Researchers of the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT Guwahati) have developed smart window materials for automatic climate control of buildings. Dr Debabrata Sikdar, Assistant Professor, Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, along with his research scholar, Mr Ashish Kumar Chowdhary from IIT Guwahati, have designed a smart window material that can effectively control the amount of heat and light passing through it in response to an applied voltage.
Such smart window materials would help to develop efficient automatic climate control systems in buildings. The results of their study have recently been published in the journal, Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells. According to the United Nations Environment Program, buildings around the globe account for 36 per cent of energy use and 39 per cent of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions annually. The primary consumption of energy in buildings is by the climate control system, in which energy-consuming devices are used to maintain comfortable indoor temperature and brightness. Hence, a building’s heating, cooling, and lighting loads are major energy-consumption segments in any building.
In order to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, a building’s energy intensity ( how much energy buildings use, will have to improve by 30 per cent by 2030). “There has been increased attention to sustainable architectural designs for better light and heat management in buildings in recent years, and deploying smart windows is the first step for such structures”, said Dr Debabrata Sikdar, Assistant Professor, Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, IIT Guwahati.
