The self-cleaning window may at first be seen as a useless, futile invention. Although the innovative technologies used behind this invention are important, how many of us wonder how clean our windows are?
As the number of inventions made in the twentieth century increased, the waste produced by these inventions started to pollute our environment. Useful gadgets to save us time included bagless vacuum cleaners, a saucepan that shows how hot it is, and a car that alerts the driver when he takes the wrong path. But perhaps the most useful of these was the self-cleaning window.
The self-cleaning window may at first be seen as a useless, futile invention. Although the innovative technologies used behind this invention are important, how many of us wonder how clean our windows are? Studies show that dirty windows actually bother us more than we think. The company called PPG Industries, which invented the first self-cleaning window in 2001, conducted a survey through Better Homes & Gardens magazine in 2000, and it turned out that the product that people were most interested in was the self-cleaning window.
PPG Industries, Inc. is an American Fortune 500 company and global supplier of paints, coatings, and specialty materials. With headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, PPG operates in more than 70 countries around the globe. By revenue it is the largest coatings company in the world followed by AkzoNobel.
The window, called SunClean by PPG, owes its self-cleaning to an extremely thin layer of titanium oxide on it. This layer has the ability to break down the organic dust particles on it when it receives ultraviolet light from the sun. The window, which has a water absorption feature, prevents water droplets from accumulating on it when it rains. Rainwater flows through the window as a thin layer of water rather than accumulating in droplets on the window. Although self-cleaning windows have now been introduced by a number of manufacturers, sales figures suggest that the 15% to 20% increase these windows add to normal window prices is perhaps a bit expensive for their self-cleaning ability.