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The pigment-shifting window that responds to light — and could help slash energy costs
The fluid-based panels could cut heating and lighting energy use in existing buildings, with simulations estimating 75% lower heating demand.
- Benjamin Hatton and Raphael Kay at the Hatton Lab in Toronto are developing squid-inspired window panels that dynamically shade in response to sunlight, improving energy efficiency in building retrofits.
- Today, buildings consume about one-third of the world's energy, largely through heat loss or gain via glass. Electrochromic windows remain prohibitively expensive, leaving roller shades as the primary alternative: "More or less, that's all we have."
- Research simulations from 2023 suggest the fluid-layer system could slash heating energy use by 75 per cent and total operational energy use by 43 per cent. Liquids pumped into glass panes scatter light or control temperature.
- Kay envisions a thin sticker-like application for existing windows controlled by artificial intelligence to respond to weather. Currently, Hatton and Kay are testing two-metre-tall prototypes at Harvard to regulate temperature in storey-height windows.
- Scaling prototypes remains the primary challenge due to gravitational effects on fluids. Hatton says, "How that ends up technologically, we're still working on," targeting a reliable, inexpensive product for the retrofit market.
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