Nowadays in Europe, energy use in buildings represents a large part of the energy consumption. Up to 40% of European primary energy is consumed in buildings and 20% of them are lost due to poor doors and windows insulation. It is necessary to reduce energy losses in buildings, particularly by improving the quality of their envelope (foundation, roof, walls, doors and windows).

The SMARTBLIND project aims at developing an Energy Efficient Smart Window including a hybrid film constituted of an electrochromic LC film and a photovoltaic film both printed on the same long-lasting flexible substrate. The realization process will be implemented thanks to electrochromic and photovoltaic inks especially formulated to be ink-jet printed.
A reduction of the windows U-value down to 0.3 W/m².K is targeted by combining the hybrid film to an appropriate window frame. An important part of the SmartBlind project will furthermore be devoted to the related parts, such as connectors and film control, sustainability, life cycle and recyclability.

More particularly, the SmartBlind consortium (constituted of 13 partners from 7 EU countries) has defined 4 main objectives: 

1. To reduce weight by 50% compared to glass window, while offering transparency and flexibility.
2. To improve the optical response time of windows while enabling the switching of large panes.
3. To integrate an electronic control system with an embedded power source. 
4. To guarantee a low-cost industrial solution adaptable to large and shaped surfaces.