SBIR Phase II: Passive Radiative Composite Material

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will be observed through a direct reduction in the energy consumption required by large industrial facilities, commercial buildings, campuses, and homes. Due to reduced cooling demands as a result of carefully designed radiative properties, the sustainability of federal and industry facilities will be significantly improved with the installation of passive radiative composite (PRC) roofing material for building energy management. The market demand for cool roofing materials has exceeded $1 Billion, annually, and is expected to grow with increasing need and return on investment. PRC roofing material can expect to compete in a growing industry due to non-trivial improvement over state-of-the-art options in commercial cool roofing products and the economic fabrication method identified in the PRC conceptual design stage. Opportunities extend beyond structural thermal management to a variety of cooling needs including refrigerated transportation and storage. The development of PRC roofing will advance understanding and use of spectrally-selective materials designed for intelligent control of thermal radiation. The proposed project will provide critical design, testing, and experimental validation needed to transition PRC technology into the commercial sector. Designs based on electromagnetic and thermal modeling include composite material options capable of providing passive radiative flux of over 100 Watts per square meter of installed material. This passive cooling advantage, relative to current commercial cool roofing materials, is expected to create significant long-term cost savings and reduction in fossil fuel usage for climate controlled structures. PRC material properties designed to be spectrally selective offer the opportunity for intelligent thermal management through reflection of solar and near-infrared portions of the radiative spectrum, while emitting strongly in the 8-13 micron atmospheric transmission window. A primary objective of the SBIR project is to optimize PRC designs considering full spectrum properties with three criteria in mind: thermal efficiency improvement, durability, and large batch manufacturing economy. Demonstration of PRC-based roofing materials on full-scale test structures will quantify passive cooling power and robustness to weathering, positioning PRC-based roofing for introduction by a commercial manufacturing partner. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.