electrochromic functionality carry a five year warranty.

SMARTGLASS Specifications

SMARTGLASS Specifications

Applications

Architectural• Conference Rooms• Office Partitions• Skylights• Storefronts• Hospitals/Clinics• Transportation• Display• Security Applications

• Hotels / Spas / Resorts Residential

• Skylights• Home Fronts• Bedrooms• Bathrooms• Interior Dividers• Living room• Bathroom• Media room• Doors , Windows and entrance ways

Transportation Automotive Marine Aircraft

Future Application in Public Facilities Green or LEED buildings Museums and libraries Health care Religious facilities High-technology or image

buildings Aviation facilities

Skylights

Clinic

Hotels

Theatre Court

Conference Room

Bathrooms

Bathroom

Windows

Control Room

Control Room

Warehouse

Kitchen

Living Room

Skylights

Sidelites

Office

Partitions

Partitions

Cars

Windows

Kitchen

Wall Control Device

Cars

Offices

Aerospace

Helicopter windows

Marine doors

Exterior Partitions

Commercial Windows

Auto Show

Skylightes

Videos

Videos

Videos

Videos

videos

Videos

Survey Respondent Profile

91.0% are employed by an architectural/design/ engineering firm

50.7% are licensed architects Project Activity

94.6% involved with commercial projects 54.3% involved with residential projects 84.1% involved with 1+ sustainable design projects in the past year

Outlook 73.6% expect the proportion of U.S. architectural design

work that involves sustainability to increase greatly over the next 5 years

Expected Trends: Next 5 Years (% in Agreement)

Sustainability of Buildings

Cluster Analysis Based on Sustainability of Buildings Opinions

Architectural Glazing

Daylighting Benefits

Smart Glass

Daylighting and Smart Glass

Likelihood to Recommend Smart Glass: Consistent Across Clusters

Marketing

UAE Market in Brief

The extraordinary growth in the regional real estate (particularly from the booming construction), automotive and industrial sectors has generated massive demand for technological supervisor of glass in the market.  

Due Glass Industry estimates put the size of the GCC glass market at 1.1 million tonnes. However, current supplies stand at 150,000 tonnes while future supplies are projected at 450,000 tonnes, leaving a shortfall of 650,000 tonnes

to absence of competition in our local market, E-glass products have great chance to penetrate the regional markets swiftly.  Further, as the first in to the market Innovative Glass Corporation has the opportunity to have its brand name as the generic category name to be present at market leader position.

E-glass products attributes are highly expected to satisfy the majority of our local customer needs in terms of social cultural values (privacy), environmental factors (hot places) and luxuries demand

Concerning saving power, E- glass products will fall in line with the interest of the current government trends  

The region climate is mostly hot (with temperatures in some areas reaching 49°C (120°F)), This fact will play a key role in developing better understanding of Solar Control concept.

The enormous number of business establishments (more than 190,000 companies just in Dubai) will present perfect market for LC glass product.

World Flat Glass Demand:

2007: 5.2 billion meters2 (approximately 56.3 billion feet2)

2010: 5.2% growth per year = 6.1 billion meters² (approximately 65.7 billion feet²)

Sales of new generations of security and firerated glass, self-cleaning glass, and smart windows that promise unprecedented control and energy savings also will accelerate through 2010.” - The Freedonia Group

World Flat Glass Demand:

Advanced Flat Glass is a rapidly growing segment of the world flat glass market

Categories of advanced flat glass:

Safety and security glass

Solar control glass (e.g. smart glass)

Other advanced flat glass (e.g. self-cleaning glass)

Demand for smart glass solar control products (US) is expected to increase nearly 16 percent per year to $795 million in 2010. Although electrochromic glass (mostly for mirrors for motor vehicles) continued to dominate through 2005, greater growth opportunities will arise from other types of smart windows, as these products continue to develop and increase their market penetration, particularly in architectural markets.” SPD glass technology “holds excellent long term potential.”

- The Freedonia Group

US Advanced Flat Glass Demand ($)

US Smart Glass Demand ($)

Conclusion

Clean technology Propelling sustainability to new levels

Architectural daylighting Reduces energy costs, increase occupant well-being, supports the environment

Smart Glass Now expanding into large-format applications Offers substantial daylighting benefits

US LEED Accredited Professionals Growing interest in smart glass Energy-savings benefits of daylighting systems using smart

Glass are particularly desired