iGlass Technology has joined the Attachments Energy Rating Council, or AERC. The company announced the move from Irvine, California, on January 5, 2018. It calls itself the first producer of digital blinds, an electrochromic retrofit for smart windows, to become a member.
Membership puts iGlass alongside the makers of other window attachments, such as blinds, shades and films. All of them are certified to help homes save energy. As a result, distributors and installers can now show customers how Wisp by iGlass Technology can cut energy use and make homes and buildings more comfortable.
Other AERC members include Hella, Hunter Douglas, Lutron, Eastman Chemical, Cardinal Glass, Velux and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
The council exists because window attachments matter for energy bills. An analysis by the U.S. Department of Energy found that attachments such as tinting films can save a lot of energy in homes and commercial buildings. AERC runs the Energy Improvement Program, which the DOE partly funds. The program rates, certifies and labels attachments, and each certified product carries a label that shows its savings in warm and cool climates. AERC itself is an independent, public interest nonprofit. Its members range from manufacturers and testing labs to utilities and government bodies.
Boris Maslov, the company’s CEO, said digital blinds make a home far more comfortable to see in and to live in, since they cut glare and block unwanted solar heat. With the AERC label, he added, customers can raise comfort and use less energy at the same time.
According to the company, Wisp lowers peak air-conditioning demand by keeping out extra solar heat. Regular blinds are rarely adjusted, so lights often stay on. When Wisp is automated and linked to a light switch, the company says lighting energy savings average 40 percent.
iGlass develops and makes thin, flexible transparent electrodes and electrochromic materials. Wisp is its first product, a clear and durable film that goes onto existing windows. It stays transparent even at its darkest tint, and any part of the window can be tinted. Users can control it with a switch, an app for Android and iOS, or by voice through Amazon Alexa or Google Home. The company plans future products for cars, rechargeable batteries and touch screens. Its headquarters and manufacturing are in Irvine.
