NanoMarkets Report

Self-Cleaning Window Markets 2013

Nano-591

Published Nov. 2012

Entire contents copyright NanoMarkets, LC. The information contained in this report is based on the best information available to us, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. NanoMarkets, LC and its author(s) shall not stand liable for possible errors of fact or judgment. The information in this report is for the exclusive use of representative purchasing companies and may be used only by personnel at the purchasing site per sales agreement terms. Reproduction in whole or in any part is prohibited, except with the express written permission of NanoMarkets, LC.

Table of Contents
Chapter One: Self-Cleaning Windows: Opportunity Analysis and Background to Report............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Why Self-Cleaning Windows are an Emerging Market Opportunity ................. 1 1.1.1 Improving Self-Cleaning Windows Technology ................................................ 1 1.1.2 Impetus for Self-Cleaning Comes from Key Windows Industry Trends ............ 2 1.1.3 Investment Outlook for Self-Cleaning Windows ............................................... 3 1.1.4 A Future for Self-Cleaning Windows ................................................................ 4 1.2 Objective and Scope of this Report .................................................................... 5
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Chapter Two: Rival Technologies and Products for Self-Cleaning Glass ................. 6 2.1 Types of Self-Cleaning Windows Technologies and Products ......................... 6 2.1.1 Market Messaging for Self-Cleaning Windows ................................................. 6 2.2 Hydrophobic Self-Cleaning Windows ................................................................. 7 2.2.1 Market Related Advantages and Disadvantages of Hydrophobic Windows ..... 8 2.3 Hydrophilic Self-Cleaning Windows ................................................................... 8 2.3.1 Photocatalysis Stage ....................................................................................... 8 2.3.2 Hydrophilic Cleaning Stage.............................................................................. 9 2.3.3 Advantages and Disadvantages of Hydrophilic Windows ................................. 9 2.4 A Note on ETFE .................................................................................................. 10 2.5 Research and Development Trends ................................................................. 10 2.6 Players and Products in the Self-Cleaning Glass: Industry Structure .......... 11 2.6.1 Coatings Firms: Products and Strategies for Self-Cleaning Windows ............ 11 2.6.2 Major Glass Makers: Products and Strategies for Self-Cleaning Windows ..... 13 2.7 Balcony Systems Solutions: BalcoNano (U.K.) .............................................. 13 2.8 Cardinal Glass Industries: Neat Glass (U.S.) .................................................. 14 2.8.1 Technology ................................................................................................... 14 2.9 Cyndan Chemicals: Vitroglaze (Australia)....................................................... 15 2.9.1 Technology .................................................................................................... 15 2.10 Hypho Technology: Uri-pel (Singapore) ........................................................ 15 2.11 International Trading and Consulting: NanoCoat (Australia) ....................... 16 2.12 Lotus Leaf Coatings: LotusShield and Hydrophil (U.S.) .............................. 16 2.12.1 LotusShield .................................................................................................. 16 2.12.2 Hydrophil ..................................................................................................... 17

2.13 NanoPhos: SurfaShield (Greece) ................................................................... 17 2.14 nanoShell (U.K.) .............................................................................................. 17 2.14.1 nanoShell Glass .......................................................................................... 17 2.14.2 nanoShell Solar PV...................................................................................... 17 2.15 nGimat (U.S.) .................................................................................................... 18 Page | ii 2.16 NSG/Pilkington: Activ (Japan/U.K.)............................................................... 18 2.16.1 Technology .................................................................................................. 18 2.16.2 The Activ Product Range ............................................................................. 18 2.17 PPG Industries: SunClean (U.S.) .................................................................... 19 2.17.1 Technology .................................................................................................. 19 2.17.2 SunClean Recently Offered for Commercial Applications ............................ 20 2.18 RainAway Nanotechnology: RainAway Nano Self-Cleaning Glass Coat (Malaysia) ................................................................................................................. 20 2.19 Reactive Surfaces: DeGreez (U.S.) ................................................................. 20 2.20 Saint-Gobain: Aquaclean and Bioclean (France) .......................................... 20 2.20.1 Bioclean....................................................................................................... 21 2.21 Shanghai Huzheng Nano Technology (China) ............................................... 21 2.22 Viridian Glass ................................................................................................... 21 2.23 Opportunities for Self-Cleaning Coatings in Solar Panels ............................ 22 2.23.1 Technologies Used ...................................................................................... 22

