EVALUATION OF THE TECHNICAL AND MANUFACTURING FEASIBILITY OFA VARIABLE LIGHT TRANSMISSION MOVABLE WINDOW INSULATION SYS TEM

A NEW CONCEPT IN WINDOW TREATMENT IS PLANNED WHICH PRIMARILYADDRESSES MARKET REQUIREMENTS FOR AESTHETICS AND LIGHT CONTROL, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME PROVIDING A SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER LEVEL OF INSULATION AND LOWER SHADING COEFFICIENT THAN PREVIOUSLY AVAILABLE ENERGY-EFFICIENT WINDOW TREATMENTS. THE WINDOW TREATMENT CONCEPT COMBINES THE FUNCTIONAL ADVANTAGES OF PROVIDING LIGHT-FILTERING AND ROOM-DARKENING EFFECTS TOGETHER WITH INSULATING AND HEAT-BLOCKING EFFECTS, ALL WITHIN A SINGLE-FABRIC PLEATED SHADE FORMAT. THE TECHNOLOGY RELIES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW PROCESSES FOR APPLYING HIGH-REMELT-TEMPERATURE ADHESIVES TO POLYESTER FABRICS SHAPED INTO A NOVEL MECHANICAL CONFIGURATION THAT CAN RESULT IN A WINDOW SHADE SYSTEM HAVING DIRECTIONAL AND VARIABLE LIGHT TRANSMISSIVITY. THE MECHANICAL DESIGN FOR VARYING THE LIGHTTRANSMISSIVITY CREATES REFLECTIVE-SURFACE TRAPPED AIR CAVITIES WITHIN THE SHADE THAT COULD SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE BOTH CONVECTIVE AND RADIANT HEAT TRANSFER. THE RESULTING WINDOW/SHADE SYSTEM COULD YIELD THERMAL RESISTANCE VALUES OF 6.0 OR GREATER. THE EFFORT WILL INVOLVE MATERIALS PROCESSING DEVELOPMENT AND EXPERIMENTATION WITH PROOF-OF-CONCEPT MECHANICAL SYSTEMS TO VERIFY THE TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY OF THE CONCEPT.