Bird Friendly Electrochromic Windows with UV Patterns
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electrochromic windows, while promising for energy savings and aesthetics, pose a risk to birds due to their reflective or transparent nature, making them difficult for birds to detect, leading to collisions and injuries.
Innovation Solution
Development of electrochromic windows with patterns that are visible to birds in the ultraviolet range but not to humans, using materials like titanium oxide and silicon oxide to create contrasting features that discourage birds from flying into them, while maintaining an unobstructed view for humans.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If electrochromic windows are made transparent to provide unobstructed human view, then human visibility is improved, but bird detection capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The window surface is divided into different functional zones: the bulk material maintains high transparency for human viewing, while specific patterned regions (lines, dots, or shapes) incorporate UV-reflective materials or structural features that create strong UV signals visible to birds. This local differentiation allows simultaneous optimization for both human and bird perception.
Solution Approach 2:
The window employs materials or structures that exhibit wavelength-dependent optical properties, appearing transparent in the visible spectrum for humans but reflecting or scattering ultraviolet wavelengths for birds. This spectral differentiation creates contrasting visual signals for different species without compromising human viewing experience.
2Loss of energy
If window materials are made highly transparent, then energy transmission is improved, but bird safety deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The window combines transparent base materials (for energy transmission) with UV-reflective or UV-scattering additives, coatings, or layered structures. This composite approach maintains high visible light transmission for energy efficiency while introducing UV-optical properties that make the window detectable to birds through their UV-sensitive vision.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If pattern is added to window to make it visible to birds, then bird safety is improved, but human view quality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The pattern elements are strategically placed in specific locations (edges, corners, or selective regions) rather than uniformly across the entire window surface. This localized patterning provides sufficient bird warning signals while minimizing interference with the overall viewing quality and aesthetic appearance for human occupants.
Solution Approach 2:
The pattern utilizes UV-reflective or UV-scattering materials that are invisible or nearly invisible to human eyes but highly visible to birds. This spectral selectivity allows the pattern to serve its bird safety function without degrading the visual clarity or aesthetic quality of the window for human occupants.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively reduces bird mortality by making the windows visible to birds in the UV spectrum, preventing collisions while ensuring an unobstructed human view, thus addressing both environmental and safety concerns.
Implementation Method 1
a first feature that provides at least 10% more reflection or scattering of electromagnetic radiation at a first wavelength between 320-390 nm
Implementation Method 2
a first feature that provides at least 10% more reflection or scattering of electromagnetic radiation at a first wavelength between 320-390 nm
Implementation Method 3
a second feature that is substantially transparent to electromagnetic radiation at wavelengths between 300-700 nm
Implementation Method 4
Electrochromism is a phenomenon in which a material exhibits a reversible electrochemically-mediated change in an optical property when placed in a different electronic state, typically by being subjected to a voltage change
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
Various embodiments herein relate to electrochromic windows that are bird friendly, as well as methods and apparatus for forming such windows. Bird friendly windows include one or more elements that make the window visible to birds so that the birds recognize that they cannot fly through the window. Bird friendly windows can be used to minimize avian-window collisions, and therefore minimize avian deaths resulting from such collisions. In various embodiments, a window may be patterned such that the pattern is visible to birds. In these or other cases, the window may be made hazy, where the haze is visible to birds. The pattern and/or haze may be visible at wavelengths that fall in UV, and minimally noticeable (if at all) in wavelengths within the spectrum visible by humans.