Chapter Three: Self-Cleaning Windows: Applications and Forecasts ..................... 25 3.1 Creating an Analytical Framework for the Self-Cleaning Windows Sector .... 25 3.1.1 Macroeconomic Assumptions ........................................................................ 25 3.1.2 Assumptions About the Construction Industry ............................................... 25 3.1.3 Secondary Sources of Information ................................................................. 26 3.2 Key Selling Features and Value Propositions for Self-Cleaning Windows .... 26 3.2.1 Convenience-Justified Adoption of Self-Cleaning Windows ........................... 27 3.2.2 Visibility-Justified Adoption of Self-Cleaning Windows ................................... 27 3.3 Limitations on the Market for Self-Cleaning Windows: ................................... 28 3.3.1 Climate-Related Limitations ........................................................................... 28 3.3.2 Limitations Deriving from the Location of the Facility ..................................... 28 3.3.3 "Chemical" Limitations on the Market for Self-Cleaning Windows .................. 29 3.4 Analysis and Eight-Year Forecast of End User Markets for Self-Cleaning Windows Markets..................................................................................................... 29 3.4.1 Breakout of Self-Cleaning Windows Market by Type of Building .................... 31

3.4.2 Breakout of Self-Cleaning Windows Market by Retrofits/New Builds ............. 32 3.4.3 Breakout of Self-Cleaning Windows Market by Technology ........................... 33 3.5 Future Enhanced Markets for Self-Cleaning Windows .................................... 34 3.5.1 Solar Panels and Self-Cleaning Windows ...................................................... 34 3.5.2 Other Enhanced/Multi-Functional Self-Cleaning Windows ............................. 34 Page | iii 3.5.3 Eight-Year Forecast of Enhanced Self-Cleaning Windows ............................ 35 Acronyms and Abbreviations Used In this Report ................................................ 38 About the Author ..................................................................................................... 38

List of Exhibits
Exhibit 2-1: How Self-Cleaning Glass Fits into Current Energy and Other "Megatrends" . 7 Exhibit 2-2: Selected R &D Trends and Institutions in Self-Cleaning Glass .................... 10 Exhibit 2-3: Players and Products in the Self-Cleaning Windows Space ........................ 11 Exhibit 2-4: Self-Cleaning Coatings Firms: Comparative Listing ................................... 12 Exhibit 2-5: Self-Cleaning Windows Firms: Comparative Listing ................................... 13 Exhibit 2-6: Pilkington Activ Product Range ................................................................... 19 Exhibit 3-1: Core Selling Features for Self-Cleaning Windows ....................................... 27 Exhibit 3-3: Analysis of Self-Cleaning Windows Market by Type of Building ($ Millions) 31 Exhibit 3-4: Analysis of Self-Cleaning Windows Market by Retrofit/New Builds ($ Millions) .............................................................................................................................. 32 Exhibit 3-5: Analysis of Self-Cleaning Windows Market by Technology ($ Millions) ....... 33 Exhibit 3-6: Analysis of Self-Cleaning Windows Market by Levels/Type of Integration ($ Millions) ............................................................................................................. 35

Chapter One: Self-Cleaning Windows: Opportunity Analysis and Background to Report

1.1 Why Self-Cleaning Windows are an Emerging Market Opportunity
Self-cleaning windows have been on the market for more than a decade, beginning with residential markets and then moving on to commercial buildings. Several technologies are used commercially. Yet despite all this, self-cleaning windows are not that widely known or used. Nor are they easily available through the usual building products supply chains: This failurethe failure of self-cleaning windows to generate large revenuesis widely "blamed" on two factors; high-cost and low performance; that is to say, self-cleaning windows don't offer good value. According to one source, self-cleaning windows cost as much as 20 percent more than equivalent windows without self-cleaning capabilities. At the present level of development, the performance of self-cleaning glass does not really seem to be all that effective. Page | 1

