AeroShield Materials Selected for $14.5M ARPA-E Award to Manufacture Cutting-Edge Energy Efficient Technology for the Built Environment
6.25.2024
The ARPA-E award will support scaled-up manufacturing of AeroShield's patented aerogels.
Boston, MA – June 25, 2024 – AeroShield Materials, an MIT spin out developing cutting-edge technology for energy efficiency applications in the built environment, announced today it was selected to receive an Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy technologies with Untapped Potential (SCALEUP) award. This award provides new funding to previous ARPA-E awardees that are determined to have a viable road to market. AeroShield is set to receive $14.5M to scale the manufacturing of its aerogel materials for energy efficient windows. ARPA-E is modeled after the success of The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and advances high-potential, high-impact energy technologies.
“We know that windows present a weak point in building efficiency. With this challenge, there is also an enormous opportunity to reduce heat losses from windows,” said ARPA-E Director Evelyn N. Wang. “Aeroshield Materials developed aerogels for high-efficiency insulated glass units through an earlier ARPA-E program, and now with SCALEUP funding, the company will develop a pilot manufacturing facility to validate the cost and performance, in collaboration with their commercialization partners. I look forward to following their progress and commitment to making residential and commercial buildings more energy efficient.”
An aerogel-insulated window prototype - which is over 60% more efficient than comparable double-pane windows used in homes today.
While development is currently focused on residential windows and doors, the material has a wide range of applications, such as commercial windows, grocery store freezer doors, ovens, electric vehicle windows, and solar thermal energy. AeroShield prototypes have passed industry-standard performance and durability testing for windows and doors, and this award will support scaled-up manufacturing as AeroShield prepares to launch its first transparent aerogel-insulated window and door products into market with commercial partners.
Read the official ARPA-E press release here: https://arpa-e.energy.gov/news-and-media/press-releases/us-department-energy-announces-over-63-million-support
About AeroShield:
AeroShield is a material science company that has developed and scaled the world’s most transparent silica aerogels. Silica aerogels are super-light, super-insulating materials that are more than 95% air. Founded by one of the inventors of the material and spun out of MIT, AeroShield’s mission is to make our lives more sustainable and comfortable. To learn more, visit https://www.aeroshield.tech/
Media contact:
Aaron Baskerville-Bridges
Cofounder & VP Operations