Inventing The

Heat Mirror Insulating Glass suspends one or more lightweight films inside the airspace of a dual-pane glass unit, resulting in glass performance comparable to that of an insulated wall. When combined with coated glass and gas fill technologies, Heat Mirror glass improves the insulating performance of dual-pane glass by up to 500 percent, enabling significant energy cost savings. These savings reduce the energy consumption and associated carbon emissions required to heat and cool buildings.
Heat Mirror technology was first invented by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as part of a research program funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to improve energy efficiency in buildings and homes in 1980. Since then, manufacturing automation processes that are critical for the cost-effective, high-volume production of Heat Mirror Insulating Glass have been developed.
Heat Mirror technology suspends one or more lightweight polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films inside the airspace of a dual-pane insulating glass unit to create multiple superinsulating cavities. The films use nanoscale coatings of metal to reflect heat back to its source. Because Heat Mirror film is thin and lightweight compared to glass, more than one film can be suspended in the airspace of a standard dual-pane glass unit to create multiple insulating cavities without adding weight, which significantly increases energy efficiency and improves environmental performance.
Business Roundtable members are creating technologies that actively contribute to a more efficient, secure and sustainable future for their customers and the public at large.
In Inventing the Future: How Technology Is Reshaping the Energy and Environmental Landscape Business Roundtable highlights just a small sample of technologies that are actively contributing to a more efficient, secure and sustainable future.
Business Roundtable is an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies working to promote a thriving economy and expanded opportunity for all Americans through sound public policy.