5.6

Million Commercial Buildings

Crown is aiming to retrofit the 5.6 million commercial buildings in the US with smart glass

2

Seconds

is the time it takes for Crown’s smart glass to change its tint

26%

Reduction

in energy costs in buildings retrofitted with Crown’s smart glass

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The Path to Drawdown: Dynamic Glass

32% of energy use and 19% of energy-related GHG emissions worldwide come from buildings. Much of this energy-use and emissions are a result of heating the interiors of buildings in the winter and cooling them in the summer.

One way of making buildings more energy efficient is to install “smart glass” or “dynamic glass.” This is glass that changes its opacity to reduce or increase the amount of light and heat that’s allowed to pass through. This means reducing the amount of light and heat to keep buildings in the summer, and maximizing them in the winter. This technology replaces static glass that’s prevalent in commercial buildings in industrialized countries.

Dynamic glass can be based on electricity, heat, or light: it changes color and tint in real time in response to the light or heat that it’s exposed to, or when the user flips a switch. It has the potential to save energy for both thermal and lighting systems in buildings and transportation.

Today, high production and installation costs are the obstacles to wide adoption. But Project Drawdown is hopeful that a rapid adoption is possible and projects its growth between now and 2050:

  • <::marker> In 2018, 42 million square meters of dynamic glass were being used in commercial floor area
  • <::marker> If 50% of buildings are to become net-zero emissions by 2050, they would require 341 million square meters of dynamic glass.

If the world can achieve this scenario, dynamic glass would help avoid 0.3 gigatons of GHG emissions compared with high performance static glass.

What We Want to See Improve

Disclose Sustainability Metrics

The sustainability page on Crown’s website cites outside research that attests to the sustainability and energy efficiency of smart glass. We’re fully on board with the potential of smart glass as a solution to climate change, but we also need to see Crown’s own carbon footprint and the impact their products have in avoiding emissions. For this, we’d like them to disclose key sustainability metrics like GHG emissions, emissions avoided, and energy consumed by source. 

Set Emissions Reduction Targets

On top of this, we would like to see Crown setting targets for reducing their own emissions toward net zero. This should be conveyed as clear, quantitative targets by a specific timeframe.

Expand Faster

Crown is a small company with sixteen full-time employees (p. 12) that only recently went public. They’ve recorded net losses in the last two years and are searching for reliable customers. We are eager to see Crown expand their manufacturing and sales faster so that they can achieve profitability in the near future.

Related Dynamic Glass Stocks in the Climate Index

View All Climate Index Stocks →

Allocated Company Description

0.09%

View, Inc. (VIEW)

View, Inc. makes smart glass that reacts to sunlight, weather, and other factors. Dynamic glass helps cut building energy use and emissions

0.02%

Crown ElectroKinetics Corp. (CRKN)

Crown Electrokinetics makes pigment-based film that can be embedded between sheets of glass to control its opacity. Dynamic glass can cut energy use

0.02%

Research Frontiers (REFR)

Research Frontiers makes smart glass with nanotechnology that can be dimmed depending on sunlight, reducing building energy use and emissions.

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