Dive Brief:

• From NBBJ, the Columbus, Ohio-based architecture firm has come up with a prototype of a device it calls Sunbreak.  It folds in various ways to either admit light to areas where people are cold or shade areas that are too warm, all to address the inevitable complaints in large spaces of people who are too warm or too cold.
• The shades use sensors to measure and respond to solar energy striking them, and can reflect more light into the building if the day is cloudy, aiming to keep workers from having to turn on lights and consume power.
• Sunbreak can also be controlled shade by shade through a smartphone for instances such as a single room needing to be darkened for a presentation.

Dive Insight:

Keeping workers comfortable— and therefore more productive— is an important goal, but the system is aimed at building efficiency, too. Solar panels are part of the design, and it has sensors that can detect when spaces are empty so will shift the building into energy-saving mode until people come back.