New window design saves energy expenditure and maintenance

A new window design uses a passive system to block sunlight in the summer and let it in during the winter

Spotted: French window manufacturer Immoblade is developing new methods for providing passive shading to buildings. Their products aim to block sunlight in the summer, while letting it in during the winter months – providing energy savings year-round. 

The company’s main system, called MiniBlades, is composed of miniature inclined louvers that fit in between the panes in double glazed windows. The optimal angle of the slats is calculated for each window to correspond to changes in the angle of the Sun through that window, during the course of the year. For single panes, canopies and large surfaces the company uses serigraphy to print inclined stripes on two layers of glass. The silver stripes are only partially opaque, allowing users to see through the glass in all directions. 

The company was founded in 2018 by Xavier Sembély, former systems engineer at Airbus Defense and Space, and Patrick Callec, a former buyer at Airbus. Fittingly, the algorithm used to calculate the optimal angle of the slats, was inspired by the calculation of the trajectory of celestial objects in space. Immoblade says that its system is more efficient than tinted glass, which filters the sun in the same way all year round; and cheaper and more durable than electrochromic lenses (whose tint changes with solar intensity) and external awnings. 

Sembély and Callec founded Immoblade with, “the conviction that there was something to contribute in the fight against global warming.” The idea, explains Callec,“is to introduce slats within the glazing with a personalised orientation for each building to be able to let the sun’s rays through in winter, block them in summer with a system that is maintenance-free.”

The company has left the pilot phase, with the recent signing of their first commercial contracts.

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