Spray-IT will be an inexpensive way for large companies to reduce energy consumption for air-conditioning and heating purposes
Taipei, Taiwan – Called “Spray-IT’, the insulation is intended for use on windows and external walls of high-rise buildings to block off UV rays, preventing them from entering the building and heating up its interior.
The ITRI says Spray-IT will be an inexpensive way for large companies to reduce energy consumption for air-conditioning and heating purposes. The new material is cheaper to produce and easier to use than current technoligies, the researchers say. It can be produced at 10 percent of the production price of other currently available insulation coating materials, by relying on a combination of tin-dioxide, fluorine and lithium. Most reflective materials used for window and thermal coating use much more costly silver-based films.
“What distinguishes our technology from traditional, silver-based methods, is that the coating of surfaces with the reflecting substance can be conducted in open-air environments. That makes the process much more convenient. Our material is also much less expensive compared to silver-based solutions, and also much easier to apply. Compared to silver-based substances, our solution is also much more resisting to oxidation under influence of air and water. This is a big breakthrough,” said Lin Tzer-Shen, division director of ITRI’s Electronic Materials and Devices Research Group.
The technology, which received the 2011 Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award in the category of environment-friendly technologies, can be applied without specialized equipment. Its creators say it is the only such material that can be easily applied on existing buildings.
After being treated with the new substance, materials exposed to heat show a lower temperature than those untreated. The difference can amount to 10° Celsius.
Another department of ITRI is currently working on a new green technology for the industrial application of Spray-IT to large-sized glass windows without having to create a vacuum while spraying the substance onto the desired material.
“Plating methods are typically divided into direct and indirect methods,’ said Chang Chia-Chiang, manager of ITRI’s Industrial Technology Research Institute.
Bookmark this page for “reduce energy consumption” and check back regularly as these articles update on a frequent basis. The view is set to “news”. Try clicking on “video” and “2” for more articles.