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Energy Efficiency from "Sun Control"

Energy Efficiency from "Sun Control"
July 21, 2011 SNH Editorial Team

Memo to window manufacturers – integrate “cool” ideas and do your part to create in energy efficiency.The topic of solar heat gain in buildings is getting more and more attention in commercial buildings. The same should apply to residential building.Imagine a home with the proverbial million-dollar view framed by floor-to-ceiling windows. What do you do when the sun hits it? Today, you pull curtains, drop down screens to keep the heat out and to protect furniture from fading and artwork from being ruined.

How about having a material/film in your windows that automatically darkens thus keeping solar heat gain to a minimum, cancelling infra-red rays so that furniture and artwork are no longer harmed. All of this without electrical charges but simply by thermochromic film.  There are externally overlaid window films/tints which are static and permanently reduct UV light and some heat.  The keyword here is “static” and there is often a slight color distortion. And how about one more positive feature: sound reduction by this very same film.

Sounds too good to be true, you might think.  Enter Pleotint, Inc.  a newly formed American / Michigan based company which introduced its Sunlight Responsive Termochromic (“SRT”) this year.

Using “SRT” Sunlight Responsive Thermochromic technology, this green building product turns your windows into the equivalent of  “Transitions” lenses which can go from light to dark.

Without getting too technical “thermochromic” technology harnesses the sun’s heat and causes a chemical reaction which automatically darkens window tint.  The darker the tint the hotter the sun.  Cost savings can be significant.  Self-tinting windows should pay for themselves in five to seven years through energy cost savings.

Anyone living on a lake where power boats are allowed might appreciate not hearing the roar off the boats of water skiers who are out to enjoy the smooth water at 6AM.

Today’s standard windows have long been regarded a weak link in a building’s energy efficiency chain.  The SRT technology might just change this. Green thinking from green building products. This is one product every homeowner who is looking to purchase windows should be asking for. Kudos to  innovative companies like Pleotint, Inc.