REDUCE THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF YOUR BUILDING THANKS TO ONYX SOLAR

Onyx Solar©’s glass is able to completely offset all the energy demand for indoor climatization

 

Onyx Solar© produces the first and only transparent glass capable of generating free and clean energy from the sun on-site. Its outstanding passive properties insulate the buildings both termically and acoustically, greatly decreasing the energy demand for climatization, while filtering harmful solar radiation.

Considering that buildings account for 38% percent of global CO2 emissions and 73% of electricity consumption, Onyx Solar©’s glass is positioned as the main ally to reduce the carbon footprint and energy costs within buildings.

SOLAR CONTROL GLASS THAT GENERATES ENERGY

Onyx Solar® develops solar control and bird-safe glass that generates clean and free energy in buildings

 

Our solar control glass generates clean and free energy form the sun, while reducing the energy needs in the acclimatization of the building. It insulates the building, regulating the light transmission to the interior and filtering UV and IR radiations.

Airports, stadiums, convention centers, shopping malls and other facilities now are able to produce energy integrating Onyx Solar^®´s control glass, achieving a much more attractive return on investment than conventional solar control glass.

HERB, CUTTING EDGE ENERGY EFFICIENCY FOR BUILDINGS

The European Commission receives Onyx Solar, together with the other partners of the European R&D HERB project, which objective is to obtain energy savings in buildings up to 86%

The HERB project is a retrofit of 14 European residential buildings in which they will be implemented the newest technologies related to energy efficiency, such as the photovoltaic glazing for building envelopes made by Onyx Solar.

As an example, in the Spanish residential building retrofit, it will be installed Onyx Solar’s multifunctional ventilated façade besides high-thermal insulation systems, high performance windows (IGU), LED lightings, natural illumination by light pipes systems, multifunctional façades, solar thermal panels and biomass system.

Expected energy savings are up to 86% as well as a 90% reduction of the CO2 emissions.

SUSTAINABLE BUILDING, AN INVESTMENT FOR THE FUTURE

72% of companies globally planning to invest in eco-efficiency in the next 12 months.

According to the study Institute for Building Efficiency, by Johnson Controls, 72% of companies globally has goals internally or publicly to increase investment in energy efficiency over the next twelve months.

The modernization project of the Empire State Building, is a proof that the investment is recovered. Built more than 80 years ago, this building has saved U.S. $ 2.4 million, with lower power consumption by 38%, exceeding its target by 5% in a year (2011).

The energy demand of buildings can be reduced by up to 60% by incorporating sustainable measures and integration of renewable energies such as Onyx Solar BIPV solutions.

NEW PHOTOVOLTAIC TRANSPARENT SKYLIGHT GETS INSTALLED IN SPAIN

INSTALLED IN BÉJAR, IT GENERATES 8,763 KWH PER YEAR AND AVOIDS THE EMISSION OF 5.9 TONS OF CO2 PER YEAR

This photovoltaic skylight represents a multifunctional solution by generating free electricity from the Sun on-site and adding bioclimatic properties to the building; in this way, it allows day-lighting, it filters harmful UV and IR radiation and it provides thermal inner comfort. The avoidance of premature ageing of materials will extend its lifespan.

This 2,900 SqF PV transparent skylight combines three different types of  a-Si , see-through IG Unit. A total of 110 units provide 6,750 Wp installed.

Self-consumption has been the energy management business model selected for the project, so part of the energy generated feeds the building straight away, and the remaining part is stored in batteries to feed exterior outlets.

SHARING A GOAL: DISTRIBUTED GENERATION

MEETING BETWEEN ONYX SOLAR AND WHITE HOUSE REPRESENTATIVES

Álvaro Beltrán, Onyx Solar's General Manager and Juan Verde, the Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) for Europe and Eurasia at the U.S. Department of Commerce

During the meeting celebrated in Washington, D.C., Juan Verde, the Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) for Europe and Eurasia at the U.S. Department of Commerce showed his satisfaction when learning first hand how fast Building Integrated Photovoltaics has evolved, thanks to the development of new, innovative technologies that in addition to generating clean and free energy, offer a great variety of designs that facilitate its integration within almost any application. “R&D Investment, innovative entrepreneurship in the field of renewable energies, and the commitment of the U.S. society with the environment, will be key factors in reaching a more sustainable growth and to increase the country’s energy independence”, stated DAS Verde when he learned about a new company expanding into the US market.

Thus, the innovation and efficiency showed by Onyx Solar´s solutions have awoken the interest of the Obama Administration in its bet towards distributed generation and the development of renewable energies: “we should encourage citizens and businesses to participate in the generation and distribution of energy actively, in order to promote energy efficiency”, DAS Verde noted.

ONYX SOLAR, A GLOBAL REFERENCE FOR CUSTOMIZED BUILDING INTEGRATED PHOTOVOLTAICS

Are you dealing with any project where you intend to incorporate a double skin, a curtain wall or a skylight? Onyx Solar offers you the opportunity to add photovoltaic properties to your building envelope without any aesthetical limitation.

