Innovative Glass supplies SPD-SmartGlass for government's net zero project

The 1934-built Henry House is a historic home that is now used as VIP guest quarters/bed and breakfast for dignitaries.

The completed installation is part of a net zero energy project to demonstrate that energy-efficient smart windows, and several other state-of-the-art technologies, can be cost-effectively included in renovation and retrofit applications to save money. The project, funded by the U.S. Army, is a key element of their long-term study to reduce energy consumption to net zero - meaning that the building generates as much energy as it uses, for a net power bill of zero.

"After an evaluation of other smart window technologies including electrochromics, the Energy Services Team of Harshaw Trane, Louisville, Ky., the energy services provider and systems integrator for the project, selected Innovative Glass to provide SPD-Smart windows that would fit in - both physically and aesthetically - with the old-world historical charm of the existing frames and structure. We then custom-built windows that incorporated our state-of-the-art SPD-SmartGlass for the project," said Steve Abadi, chairman, Innovative Glass Corp.



The SPD-SmartGlass windows, constructed with variable-tint SPD film invented by Woodbury, N.Y., based Research Frontiers, enable users and facilities managers to instantly and precisely adjust the amount of light, heat, glare and solar energy passing into the home, offering both solar energy control and daylight harvesting benefits.

The SPD-Smart windows in the Henry House use Hitachi Chemical's newest SPD "light" film which has a dynamic light transmission range from 65 percent in the clear state down to a room-darkening 3 percent light transmission.

The light transmission for their SPD-Smart window is instantly and precisely adjustable to any level between dark and clear. In addition to the dynamic light range, the windows also block 99 percent of harmful and fabric-fading ultraviolet rays.

Harshaw Trane's Energy Services Team designed a sophisticated automatic energy management control system to optimize the energy savings performance and user comfort provided by the SPD-Smart windows by monitoring the location and intensity of the sun, interior temperature, and time of day to regulate the optimal level of tint.

"In addition to the automatic controls, push buttons were installed in the rooms to allow the occupants to override the programmed shading," said Gary Horner, Harshaw Trane, in the release. "This permits users to choose more or less light to suit their preference. However, the overrides are on a timer so the manual settings will only be effective for an hour or so, then return to the programmed settings."

"We are trying to be energy-efficient while still allowing people to be comfortable," Horner added.

Said R.J. Dyrdek, the U.S. Army's Energy Manager of Fort Knox: "This installation is particularly important to us because we have two identical homes right next door to one another for comparison. One was renovated with the latest in smart, sustainable, and energy-efficient technologies, and the other was left untouched. This enables us to closely monitor and compare the overall savings and determine which technologies are most effective."