Halio
Transforming Indoor Lighting with Advanced Smart Glass Solutions

Integrating large glass panels on high-rise buildings that dot the skyline of cities truly enables architects to unleash their creativity. From glasses of different shapes and thicknesses to smart glass that leverages electrochromic (EC) technology to automatically tint and manage the natural light, architects have a plethora of options to choose from.
However, balancing aesthetics and daylight design needs with the increasingly stringent energy code requirements remains an uphill task. So, how can architects and developers bring their creative visions to life while overcoming these challenges?

CALIFORNIA-BASED HALIO HAS THE ANSWERS.

Halio, a leading innovator of smart glass technologies, is addressing these challenges with the first and only smart glass that’s responsive and looks natural at the same time, turning ten-dollar views into billion-dollar views. The company develops and commercializes breakthrough solutions in EC technology that optimize natural light and limit solar heat and glare. Halio empowers architects with the design flexibility to increase the window to wall ratio and enhance the aesthetics of a building while meeting energy codes.

Halio is the only smart glass provider that partners with external fabricators, such as Viracon, Inc., the leading architectural glass fabricator in America. “By integrating our technology into products from established industry fabricators, we are able to deliver Halio-powered solutions to more architects. Be it a double or triple-pane glass with any coating, our proprietary technology is a perfect fit in every scenario,” says Walter Simon, VP of Business Development at Halio.

Defining the EC glass experience with its unique design, materials, manufacturing process, and ecosystem, Halio Smart Glass is set up for autonomous operation and can be controlled through the Halio System. The system includes a rooftop sky camera that reports changes in daylight and reflected glare every fifteen seconds, a tint driver that controls the tint level on each window, a gateway device that securely manages communication between onsite devices, and the Halio Cloud. The advanced algorithms and Artificial Intelligence (AI) embedded into the Halio Cloud facilitate the autonomous operation of the system by determining real-time tint levels.

STANDING OUT IN A CROWD

Commercial buildings with smart glass enjoy up to 20 percent energy savings on HVAC and lighting systems, reclaim usable floor space by up to 20 percent, lower maintenance OpEx by eliminating blinds, and due to the admission of daylight indoors through unobstructed views, create an environment that promotes up to 13 percent productivity gains, lowers employee absenteeism, and contributes to employee retention.

Halio goes beyond other solutions by leveraging the most advanced EC technologies in the market to differentiate itself from its competitors in terms of speed, color, uniformity, and tint levels. With the capability to tint ten times faster than other dynamic glass, the company’s solution achieves a full tint–from clear to dark–in as little as three minutes. Halio’s fast tinting combined with fast clearing is the perfect way to keep up with the constantly changing weather conditions.

By utilizing the solution, architects can say goodbye to discernible patterns caused by older generation EC technology and tinting speeds that vary based on window size. From a natural glass-like appearance in the clear state to natural cool gray shades when tinted, Halo Smart Glass offers better color rendering. No more honey yellows in the clear state or bright blues in the tinted state, commonly found in other EC glass.

Unlike its competition, Halio’s technology creates an even tint across all sizes of glasses in an elegant, glare-free way. This stands in stark contrast to the binocular or curtain effects found on other tinting windows.

“Our tinting profiles give customers an infinite number of tint level options to match unlimited levels of sunlight, which is not the case with other smart glass solution providers. They often have only 4 levels of tint, missing out on the optimal levels and making the room either too bright or too dark,” says Simon.

With patented gradient patterns etched into the glass, the company moves power evenly through the glass, allowing a perfectly symmetrical, quick transition across every part of the window. Virtually indistinguishable from normal glass in the clear state, Halio Smart Glass delivers exceptional neutrality and transparency, allowing in maximum natural light. A professor from the University of Santa Cruz, conducting an educational session at the Halio office, was astonished to find out that the smart glass had been operating throughout the event, almost invisible to the naked eye.

SETTING THE BENCHMARK FOR SMART GLASS

Halio’s value proposition is best exemplified by the success stories of one of its customers. The client is a building developer in the biotech sector who leases out facilities for research purposes. As the experiments conducted within the facility were extremely sensitive to heat and light, Halio Smart Glass was the apt choice for them. Halio Smart Glass helped the occupants increase their productivity, as opposed to their peers in other sections of the building that did not have the same smart glass technology. The glass also eliminated the need for blinds that would otherwise accumulate dust and bacteria, impacting the outcome of experiments.

Numerous market leaders collaborate with Halio, which is a testament to the company’s prowess in the smart glass segment. Viracon, the leader in the architectural glass space, selected Halio to power their smart glass after years of evaluating and testing EC glass solutions. The combination of Halio’s advanced EC technology and AI controls system with Viracon’s mass production capacity, quality, reliability, and partnerships resulted in Viracon PLUS™ Smart Glass powered by Halio, the new industry standard for smart glass.

Striding ahead, Halio aims to continue rolling out new offerings for its clients. Through its partnership with Marvin, a top-tier manufacturer of residential windows, doors, and skylights, the company is poised to launch a whole suite of solutions—from doors to fixed glazed windows to double and single-hung windows. “We will be launching several new products with Marvin over the course of the next 12 months in North America, followed by other regions,” says Simon.