Posted by Johann Nacario — November 4, 2024 — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the winners of the first phase of the Building Envelope Innovation Prize, which targets high-performance, cost-effective secondary glazing systems to improve efficiency of commercial windows. DOE selected seven semifinalists to receive $50,000 each for their design concept submissions.
Map of Building Envelope Innovation Prize Phase I Winners. Graphic courtesy of DOE
Sponsored by DOE’s Building Technologies Office (BTO), the prize is advancing novel solutions for upgrading inefficient commercial and high-rise residential building windows to enable equitable decarbonization and optimize building envelopes for electrification. Secondary glazing involves installing an additional windowpane on an existing window to improve insulation while minimizing cost and disruption.
Hayes Jones, acting director of BTO, said:
About 40% of commercial buildings have single-pane windows, which provide a thinner barrier between the occupant and the outside than multipaned systems. This means higher energy costs and unwanted outside noise compared with multipaned windows. Despite that, less than 1% of windows are replaced annually because of high cost and occupant disturbance. Secondary glazing systems offer a less disruptive, more affordable opportunity to increase efficiency and indoor comfort than full window replacement.
The prize offers $2.1 million across three phases to incentivize rapid development and deployment of cost-effective secondary glazing system (SGS) solutions through a combination of lower costs, more flexible applications, and improved performance.
According to DOE’s Decarbonizing the U.S. Economy by 2050: A National Blueprint for the Buildings Sector (PDF), “to meet the 2050 vision of a highly efficient, net-zero emissions building sector, the retrofit rate for commercial building envelope components would need to increase up to 25x by 2030.” The prize will enable faster and more affordable building envelope upgrades.
In Phase 1, competitors submitted design concepts of their SGS innovations and shared early data on performance metrics. Seven winning teams received $50,000 each for their innovative, market-ready solutions.
Building Envelope Innovation Prize Phase I Winners. Image: DOE
The Phase 1 semifinalists are:
- AeroShield Materials Inc. (Waltham, MA) shared a design using advanced materials with significant potential for advancing the state-of-the-art performance of SGS with broad applicability across a variety of systems.
- Alpen High Performance Products (Louisville, CO) developed a project focused on reducing the costs of an existing on-site manufactured product that scales price with performance. Alpen’s SGS solution is low cost and high performance with short installation times.
- EnvisionWall (Flushing, NY) designed a cost-effective, quick retrofit option designed for installation over windows that can and cannot open.
- Indow (Portland, OR) created a design concept incorporating vacuum-insulated glazing within an SGS frame. Indow’s design offers the possibility of improved thermal performance in a product that can be installed easily and quickly.
- Thermalswitch Building Envelope Extension by StudioTJOA Inc. (Erie, CO) devised a product that accounts for different performance levels and climates, with advanced thermal performance and a simple design.
- Team QUANTA 3.0 (Lancaster, PA) evolved its design model to combine vacuum-insulated glazing with shade control in an innovative solution that boasts variety in applications and levels of performance.
- WexEnergy (Rochester, NY) conceived a unique product that provides a solution for operable windows with lower initial costs, quick installation, and short payback periods.
These seven solutions are innovating a retrofit technique that does not require opening walls to increase building energy efficiency while reducing installation time and cost. The winning teams will now proceed to Phase 2, in which they will produce window unit prototypes. Phase 2 winners will proceed to Phase 3, where they will transform their prototypes into a commercially viable, technically credible product that can be used in real-world applications.
Commercialization plans in Phase 3 will include implementation of an equity-focused pilot project in low-income multifamily or underserved public sector buildings. These pilots will help improve occupant comfort and energy performance in high-rise residential buildings and align with DOE’s Affordable Home Energy Shot, which aims to reduce the up-front cost of upgrading a home by at least 50% while reducing energy bills by 20% within a decade.
Read more about the Building Envelope Innovation Prize semifinalists and explore all of BTO’s open funding opportunities at DOE.
