Date: 11 April 2013
The first-of-its-kind thermochromic glass technology was specified for its ability to passively adapt to changes in temperature and direct sunlight.
Built in Bozeman, Mont., the REHAU MONTANA ecosmart house is serving as a residential modeling and construction project to expand the knowledge of environmental and human sustainability, according to REHAU, an international manufacturer of polymer-based innovations and project sponsor.
“We were determined to use innovative energy and building technologies that maximize energy efficiency and occupant comfort, such as the high-performance REHAU window designs that feature the Suntuitive interlayer,” said Ralph Childs, Western region commercial sales manager for REHAU North America’s window and door business unit.
“The main advantages of Pleotint’s product are that it maximizes views, natural lighting, and indoor comfort by blocking direct sunlight, heat generated from sunlight, glare, and ultraviolet light without blinds or shades,” Childs said. “But when paired with low-e glass in an insulated glass unit (IGU) like we did with this project, it also provides significant energy savings. And the installation of the windows with the Suntuitive interlayer was no different than traditional window systems.”
As configured for the home’s different orientations, the IGUs provide Visible Light Transmittance of up to 37 percent in a clear state, a Solar Heat Gain Coefficient as low as .11 in a darkened state, and a winter U-Value of .22 or lower. Enhanced by the Suntuitive interlayer’s ability to adapt to changing temperature and sunlight conditions, the windows are expected to yield energy savings of at least 20 percent over conventional windows, according to energy modeling projections completed by the Creative Research Lab at Montana State University (MSU CRLab).
The Suntuitive interlayer also is more reliable than other dynamic glazing systems because it requires no mechanical or electrical intervention, which eliminates the threat of failure caused by faulty wiring, poor electrical connections, broken circuits or temperamental computer systems.
The ecosmart house is functioning as a living lab for MSU CRLab, where its energy performance is being tested over a two-year period. More than 300 sensors placed throughout the house will collect data to evaluate the performance of the various building systems in everyday life situations, as well as how each of the systems contributes to the home’s energy efficiency, comfort, and life-cycle costs.
For more information on Pleotint or the Suntuitive interlayer technology, visit www.pleotint.com. To learn more about the REHAU MONTANA ecosmart house, visit www.montanaecosmart.com. For more information on REHAU, visit www.na.rehau.com.
About Pleotint, LLC
Pleotint, LLC, is the world’s top innovator in continuously variable, sunlight responsive tinting interlayer for use in adaptive window glazing. Pleotint produces the thermochromic self-tinting interlayer by extrusion in its Jenison, Mich., facility. Pleotint is a privately held company. For more information, visit www.pleotint.com.
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