In addition to its sponsorship, SCHOTT North America, Inc. will offer expertise in glass ceramics to the challenge’s finalists in hopes of finding new innovations in home heating as well as raising awareness about clean-burning wood stoves
Wood stoves have been heating homes for hundreds of years, but not the way today’s high-tech, clean-burning stoves do. Modern woodstoves have seen major upgrades that have made them efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly, and new innovations are uncovered every day to make them more sustainable. That’s why SCHOTT North America, Inc. supplier of ROBAX®, a glass ceramic for environmentally friendly woodstoves and fireplaces, is partnering with and sponsoring the Wood Stove Design Challenge, which seeks out next-generation stove designs and draws attention to clean-burning wood stoves. As part of its sponsorship, SCHOTT will make available its expertise in glass-ceramic materials to the 14 challenge finalists, whose stoves will be tested and judged on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. in Nov. 2013.
The Wood Stove Design Challenge seeks to promote next-generation stove designs, build a community of innovators, and showcase stove innovation to the public. Few consumers, homebuilders, and politicians are aware of the technological advancements in wood stoves that have turned such units into highly efficient heating units.
“Advancements in materials and design have ushered in a new generation of clean, efficient wood stoves,” said Linda Mayer, CEO of SCHOTT North America, Inc. “For example, many new, closed wood stove systems use glass ceramic to keep indoor air quality pristine, burn fuel cleanly, and efficiently radiate heat throughout a room. Today’s wood stoves also emit 70 percent less particulate matter than older stoves, making them better for the environment. In sponsoring the Wood Stove Design Challenge, we hope to support the innovators working to continue advancing the efficiency and usefulness of wood stoves.”
“That the challenge will conclude in Washington, D.C. is no coincidence,” said Jim Stein, Vice President, Government Affairs at SCHOTT. “To take full advantage of the efficiencies of modern wood stoves, we need broad-based political support for change-out programs that would replace the approximately 9 million older stoves in the U.S., which are 50 percent less efficient than modern stoves, with new, clean-burning units. In this way, legislators can support their communities by reducing particulate matter and keeping the air cleaner, as well as help their constituents save money as they heat their homes.”
Launched by the Alliance for Green Heat, an independent non-profit, the Wood Stove Design Challenge aims to bring more innovation to a popular, widely used renewable energy device. In selecting finalists, judges looked for designs that could produce ultra-low emissions and high efficiency, in addition to innovation, affordability, and marketablilty.
Now that the Challenge judges have chosen the 14 finalists, SCHOTT is offering its expertise in the use of glass-ceramic materials to any of the finalists seeking information on glass ceramic’s properties, how it seals into a system, and ways to further enhance the design of wood stoves using these materials.
SCHOTT is well-versed in utilizing glass ceramics for home heating applications. SCHOTT ROBAX®, for example, is a glass ceramic used to enclose fireplaces. The glass allows for clear views of the fire while enabling a clean-burning, efficient heat source by withstanding the high temperatures of the combustion chamber that burn the fuel cleanly and completely. ROBAX® is one of the best radiators of heat of any material, efficiently and evenly emitting heat throughout a room.
