Global energy consumption continues to rise, driven by population growth and industrialization, placing immense pressure on finite natural resources and ecosystems. This underscores the urgent need for energy-efficient designs that prioritize sustainability and allow low-cost retrofitting, reducing environmental impact while meeting modern energy demands.
In this project, we propose a window/optical shutter that is operated by a smart polymer (a crosslinked semicrystalline rubber) developed by co-PI Mather, which shows the shape memory effect such that it contracts on heating and elongates on cooling, reversibly. On integrating with the window, the shape memory polymer (SMP) will draw its cues from the external environment for its shape change and consequently cause the shutter to open and close as the outside temperature is low and high, respectively.
Thus, a successful rendition of the idea would generate a self-contained, smart, and energy-efficient window, with no need for sensors or actuators beyond the SMP.
We will experiment with two types of designs for the window. In the first design, the window will switch between a transparent and an opaque condition when the outside temperature is low and high, respectively. For the second design, we aim to keep the window transparency constant while its IR transmittance changes in accordance with the outside temperature, such that at high outside temperatures, IR transmission will be low and at low outside temperature the IR transmission will be high.
Both designs will thus control the temperature inside the room by adjusting the shutter/window dynamically throughout the day based on the external conditions as the trigger. By using a low-cost, durable polymer as the switch and informing architectural designs with the underpinning materials physics, we intend to enable production of an economical, energy-efficient window.
