Window coating improves sunlight levels indoors

UNIGLAS | VITAL feel-good glass is a thin film developed by a team at the Fraunhofer Institute of Silicate Research, which makes glass less reflective to allow more light through.

We recently wrote about computer-controlled sun screens used to reduce the amount of heat from sun-rays entering a building. Taking the opposite approach, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute of Silicate Research have developed UNIGLAS | VITAL feel-good glass, a film for windows that increases the amount of sunlight able to travel through glass. The team behind the product have worked closely with two German firms, Centrosolar Glas and UNIGLAS, to turn the material into a marketable product. A 0.1 micrometer-thick coating can be placed onto triple-glazed windows to increase the amount of sunlight able to travel through the glass and reduce reflections. Tests have shown that the wavelength range transmitted through glass coated with the substance increases from 380 to 580 nanometers. Most importantly, it lets through more of the blue end of the light spectrum, which, according to the researchers, is the part which most affects human mood and hormonal balance. The ‘feel-good glass’ helps brighten rooms without affecting the insulative capabilities of triple-glazed windows or altering their look. Currently, the film is placed on the cavity side of the windows, but the team is working on making the product suitable for the exposed surfaces. For those working every day in an indoors environment or in rooms with small windows, UNIGLAS | VITAL feel-good glass could provide a welcome boost in mood, and perhaps increase productivity as a result. Employers, one to try out? Spotted by: Hemanth Chandrasekar