Saint-Gobain, in cooperation with the U.S. Green Building Council – Northern California Chapter, announced the winners of the NOVA Innovation Competition 2012, two of which are dynamic glass companies. The NOVA Innovation Competition rewards start-ups offering innovative solutions in the field of habitat, energy and the environment, according to a Saint-Gobain release.
Competition winner Heliotrope is an Oakland, Calif.-based developer of energy-efficient electrochromic glass that switches reversibly between three states: solar transparent, heat blocking, and heat and light blocking (i.e. darkened). The company is focused on the commercial window market.
Third-place winner SmarterShade is a South Bend, Ind., developer of a smart window product that allows users to control the amount of light and heat entering a home or office through controlling the tint level on their window. The first generation of SmarterShade is a retrofit film system that is integrated into the window itself, according to the release.
"We expect to be working with the industry to turn our lab discoveries into commercial technologies over the next few years. We were looking for partners to help us create revolutionary products, and to help us scale the manufacturing and production of those products, and ultimately to get those products into the hands of end users," said Andrew Lim, CEO, Heliotrope, in the release. "Saint-Gobain has a strong platform in window products. We believe we can provide additional features and functionality to those products and contribute to the success of Saint-Gobain in the future."
