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The Institute of Engineering of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) has made a technological development that allows the manufacture of glass regulates the passage of solar energy. This will control the environmental conditions of the building.

The head of the Laboratory of Renewable Energies and Bioclimatic Design of the UNAM, Julio Alberto Gonzalez, explained that this innovation achieves two key benefits: it allows for the thermal comfort of buildings without a lot of variations in internal temperature and leads to a lower energy expenditure, which translates into economic savings for the consumer.

The purpose of these windows is to control the flow of energy through solar filters, so there is a significant savings in energy consumption for heating and lighting equipment. To achieve this, the glasses have been impregnated with thin layers of copper sulfide oxide, cuprous oxide and ferrous oxide to control the sun’s radiation. The mission of these coatings is to regulate energy flows circulating through them.

In winter the coatings prevent heat from escaping to the outside, as with a conventional glass. Glass, due to the impregnation, it becomes an element of selectivity. Lets in light but not heat. Upon cooling inside the building less energy demand for heating is lower.

In summer the opposite effect. When the outside temperature is most of the heat energy from the environment tends to pass through the glass into the interior, but with the selective coating comes only visible light and heat is rejected, which is reflected in a lower thermal load reaching temperatures of comfort.