SBIR Phase I: Low-Cost, High-Performance, Vacuum Insulated Glass Window

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是提高建筑能源消耗效率的技术。窗户约占建筑能源损失的30%，占美国碳排放量的7%。真空中空玻璃（VIG）窗的绝缘性是典型的双层玻璃窗的4-5倍，几乎与周围的墙壁一样绝缘。低温生产方法将使真空中空玻璃更加经济实惠。这种高效、低成本的真空隔热玻璃将取代广泛使用的双层玻璃窗，从而减少建筑的碳足迹。鉴于到2050年实现净零能耗建筑和净零温室气体排放的努力，污染的减少尤为重要。将受益于此类窗户开发的主要行业是住宅建筑、商业建筑和超市（冷冻室/冷却器门）。市场研究表明，VIG市场规模超过250亿美元。这个SBIR一期项目将开发低温、真空隔热玻璃窗，大大降低目前可用的真空隔热玻璃（VIG）的生产成本。虽然真空中空玻璃产品效率很高，已经生产了30多年，但由于成本非常高，密封可靠性差，没有找到市场接受度。目前高温、VIG制造工艺缓慢，需要昂贵的真空炉，导致成本高。所提出的柔性密封VIG制造工艺是一种更快的低温生产方法，因此需要更低的资本投资，使VIG的成本更接近双层玻璃窗。新型柔性密封设计消除了当前刚性VIG密封的热膨胀应力，提高了长期密封的可靠性。验证了低温密封制备的小型VIG样品的性能和长期耐久性。然而，在VIG开发成功之前，必须先证明规模化。目前的项目旨在扩大拟议的VIG制造工艺，并对全尺寸样品进行严格的加速天气、温度和冲击测试。还将开发二级密封，以防止天气和气体渗透，确保窗的使用寿命超过50年。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is technology to improve the efficiency of building energy consumption. Windows account for about 30% of building energy losses and 7% of US carbon emissions. Vacuum insulated glass (VIG) windows are 4-5 times more insulating than a typical double-pane glass windows and are almost as insulating as the surrounding walls. A low-temperature production method will make vacuum insulated glass much more affordable. Such highly efficient and low-cost vacuum insulated glass will enable replacement of widely used double pane windows thus reducing the building carbon footprint. This decrease in pollution is especially significant given the push for net zero energy buildings and net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Major sectors that will benefit from such window developments are residential buildings, commercial buildings, and supermarkets (freezer/cooler doors). Market research indicates the VIG market is more than $25 billion.This SBIR Phase I project will develop low temperature, vacuum insulated, glass windows that dramatically reduce the production cost of the currently available vacuum insulated glass (VIG). Although vacuum insulated glass products are highly efficient and have been produced for more than 30 years, they have not found market acceptance due to very high cost and poor seal reliability. Current high temperature, VIG manufacturing processes are slow and require expensive vacuum furnaces resulting in high costs. The proposed flexible seal VIG manufacturing process is a low-temperature production method that is much faster, thus requiring much lower capital investment, bringing VIG costs much closer to that of double pane windows. The novel flexible seal design of the proposed VIG also improves long-term seal reliability by eliminating thermal expansion stresses experienced by current rigid VIG seals. The performance and long-term durability of small VIG samples made using the low-temperature seal were validated. However, scale-up must be demonstrated before successful VIG development. The current project aims to scale up the proposed VIG manufacturing process and subject full-scale samples to rigorous accelerated weather, temperature, impact testing. A secondary seal will also be developed to prevent it from weather and gas permeation to ensure 50+ years of window life.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.