Funder: EU, Horizon 2020
Duration: 01 August 2016 to 31 January 2020
Staff Involved: Dr T Hyde and Dr J Zhang
Eensulate will aim to develop an affordable, highly insulating and lightweight solution for transparent envelopes to bring existing curtain wall buildings to “nearly zero energy” standards, thereby reducing energy bills while complying with the structural limits of the original building and national building codes.
The key components of the system will include an innovative vacuum insulating glazing (VIG) with novel edge sealing and getter technology, a multifunctional thermotunable coating to allow for dynamic control of solar gain a smart mono-component and environmentally friendly spray foam for the opaque components of the insulating façade system.
The Centre for Sustainable Technologies will work with key industry partners and universities on the development and evaluation of a lightweight and thin vacuum insulating glazing to provide superior insulation for the transparent component of the curtain wall. This will be achieved through an innovative low temperature fabrication process which is compatible with the use of tempered glass and high performance low emissivity coatings.
The project output will be a range of insulating solutions based around a VIG with two levels of performance – a basic module which has enhanced thermal and acoustic performance and a premium system which incorporates novel thermochromic coatings with self-cleaning and anti-fogging functionality. The systems will be evaluated as a full scale spandrel component in the retrofit of demonstration buildings and the limited thickness of the system will be exploited in innovative solutions for the fenestration of historical buildings.