Is there a real chance that these kinds of windows will have more market success in a near-tomedium term timeframe? Self-cleaning windows are obviously potentially useful. Thus on the demand side of the equation, there does not seem to be a need for a detailed explanation of why self-cleaning windows would be desirable, although we do note that certain demographic changes (notably aging populations), seem to favor the need for self-cleaning windows. NanoMarkets believes that there are, however, indications that self-cleaning windows have a bright future. The trends that impress us here are mostly technological in nature, but this shouldn't be taken to mean that they are restricted in some sense to what is going on in an industrial lab. On the contrary, what we are seeing are signs that there is a growing technological impetus behind self-cleaning windows that will enable them to meet their "obvious" market potential. NanoMarkets believes that these newer technologiesand riffs on older technologieswill (1) improve the performance standards for self-cleaning windows and (2) make such windows more affordable. In other words, we think there is a good chance that over the next few years, self-cleaning window technology can be improved to a point where such improvements have a positive impact on sales of such windows. In addition, there are signs that investment money may be available for selfcleaning windows. At the very least in today's capital rationing environment, self-cleaning windows products and companies have a better than average chance of getting funding.

1.1.1 Improving Self-Cleaning Windows Technology

As we have noted, the technology that has generally been used for self-cleaning windows to date has not been especially impressive in terms of its value proposition. However, the field of selfcleaning coatings is far from mature. The technology that is embedded in the current generation of self-cleaning windows is ten years old or so and has not changed significantly.

The need for more research into self-cleaning functionality is clear to most of the players in this space and in this context we note that the current technology for self-cleaning windows pre-dates the rush of interest in advanced materials in general and nanomaterials specifically; nanomaterials seeming to have a great deal of relevance to the technical issues at stake with selfcleaning windows. In fact, when the commercialization of nanomaterialsand nanotechnology was just getting going a decade agoself-cleaning surfaces was an area of strong interest. Page | 2 Although not always at the forefront of advanced materials research, a review of the relevant research periodicals quickly reveals that R&D into (1) the fundamental mechanisms of selfcleaning and (2) characterizations of new coatings is regularly published in the primary literature. Also, it is our impression that this R&D work is not just science project stuff, but has direct relevance to building better self-cleaning windows in a few years. It should also be noted that this R&D also has broader intentions. While self-cleaning windows have been around for a decade, self-cleaning surfaces are now seen as a larger market, addressing other kinds of non-window glass (display glass, for example) and non-glass surfaces (aluminum siding, for instance). Although perhaps stretching a point, this whole area may be seen as part of a larger smart materials research program. In any case, the self-cleaning windows market seems sure to benefit from the increased attention being given to self-cleaning in the technologist community, which, we think will eventually manifest itself in greater customer awareness and interest in the self-cleaning concept. This in turn will increase markets and open up new opportunities for weaving novel marketing strategies around self-cleaning surfaces of all kinds, including windows. A note on self-cleaning windows and self-cleaning solar panels: We note in particular, that attempts to use self-cleaning technology for solar panels are especially closely related to selfcleaning windows. This is because solar panels use similar materials and are of similar sizes to windows. They also have to deal with similar environmental conditions. Keeping a solar panel clean is important because it directly impacts the efficiency of the panel; efficiency being the most important performance. Given all this, we expect there to be a significant amount of cross-fertilization been the windows and solar panel markets when it comes to technology and product development. This is in addition to likely development of integrated products that offer PV, windows and self-cleaning functionality, all in one "package."

1.1.2 Impetus for Self-Cleaning Comes from Key Windows Industry Trends
Self-cleaning windows are mostly seen at the present as a little market niche that remains somewhat separate from the rest of the windows market. Although it might be a little unfair to think of self-cleaning windows at the present time as being luxury products, they do seem to trend in that direction. Nonetheless, NanoMarkets believes that two key trends are going to drag self-cleaning windows into the windows mainstream in the not-too-distant future and these trends will cause selfcleaning windows to emerge from their niche-like status:

The first of these trends is towards smart windows. Smart windows can involve active technology or may be passive film technology. In the glazing industry "smart windows" are often referred to by a near synonym, "smart glazing." Smart windows as usually understood are primarily concerned with dimming or brightening windows automatically. This is not just to keep buildings appropriately lit, but Page | 3 also to control energy requirements; lowering both operational and capital costs for HVAC. Although smart windows technology has actually been around for some time, it has received a major impetus from green building concepts and codes such as LEED, zero-energy building and passive solar. For example, zero-energy and passive solar buildings require very careful adjustment of solar intake to be viable NanoMarkets believes that self-cleaning windows may receive an impetus from these developments. Shading and dimming of windows is obviously dependent on the light transmission capabilities of the windows and these can be impacted by the cleanliness of the windows.

