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Suntuitive Interlayer Technology for Windows

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Windows with Suntuitive™ interlayer automatically respond to the intensity of the sunlight, adjusting their tint-level depending on their orientation (East, South, West) and the time of day (during a typical August day). The window naturally reduces the amount of visible light transmission it lets in as the sun intensity increases.

The patented Suntuitive interlayer is made with polyvinyl butyral (PVB) and is extruded on Pleotint's own equipment. It is the first functional, adaptive glazing, interlayer for use in an IGU (insulated glass unit). Pleotint supplies its Suntuitive tri-layer (as a single interlayer) to companies that make safety glass laminates.

The Suntuitive interlayer must be laminated between two panes of heat strengthened or tempered glass. The laminate can then be made into a double, triple or monolithic pane depending on the performance needed. The sun’s energy is used to passively tint the window. As the sun strikes the window it absorbs and changes tint level based on the amount of sun. There are no wires, power supplies, or mechanism systems required.

The directness of the sunlight on the window determines the level of darkening. Cooling the interlayers causes them to lighten back up in a continuous manner as the temperature decreases. Today the maximum width of the interlayer is approximately 1.651 meters (65 inches). Pleotint can make the film in rolls up to 90 meters (300 feet) long.

The optimal IGU (insulated glass unit) should include a glass pane with a high quality low emissivity coating such as Solarban® 60 or Solarban® 70XL from PPG, or similar. Depending on the tints and low-e glass selected, IGUs made with Suntuitive interlayer can produce visible light transmittance (VLT) as high as 60 percent in a clear state and solar heat gain coefficients (SHGC) as low as 0.11 in a darkened state.

 

Suntuitive Visible Light Transmission Graph

The graph shows how vertical windows in the Northern Hemisphere adjust their tint-level depending on their orientation (East, South, West) and the time of day (during a typical August day). The window naturally reduces the amount of visible light transmission it lets in as the sun intensity increases. The curves demonstrate the window’s natural and automatic response to the intensity of sunlight. ©2012 Pleotint