Demonstration with Energy and Daylighting Assessment of Sunlight Responsive Thermochromic (SRT) Window Systems
Pleotint, LLC was able to successfully extrude thermochromic interlayer for use in the fenestration industry. Pleotint has developed a thermochromic sytem that requires two thermochromic colors to make a neutral color when in the tinted state. These two colors were assembled into a single interlayer called a tri-layer prelam by Crown Operations for use in the glass lamination industry. Various locations, orientations, and constructions of thermochromic windows were studied with funds from this contract. Locations included Australia, California, Costa Rica, Indiana, Iowa, Mexico. Installed orientations included vertical and skylight glazing applications. Various constructions included monolithic, double pane, triple pane constructions. A daylighting study was conducted at LinEl Signature. LinEl Signature has a conference room with a sylight roof system that has a west orientation. The existing LinEl Signature conference room had constant tint 40% VLT transparent skylights. Irradiance meters were installed on the interior and exterior sides of a constant tint skylight. After a month and a half of data collection, the irradiance meters were removed and the constant tint skylights were replaced with Pleotint thermochromic skylight windows. The irradiance meters were reinstalled in the same locations and irradiance data was collected. Both data sets were compared. The data showed that there was a linear relationship with exterior and interior irradiance for the existing constant tint skylights. The thermochromic skylights have a non-linear relationship. The thermochromic skylights were able to limit the amount of irradiance that passed through the thermochromic skylight. A second study of the LinEl Signature conference was performed using EnergyPlus to calculate the amount of Illuminance that passed through constant tint skylights as compared to thermochromic skylights. The constant tint skylights transmitted Illuminance is 2.8 times higher than the thermochromic skylights during the months of May, June, July, August and 1.9 times higher than the thermochromic skylight during the months of March, April, September, October. Calculated illuminance levels were much more consistent as compared to the existing constant tint skylights installed at LinEl Signature. This allows for a more comfortable interior space in regard to glare discomfort and interior lighting control. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory was contracted to characterize the performance of the thermochromic interlayer and thermochromic window systems. Thermochromic interlayer was characterized with spectrometer equipment. The thermochromic window systems were characterized using LBNL’s Advanced Window Test Facility. A copy of the report can be found in the Appendix. Iowa State University was contracted to compare thermochromic window technology to constant tint technology. Iowa State University conducted the testing at the Energy Resource Station (ERS). The ERS has the ability to simultaneously test side-by-side competing building technologies. The building is equipped with two identical air handling units, each with its own dedicated and identical chiller. One air handling unit supplies the four test rooms designated as the A rooms and the other unit serves the four test rooms designated as the B rooms. There is one A test room and one B test rooms arranged as pairs in a side-by-side design with each pair having a different exposure. There is a pair of test rooms that face the south, an east and west facing pair. Each of the test rooms is a mirror image of its match with identical construction. The rooms are unoccupied; however, the capability to impose false loads on the rooms exists. The false loads and room lighting can be scheduled to simulate various usage patterns. A copy of the report can be found in the Appendix. GARD Analytics was contracted to compare EnergyPlus building simulations to the data recorded at the Iowa ERS. The goal of this research was to validate the building simulation software developed by the US Department of Energy. EnergyPlus is a whole building software package that includes thermochromic window system algorithms. The accuracy of these thermochromic window system algorithms were of special interest for this research.
- Research Organization:
- Pleotint, Llc
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- EE0004011
- OSTI ID:
- 1086790
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Electrochromic windows for commercial buildings: Monitored results from a full-scale testbed
Energy Engineering Analysis Program, Irwin Army Community Hospital, Fort Riley, Kansas. Volume 3: Project documentation. Final report