USC Architecture Professor Doris Sung has won the Cooper Hewitt 2021 National Design Award for climate action for her design: InVert Self-Shading Window.
The window shades are made of a material called thermobimetal, a sheet metal composed of two different alloys that respond to heat. When the sun’s rays warm these pieces up, they will flip over and sit in a configuration that shades the building’s interior. Sung’s design places these pieces inside the cavity of a standard double-glazed window to provide a hands-free automatic shade to the building. After six years of development of what seems like something out of a sci-fi novel, the self-shading window is now a low-cost, commercially available way to combat climate change.
Sung is the founder of DOSU Studio Architecture and co-founder of TBM Designs.
Read the rest of the story, “Award-winning design from USC architecture professor saves energy while using none,” by Grayson Schmidt on USC News, where it was published on Sept. 15, 2021. (Photo/Doris Sung)