Onyx Solar places a multidisciplinary, vast team at your disposal, who already works in more than 300 projects over more than 20 countries, meeting customer needs.

Its customized solutions will let your building envelope to generate free and clean electricity from the Sun, allowing energy savings, daylighting and thermal inner comfort, among others. All them by using 100% customized designs, colours, sizes, thicknesses or semi-transparency degrees.

Send us your project’s drawings and we will draw up a complete appraisal, containing a proposition of implementation of this cutting edge technology, resulting in a high performance envelope. It has never been so easy, smart, attainable and fun integrating solar photovoltaic energy into a building.

Onyx Solar Participates in the Design and Execution of Cardenal Herrera’s Solar House for the Solar Decathlon Europe

Onyx Solar and CEU University Solar House for the Solar Decathlon Europe

Students from all over the World put to the test their creativity during the Solar Decathlon competition in order to find more sustainable architectural and energetic solutions for the future. Onyx Solar participates alongside with the Cardenal Herrera CEU University in the design and execution of its proposed solar house, which is one of the 19 projects selected for participating in this international competition.

The Solar Decathlon is organized by the US Department of Energy and, for the first time, will be held in Europe as it usually takes place in Washington. This time, Madrid will host the event during the month of June and universities from the US, China, Brazil and Germany will be participating among others.

More than 90 students from the CEU University have worked on the design of a sustainable solar house, combining the prefabrication, the use of recycable materials together with cutting edge technologies required by the organization of the event, where the consultancy labor of Onyx Solar experts has been essential.

Cutting Edge Technology

In order to achieve the maximum energy savings, the latest technologies of the sector have been studied with the goal of proposing hibrid solutions. Thus, the designers have obtained great results such as an acclimatization of the house with a consumption of only 1kW of energy or the supply of energy for the electrical appliances with thermal energy generated by the solar pannels installed in the house. Apart from this, one of the main features of the Project is its modular construction which makes possible to build the house according to particular needs, adding or taking off modules.

Green Building Survey Throws up Surprising Results

A majority of green building industry professionals in the US jointly surveyed by the Green Building Insider, Allen Matkins, and the Constructive Technologies Group (CTG) have firmly endorsed their support for green building projects despite the recession, owing to their advantages such as savings in energy and operational expenses. Over 1,600 construction and design professionals across the US participated in the Fourth Annual Green Building Survey, which analyzed present-day attitudes on trends, expenses, construction, certification processes, and risks related to green building projects.

Green building is considered to be more prone to construction risks, in spite of the fact that building tests ordered by LEED help in the reduction of risks caused by building failure. As per the survey, the key steps to ensure the reduction of building system failure risks include employing green consultants such as LEED-AP consultants, measuring and re-commissioning, testing the green building periodically, and contractual risk shifting.

In contrast, the survey reported a decrease in respondent support for LEED certification, as compared to surveys conducted in 2008 and 2009. The gap between LEED certification and endorsement for green construction has been widening for the last two years.

LEED certification was introduced by the US Green Building Council with the goal to represent the top 25% of construction projects in the US. As compared to this initial goal, the present LEED support level is high. The economic downturn posed hurdles to the construction of green buildings. However, the economic situation forced green building projects to evaluate financial benefits including saving energy and operational costs of green building projects.

The Green Survey has provided a reasonable pulse of respondents, related to expenses, risks, and importance of the green building sector, according to Bryan Jackson, editor of the Green Building Update, Adjunct Professor with USC teaching Green and Sustainable Construction, and chair of Green and Sustainable Construction Practice Group of Allen Matkins. Jackson added that this survey, covering the most rapidly growing construction sector, is among the largest surveys of professionals in the green building industry.

More than 50% of green building professionals felt that the LEED Gold rating increased green building project expenses by more than 4%, and around 30% reported LEED Gold rating expenses as less than 4%. Reasons for such expense variations could be due to the difference in the level of problems encountered in awarding LEED Gold standards for different buildings, such as corporate buildings versus hotels, as well as the multiplicity of local codes and difference in particular regions that enhance the minimum green energy standards to close on LEED Gold standards.

Source: AZO Cleantech

Energy Center of Wisconsin launches Back-of-the-Envelope Calculator

Energy consumption in buildings is a complicated set of interactions among building components. When it comes to understanding energy efficiency opportunities, it’s useful to see how changing one component affects the whole.

Energy engineers at the Energy Center of Wisconsin developed the Back-of-the-Envelope Calculator to provide greater initial insight into the energy usage and environmental impacts of a proposed commercial building project.

The calculator is available for free download and lets you see real-time energy connections among building components, isolate the effects of a change to a single energy parameter or produce concept-level energy estimates. Not only can you see real-time energy connections, but you can calculate total CO2 emissions for a building from both electricity and gas consumption.

In Onyx we have developed another tool in order to allow customers calculate buildings impact on the environment and its capacity to generate energy according to its placement, orientation, elevation, etc. You can try it here and check out how much you could be saving!