Two students at Berlin’s University of the Arts, Esmeé Willemsen and Anna Koppmann, have designed an intelligent temperature regulating curtain to be used in the office or home.
One of Anna and Esmeé’s school projects was to find innovative ways of using everyday items to solve some of today’s challenges. Since both were very concerned about climate change, they decided to make curtains with a cooling effect in the summer and a warming result in the winter.
Esmeé said:
The temperatures are rising worldwide, and the summers are getting hotter. And this increased the demand for cooling equipment. We looked at ways to control the temperature in a more sustainable way, without the use of electricity.
The ‘Plus-minus 25°C’ curtains are screen printed with a unique material called PCM (Phase Changing Material) that absorbs heat, then releases it when needed. This helps keep the room temperature at a constant 77°F (25°C).
Esmeé explained:
The curtains are screen printed with a material that melts above 25°C (77°F) and can absorb the heat. And when it solidifies under 25°C (77°F), it releases the heat and therefore warms.
For now, the intelligent curtain is a prototype, which was showcased at the Global Grad Show 2020 – an exhibition featuring 100 projects by the next generation of graduate inventors. The duo hopes to find investors so they can make the product available for everyone. They claim that any textile producer can easily adopt the process, as it involves standard printing techniques, and minimal changes are required.
