More than 70% of all electricity consumed in the United States and more than 30% of carbon emissions come from efforts to warm people in the winter and cool them in the summer. Both jobs would be easier if there were no windows, but that, of course, would be impossible; employees, students, and residents are more productive and happy in buildings with windows.
Windows, then, are the prime source of “infiltration” and “exfiltration” and according to a noted study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, are responsible for 2.15 quadrillion BTU of heating energy consumption and 1.48 quadrillion BTU of cooling energy consumption in the U.S. each year. In addition, 6% to 9% of energy costs migrate through cracks and crevices, reducing warming and cooling efficiency.
The following images show what people and businesses are up against:
Windows in Summer:
Windows in winter:
Heating & Cooling Issues For Businesses & Organizations
In the private sector, a shipping company in Dubai, Aramix, runs its business from glass buildings in the desert, creating thermal issues that tend to overtax its HVAC systems. In fact, the HVAC systems at Aramix weren’t able to shut off, running 24 hours a day.
In the public sector, a huge consumer of heating and cooling is the U.S. military, with its large infrastructure of buildings around the world, many of which were built decades ago and never properly insulated. Recently, Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, a high-security facility, ran a simulation on a performance testing spreadsheet and found they would save up to 3% a year in energy expenses.
Enter Dennis Roberts & Inflector Windows
Now, a company called Inflector Windows, led by Dennis Roberts, is offering a new technology, originally developed as a material by NASA for space travel, they call “see-through metal.” The company has offices around the world including the United States, Canada, the U.K., France, Germany, China, Japan, Dubai and others, and has provided windows made with this material to both Arimidex and the U.S. Department of Defense.
The following video shows the residential side of the heating and cooling problem.
The following images compares the amount of heat on a window’s surface on January 14, the dead of winter, and the way in which inflector windows differ from bare windows.
The very same window, when reversed, rejects the sun, keeping it from warming a room in summer.
Finally, the following video shows the Inflector Windows launch event is Asia.
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References and related content:
- Install Solar Inflector Screens | 30 Down-and-Dirty Tricks for Big DIY Savings | This Old House
- Inflector – GreenBuildingTalk – GreenBuildingTalk – Green Building Forums on Insulating Concrete Forms (ICF), Structural Insulated Panels (SIP), Radiant Heating, Geothermal Heat Pumps, Solar Power, Green Construction Projects – Green Building Technologies – Windows/Doors and Interior/Exterior Finish
- Energy Efficiency Done Right expanding international reach – San Antonio Business Journal