The second of these trends is toward multi-functional windows. NanoMarkets foresees the growing incorporation of photovoltaic (BIPV), lighting and other functionality into high end windows over a period of time. Self-cleaning windows would fit very neatly into this trend. The overall driver for multi-functional windows is (1) the "green building" drivers mentioned above in connection with smart windows, and (2) the cost benefits associated with any kind of functional integration.

1.1.3 Investment Outlook for Self-Cleaning Windows

At present, funding of new technologies of any kind is not an easy thing to achieve; venture capital funding overall is down considerably in 2012 and this is true even for the "greentech" investments that were being made so readily a few years back. Within this context, however, NanoMarkets is relatively optimistic about the future of self-cleaning windows: There appears to be continuing support for self-cleaning glass technology from some of the largest glass firms in the world. These include Cardinal, NSG (Pilkington), PPG and Saint-Gobain. Corning has been noticeably absent from this spacepreferring to focus on display glass and related areas. However, the involvement of Corning in this space cannot be ruled out in the long run. In any case, with such firms involved in this business, strategic investments seem likely to continue. Large firms such as these usually have long planning horizons. Given that the demand for self-cleaning windows is relatively easy to establish, it becomes somewhat easier for smaller firms to establish strategies for the self-cleaning windows markets. There could really be no sense here that this is a technology that is seeking a market. There are several smaller firms working on self-cleaning coatings more generally and although these coatings are more often than not intended for wider markets than just windowsthese smaller firms have also been funded.

1.1.4 A Future for Self-Cleaning Windows

NanoMarkets thus believes that the bottom line here is that the future of self-cleaning windows will be an encouraging one. As we have indicated, in the short-term the current trends towards green building will help sell these types of windows and these trends are likely to remain stable or actually accelerate, driven not so much by environmental considerations as by energy costs. In the medium-to-longer term, NanoMarkets believes that other factors will come into play driving the self-cleaning windows business forward: Perhaps the most important of these will be technological improvements that, we believe, will eventually change the price performance evaluation of self-cleaning windows to a degree that will help grow the market. But there are other medium-to-long term positives that should be noted for self-cleaning windows. From the perspective of demographics, we think that the aging populations in Europe and Japan should be particularly conducive to self-cleaning windows. Obviously, older citizens are more in need of convenience products than the rest of the population, but in Europe this fact can be combined with eco-awareness as a way to sell more self-cleaning windows. And in Japan, consumer attraction to newer technologies would seem to be another positive factor. All the indications are that self-cleaning technology will be able to break out of its niche status as the result becoming part of bigger technological trends, especially the trend towards smart windows, BIPV, and multifunctional windows products.

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The mainstreaming of self-cleaning windows if it occurs to the degree that we expect, should also enable more sophisticated marketing and supply chain strategies to be deployed. We would expect self-cleaning windows to become more widely available through regular windows supply channels, for example. In addition, we expect to see more all-embracing marketing messaging such as self-cleaning windows being marketed as an insurance policy to protect the investments made in building infrastructure for energy savings.

Total Self-Cleaning Window Market

1,400 1,200 1,000 $ Millions 800 600 400 200 0 2012 2013 NanoMarkets 2012 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Page | 5

1.2 Objective and Scope of this Report

The key objective of this report is to identify and quantify the market for self-cleaning windows worldwide. With regard to quantifying the self-cleaning windows market, we include a detailed eight-year forecast in volume and value terms. The methodology for these projections is to be found in Chapter Three of this report. Since the market for self-cleaning windows is one with relatively few participants at the present time, an appraisal of the current self-cleaning windows products on the market and a critical review of some of the latest R&D in this space is presented here. Finally, we note that the subject of this report is primarily restricted to self-cleaning windows. We acknowledge that this is part of bigger trends and we discuss these trends to some extent in what follows. For example, we take a look at how the self-cleaning windows trend fits into more general R&D work targeting self-cleaning surfaces as a whole. We also examine how self-cleaning capabilities may be incorporated into conventional insulated glazing units (IGUs) and smart windows. And we have something to say about self-cleaning capabilities in the solar panel space, a market where there are some overlapping drivers, markets and potentially product integrations with the self-cleaning windows.