Dynamic window films for improved operational readiness of military buildings and personnel

This proposal is submitted under AF211-CSO1, RT&L area Control and Communications, under the strategic interest area 6, Blue Sky, and is targeted at the National Defense Strategy Line 3: “Reform the U.S. Department of Defense for greater performance and affordability”.   Facilities consume 30% of all U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) energy demand (DoD 2016). Dynamic glass, is a proven approach to reduce the energy consumption in DoD buildings. Unfortunately, COTS dynamic window technologies are expensive (on the order of $100-$150/sq ft installed). Moreover, the installation of dynamic window requires full demolition and replacement of the existing windows. This level of construction activity results in high installation expenses and the displacement of occupant.  What is needed is a technology that is cost-efficient and easily retrofit onto existing windows. Furcifer has developed such a solution – a laminable electrochromic window film that is produced using modern roll-to-roll printing technologies at 1/5 to 1/10 the cost of traditional dynamic glass at the same scale, and is the first EC film that can be directly applied to existing windows as an aftermarket application. By directly laminating the film onto the window glass, existing windows are retrofit into dynamic windows. Furcifer’s utilizes next-generation, flexible electrochromic (EC) film that can be manufactured via standard wet methods such as roll-to-roll printing. Furcifer has created soluble electrochromic inks and electrolytes to enable fabrication directly onto flexible substrates such as ITO (Indium Tin Oxide, a transparent conductor) on PET (polyethylene terephthalate, a common plastic). This  leads to a weight reduction of 100x over glass. By bypassing expensive semiconductor and vacuum deposition and for low-cost printing methods, Furcifer has eliminated 99% of the capital cost of production. The low manufacturing capex and the light weight of the EC films, allows Furcifer to geographically distribute manufacturing further reducing shipping costs and the total energy cost of the installed product. The EC films can be shipped to any DoD’s global facility with minimum shipping cost. Furcifer’s robust, flexible EC film can be laminated onto any flat or curved surface, making it very easy to retrofit the existing DoD’s IGUs. It does not require demolition of the original window or displacement of occupants in operational facilities. In this way, Furcifer’s EC film has the potential to break the primary barriers to adoption of dynamic windows for DoD installations. If broadly adopted, the EC technology could reduce global DoD facility energy consumption by up to 10% with total facilities peak load reductions of up to 25%. Such reductions broadly implemented could ease existing strain on the national grid. Overall, the EC film technology addresses two of DoD’s three key installation energy goals: (1) reduce energy usage/intensity and (2) improve energy security