Procure Smart Glass Suppliers for Net Zero Construction

Procure Smart Glass Suppliers with Precision to Ensure Net Zero Compliance

Supplier search based on Generative AI contains probabilistic outputs, creating a high risk of inaccuracy when sourcing critical building components.

Our platform, in contrast, is deterministic with manually audited data sheets to ensure every result is technically verified.

Secondly, BIM asset directories filter by the presence (or otherwise) of EPD data, whereas our platform filters by sustainability objectives, like ‘increase daylighting’ or ‘reduce light pollution’.

We map these objectives to smart material capabilities and save your team weeks of manual research, ensuring your specifications remain compliant and on-schedule.

In short, we trawl through the datasheets, so you don’t need to.

Our Optimized Smart Glass Procurement Workflow

Our platform is designed to integrate into your existing procurement cycle, moving you from specification to supplier engagement in three clear steps: 

1. Define your Parameters

Input your sustainability objectives and technical requirements, such as VLT, SHGC and U-Value. Our system suggests the most suitable technologies, including ‘smart’ ones.

For us, ‘smart glass’ is simply ‘engineered glass’.

Smart glass has enhancements over traditional glazing, the same way ‘smart phones’ and ‘smart cars’ represent the next generation in their respective fields.

This means that, within the definition of ‘smart’, we include coatings, nanostructures, films, glass, plastic and insulated glazing end-products:

• Glass with low-e coatings to reflect heat away from building interiors
• Glass with low-reflectance nanostructures to improve light throughput on solar panels
• Holographic optical elements (HOEs) for automotive windshields and retail advertising
• Privacy smart windows and doors for healthcare, commercial and industry
• Dynamically tinting smart skylights to reduce HVAC loads and glare
• Transparent photovoltaic (PV) windows for clean on-site energy generation

2. Verify Supplier Products

Once you have your initial results, you can refine your product attributes to reduce your shortlist further. This way, you can narrow down hundreds of options to a shortlist of 2 or 3 that precisely fit your build.

With the world map, you can see at a glance where the suppliers are located to optimize delivery costs and reduce logistics-related carbon footprint.

You can also delve deeper, accessing the full supplier profile, by clicking on the ‘View Profile’ button.

The resulting page includes supplier roles, technologies and all offered products. 

3. Initiate Engagement

Once your supplier shortlist is ready, you can reach out directly (via the supplier website), or use our marketplace to manage your request, depending on what you need:

• Request for Information (RFI):
  • Clarify technical compatibility for your specific build.

• Request for Samples (RFS):
  • Validate product performance before finalizing your specs.

• Request for Quote (RFQ):
  • Secure pricing and lead times from vetted suppliers directly.

Post a Request

If you click on the ‘Post Request’ button for a particular supplier, the resulting page will summarize your search parameters and ask you for your project details:

If you submit your request on our platform, we email all these details to the supplier. The supplier then replies to you directly.

This is much quicker than starting from scratch on the supplier website, since you would need to specify your search parameters all over again.

Net-Zero Construction needs Smart Glass

Over the past 30 years, I have worked as an engineer on automotive, telecoms and AEC systems as well as a manufacturer of smart glass display cases for art & luxury clients. 

My daily tasks include the following:

• using distributor databases to find components, such as surge suppressors, LED strips and analog chips
• filtering components by electrical, mechanical or optical parameters
• adding them to my Bill of Materials (BOM) and updating the project with pricing and delivery dates

Typically, I need to reduce 4000 results down to 4. 

Right away.

Sound familiar?

At one point I asked myself: 

Why can’t we do the same thing when sourcing glazing products?

Why can’t the results include all possible technologies, including smart glass with its dynamic variables?

Across the global supply chain.

That is the reason I created Smartglass World.

One more thing

Glass has always been a traditional building component. 

Mechanical and optical in nature.

With traditional glass, VLT has one value. 

Same thing for SHGC, U-Value and Haze.

Then, along came smart glass.

Integrating Smart Glass as an Electrical Component

Smart glass is as much an electrical load as it is a mechanical support, a thermal buffer or an optical filter.

Smart glass is dynamic, which means it changes its behaviour based on a trigger. 

This trigger can be temperature, light, mechanical or electrical.

In the latter case, the driving voltage fine-tunes your building’s solar intake dynamically, just as you would with a dimmer switch for your lights. We can drive this behaviour with building automation systems using algorithms, AI or otherwise.

This dictates how the building envelope reacts to changing conditions, saving energy costs and improving occupant comfort.

Its behaviour can vary with the position of the sun, with changing building occupancy, and with fluctuating electricity costs.

How Our Structured Approach Saves You Time

Our marketplace data structure looks like this:

In simple terms:

• A supplier can play multiple roles in the supply chain (e.g. manufacturer, distributor, installer, sometimes all 3).
• A supplier can offer multiple technologies (PDLC, electrochromic, low-e) and have multiple product types (coatings, glass, windows, doors, skylights, etc).
• A supplier can add products with attributes such as VLT, Haze, SHGC, U-Value. Each attribute can have minimum and maximum values.

You get the picture, right?

Moreover, we can in future show the relationship between the input and output variables (e.g. VLT vs driving voltage), allowing you to refine the electrical load of the whole building.

This highly structured approach allows faster retrieval of supplier products that comply with your exact specifications.

This further informs the operational behavior of the building over its lifetime.

The World needs Dynamic Building Facades

The weather is dynamic. 

Sunlight levels incident on a building are dynamic. 

Intermittent shading on transparent photovoltaic glass can cause component failure, unless mitigated.

Furthermore, building occupancy and electricity prices are dynamic. 

Guess what?

The building envelope needs to be dynamic too, in order to reduce energy costs (and operational carbon) as well as improving occupant health and comfort.

Our parameterised search allows architects, engineers and designers to zoom in on suppliers by sustainability objectives and detailed product requirements.

Quickly.

Because you value your time.

And so do we.

Summing Up

Why should I use this platform instead of Generative AI to source smart glass suppliers? 

Generative AI search relies on probabilistic results that can lead to hallucinations. Our platform provides a deterministic, parameter-based search based on manually-verified data, ensuring accurate results tailored to your specific project needs.

How does parameter-based sourcing improve my project workflow? 

By allowing you to filter results by sustainability objectives and technical attributes, such as VLT, SHGC and U-Value. Our tool mimics the precision used in the electronics industry. This helps you narrow down thousands of options to a shortlist that exactly meets your requirements, saving time during tight construction deadlines.

What are my next steps after finding a smart glass supplier on the platform? 

Once you have identified a supplier, you can reach out to them directly via their website. Alternatively, you can use the “Post a Request” feature on our marketplace to submit a Request for Information, Samples or Quote, allowing the supplier to contact you directly. This is much quicker than starting from scratch on their website.