06.13.16
PARC, A Xerox company announced it is currently negotiating a $3 million award from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) as part of the organization’s Single-Pane Highly Insulating Efficient Lucid Design (SHIELD) program.
For this project, PARC is partnering with Blueshift and Pilkington North America to develop an innovative window coating that significantly improves the energy efficiency of existing single-pane windows in commercial and residential buildings.
“The SHIELD program illustrates ARPA-E’s commitment to supporting transformational technologies,” said ARPA-E director Dr. Ellen Williams. “By creating novel materials to retrofit existing single-pane windows, SHIELD technologies can dramatically improve building efficiency and save energy costs for building owners and occupants.”
Under the SHIELD Program, PARC is developing a new windowpane that incorporates a transparent aerogel polymer material to prevent thermal losses. PARC’s aerogel exhibits lower thermal conductivity and greater mechanical flexibility than silica aerogels.
As part of the project, PARC partner Blueshift, manufacturer of award-winning polyimide aerogels in roll-to-roll format, will develop a pilot roll-to-roll manufacturing process demonstrating the ability to produce aerogel at sizes relevant to windowpanes. The new windowpane will be of similar weight and thickness as existing single panes and could replace existing windowpanes in single-pane units. Pilkington North America, a leading manufacturer of architectural glazings, will perform extensive windowpane testing.
“Aerogels have been around for several decades, and their thermal insulation properties are outstanding, but their integration into windowpanes is problematic because of visual appearance and weak mechanical robustness,” said Quentin Van Overmeere, PARC’s principal investigator on the project. “PARC’s polymer aerogel technology will overcome these drawbacks to enable single pane window retrofits and other high-performance insulation applications.”
For this project, PARC is partnering with Blueshift and Pilkington North America to develop an innovative window coating that significantly improves the energy efficiency of existing single-pane windows in commercial and residential buildings.
“The SHIELD program illustrates ARPA-E’s commitment to supporting transformational technologies,” said ARPA-E director Dr. Ellen Williams. “By creating novel materials to retrofit existing single-pane windows, SHIELD technologies can dramatically improve building efficiency and save energy costs for building owners and occupants.”
Under the SHIELD Program, PARC is developing a new windowpane that incorporates a transparent aerogel polymer material to prevent thermal losses. PARC’s aerogel exhibits lower thermal conductivity and greater mechanical flexibility than silica aerogels.
As part of the project, PARC partner Blueshift, manufacturer of award-winning polyimide aerogels in roll-to-roll format, will develop a pilot roll-to-roll manufacturing process demonstrating the ability to produce aerogel at sizes relevant to windowpanes. The new windowpane will be of similar weight and thickness as existing single panes and could replace existing windowpanes in single-pane units. Pilkington North America, a leading manufacturer of architectural glazings, will perform extensive windowpane testing.
“Aerogels have been around for several decades, and their thermal insulation properties are outstanding, but their integration into windowpanes is problematic because of visual appearance and weak mechanical robustness,” said Quentin Van Overmeere, PARC’s principal investigator on the project. “PARC’s polymer aerogel technology will overcome these drawbacks to enable single pane window retrofits and other high-performance insulation applications.”