NBBJ has previously designed buildings for Amazon, Google, and Samsung, but the company says that one of the most frequent complaints it received was that the workers felt they didn't have enough fine control over their working environment. With this in mind, the firm's boffins have created the Sunbreak, an intelligent automated sunshade prototype that's operated using a smartphone.
While smart sunshades in themselves are nothing new, NBBJ's Sunbreak could potentially prove smarter (and greener) than your average shade, in that it will react to clouds and measure how close the occupant happens to be to the window. Its three-hinged design can automatically angle to bounce daylight further inside the office, or when conditions require, it can also lower the shades to block the sun.
NBBJ states that though typical smart sunshades are programmed to deal with visible light, its system will detect solar radiation and take this into account to help fine-tune the temperature inside.
The shades are automatic but can be controlled with an iPhone or Android app, and they can also be customized with LEDs to alter the look of the building's facade.
At present, the Sunbreak prototype is in its infancy, so further details are still to be revealed. However, NBBJ hopes to work with a client and eventually use the shading system on a full-sized building.
The video below sheds further light on the project.
Source: NBBJ
