The market for environmentally efficient technology is growing rapidly. One product in particular, smart glass, is becoming available for the every day customer’s home. Smart glass is basically a special king of glass that has electrically switchable glass or glazing. The glass’ light transmission properties and changed when voltage is applied—in other words you can control how see through you want your windows to be.
Smart glass is also used in glasses, which is a lot more common. But recently, it has been available in larger formats, giving customers the ability to use it as windows for their house, either on walls, doors, or skylights. Users can then pre-determine what shade they would like the window to be. Smart glass is environmentally efficient because it can save costs for heating, air-conditioning, and lighting as well as avoiding the cost of installing motorized light screen/blinds/curtains.
The aspect I liked the most about smart glass is that it can be adjusted through an iPhone app. You simply drag a dot up and down a scale and this will transmit to the glass, making it more or less transparent. I think smart glass is a great example of how innovations are becoming more and more environmentally focus. It reflects how our generation is becoming more aware of our global environmental sustainability problem.
Smart Glass: Saving Heat & Energy with Tech, Bloomberg Businessweek