Aspen Aerogels has received $2.75 million from the U.S. Department of Energy that will help fund the creation of a thinner double-glaze window.
The funding was received through the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) and will go towards research into using a thin aerogel layer between two thin transparent sheets of glass to create a double-glazed pane. If successful, these insulated windowpane units could be used to replace single panes in windows where thickness and weight preclude replacement with double-pane units.
The Northborough company received this competitive award from ARPA-E’s Single-pane Highly Insulating Efficient Lucid Designs (SHIELD) program, which seeks to reduce heat-loss for improved building efficiency by developing innovative materials that are both transparent and insulating to retrofit existing single-pane windows. Only 14 SHIELD project teams were selected for funding.
In addition to advancing the materials science required to produce highly insulating and transparent aerogel materials, the project team will also investigate aerogel production techniques that are intended to lower the cost to market for transparent window applications while preserving the required optical, thermal and mechanical properties.
