Energy prices are higher than ever, and controlling your home's temperature can seriously impact your bill — but one innovation promises to lessen the financial burden of indoor heating and cooling.
Smart glass, also known as dynamic glass, can be used to control the amount of light and heat that pass through windows in order to regulate indoor temperatures.
The technology is like Transitions lenses, which change from clear glasses to sunglasses depending on the weather, for a building instead of your eyes.
When it's cold outside, smart glass windows can be set to a transparent setting so that more light and heat are allowed into the building, reducing the need to waste electricity to crank up the heat.
And when it's warm outside, the glass can be made more opaque, keeping out sunlight and reducing the need to burn cash on air conditioning.
Windows made of this smart glass can slash the cost of a building's cooling and heating by 20%, estimates the Department of Energy.
On top of that, the government is giving a 30% tax credit for people to install smart glass in their homes and buildings. While smart glass can be expensive, with prices between $50 and $150 per square foot installed, the tax credit reduces these figures to between $35 and $105 per square foot.
So not only will the home improvement save you money on your energy bill, but the tax credit now also makes installation much more affordable.
The benefits of smart glass don't end there, though.
Because you're using so much less energy to warm and cool your home, less planet-heating pollution is created.
Considering that building operations, like heating and cooling, across the planet account for over a quarter of the harmful carbon pollution produced every single year, smart glass could be a game changer.
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