To create variable tint zones in a single pane of glass, a set of windows, or an entire building façade requires very smart technology. It’s possible to control the amount of light or heat gain that enters a space as the angle of the sun changes or the clouds break. Electrochromic glass created by SageGlass, a Saint-Gobain company, does all of this and more.

To integrate all the sensors required for automatic tinting and allow manual changes to the tinting zones, the SageGlass team worked with J2 Innovations’ FIN Framework team to develop the SageGlass Maestro® management software. SageGlass Maestro takes interior and exterior input, such as rooftop sky sensors, window size, time of day/season, building orientation, façade sensors, and sun angle to provide the ultimate in user comfort and energy savings.

Windows play a major role in the aesthetics of modern architecture but are also key to the comfort and productivity of occupants and the energy efficiency of the building. To address all of these issues, SageGlass Harmony® provides the ability to create a seamless gradient from tint to clear within a single window. To provide this level of dynamic responsiveness, the project team created eight applications for SageGlass Maestro with an impressive number of features within each. A pane mapping feature enables users to drag and drop glass panes and assign them to a room, zone or building then set and update the properties of each pane individually or collectively. An events feature accommodates complex logic, taking data from hardware and sensors to set up logic workflows and schedules the glass to behave a certain way if a set of conditions are met (e.g. responding to sunrise and sunset timings plus weather conditions and occupancy to tint the glass accordingly). Even during the building design stage, SageGlass Maestro can take data from the panes of glass to be used in a project to create a PDF bill of materials.

J2 Innovations delivered a product that has a custom connector to bring in data and enable bi-directional communication between FIN Framework and SageGlass’ hardware and protocols. The Connector works seamlessly with the user interface wall touch panels, controllers interfacing with the glass, and the light sensor packages. This ensures that SageGlass Maestro can optimize and maximize the benefits of the glass at all times. Once the product was developed, the J2 team worked alongside SageGlass developers to train them on the new software product, ensuring that they had the correct tools and information to bring their training in-house and manage training themselves.

FIN Framework offers a uniquely comprehensive set of features in monitoring, control, scheduling, alarming, visualization, integration, and analytics for building automation and IoT applications. It provides a highly intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) for touchscreen and browser access, with easy-to-create dashboard, smart alarm, and fault detection diagnostics features.  FIN is very intuitive to navigate and supports the current generation of IoT protocols as well as the traditional automation protocols.

Alex Rohweder, CEO of J2 Innovations commented, “Working with such a prestigious product has been a pleasure. Whilst FIN Framework is used across the globe for many HVAC and smart building applications, the J2 team have shown how flexible the framework is by applying it to an impressively innovative smart building technology with a host of customizations. We are looking forward to continuing to work with SageGlass, supporting them on their glass revolution.”

About J2 Innovations

J2 Innovations is a fast growing, innovative software technology company based in California. They are the creators of the FIN Framework (FIN), a state-of-the-art open framework for smart buildings, smart equipment and IoT applications.

About the FIN Framework (FIN)

FIN is a next-generation software framework for smart buildings, smart equipment and IoT applications. FIN can integrate, control, manage, analyse, visualize, connect and can be embedded on a controller, gateway, HMI or server. The FIN Framework offers OEMs, System Integrators, and end user solutions that are faster, easier, and better.

For more information about FIN Framework visit www.j2inn.com