DOE Announces Phase 1 Winners of the Building Envelope Innovation Prize

The U.S. Department of Energy announced the winners of the first phase of the Building Envelope Innovation Prize, which targets high-performance, cost-effective secondary glazing systems to improve efficiency of commercial windows. Seven semifinalists were selected to receive $50,000 each for their design concept submissions. 

• AeroShield Materials Inc. shared a design using advanced materials with significant potential for advancing the state-of-the-art performance of secondary glazing systems with broad applicability across a variety of systems.
• Alpen High Performance Products developed a project focused on reducing the costs of an existing on-site manufactured product that scales price with performance. Alpen’s secondary glazing systems solution is low cost and high performance with short installation times.
• EnvisionWall designed a cost-effective, quick retrofit option designed for installation over windows that can and cannot open.
• Indow created a design concept incorporating vacuum-insulated glazing within a secondary glazing systems frame. Indow’s design offers the possibility of improved thermal performance in a product that can be installed easily and quickly.
• Thermalswitch Building Envelope Extension by StudioTJOA Inc. devised a product that accounts for different performance levels and climates, with advanced thermal performance and a simple design.
• Team QUANTA 3.0 evolved its design model to combine vacuum-insulated glazing with shade control in an innovative solution that boasts variety in applications and levels of performance.
• WexEnergy conceived a unique product that provides a solution for operable windows with lower initial costs, quick installation, and short payback periods.

About the prize

Sponsored by DOE’s Building Technologies Office, the prize is advancing solutions for upgrading inefficient commercial and high-rise residential building windows to enable equitable decarbonization and optimize building envelopes for electrification. Secondary glazing involves installing an additional windowpane on an existing window to improve insulation while minimizing cost and disruption.

The prize offers $2.1 million across three phases to incentivize rapid development and deployment of cost-effective secondary glazing system solutions through a combination of lower costs, more flexible applications and improved performance. In Phase 1, competitors submitted design concepts of their secondary glazing system innovations and shared early data on performance metrics. 

Next steps

The winning teams will now proceed to Phase 2, in which they will produce window unit prototypes. Phase 2 winners will proceed to Phase 3, where they will transform their prototypes into a commercially viable, technically credible product that can be used in real-world applications. Commercialization plans in Phase 3 will include implementation of an equity-focused pilot project in low-income multifamily or underserved public sector buildings.