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Local firm uses space technology

Bennington Banner , February 9, 2007

Hooscik Falls, NY - A local manufacturer recently received a little extraterrestrial help. WindoTherm improved its product design with the help of a NASA- funded initiative, the Space Alliance Technology
Outreach Program (SATOP).

WindoTherm's product is a panel, consisting of clear glazing film, that fits inside currently existing windows. By creating extra pockets of air, the panels insulate the windows, thus improving energy efficiency. WindoTherrn claims the glazing film resembles glass, but is stronger, less expensive, lighter and safer, adding that it can withstand a hit from a baseball traveling at 60 miles per hour.

Private sector

The SATOP's Web site says its goal is to speed the transfer of space technology to the private sector - to "help small businesses apply the expertise derived from the U.S, space program."

James Devine, the owner of the company, explained.

"This is an organization linked with [NASA] that works with companies," Devine said. "It offers free engineering services to companies to help them move forward."

"What they do is give companies up to 40 hours of help at no cost whatsoever", he said.

The move to consult SATOP was spurred by customer requests for the panels, which Devine said were "higher than EnergyStar efficient." The company's window panels, according to the WindoTherm web site,
don't replace existing windows, but rather serve to insulate them
by providing additional layers of material.

"We had a lot of requests from historic preservation people [people wishing to preserve historic buildings], who wanted our panels built without gridwork [needed for support]," Devine said. "We're so small, we can't afford an "engineering staff, though."

Devine then asked the group for help.

New design "The City University of New York,which is a NASA contractor, agreed to look at what we were doing," Devine said. "They came up with new tolerances and a new design."

The help, said Devine, was a complete surprise.

"It's a real shocker that something like NASA would help us," Devine said. In addition to helping the company serve the historic preservation
market, the new design will allow the panels to be sold in a small kit. Devine said that the company was in negotiations with big-box stores to sell its product widely.This will help the company expand even further.

"In four years, we've gone from working in a garage to a few thousand square foot facility in Hoosick Falls," Devine said.
The company, according to it's web site, was founded in 1996. Its
products can be used in historic senior housing, industrial, municipal and residential use. Devine's facility is next door to the armory building in the village, in the Dodge Building. According to the SATOP Web site, the organization has fielded 2,500 requests and has provided 1,800 solutions to businesses since its inception.

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