Nova Innovation Competition 2012 held at the Greenbuild International Conference

Saint-Gobain, dealing in the habitat and construction markets, in conjunction with the US Green Building Council, Northern California Chapter (USGBC-NCC), has announced Heliotrope, PlanGrid and SmarterShade as the three winners of the NOVA Innovation Competition 2012.

Saint-Gobain has given the following details regarding the winners: Heliotrope, which was awarded the top cash prize of $50,000 (about €38,000), is an Oakland-based developer of energy-efficient electrochromic (EC) glass that switch reversibly between three states – solar transparent, heat blocking, and heat and light blocking (ie, darkened). Heliotrope’s technology can be relevant to a range of windows products, including buildings, satellites and automobiles, Saint-Gobain said.

PlanGrid, the second-place winner, which received a cash-prize of $25,000 (about € 19,000), is a San Francisco-based complete collaborative platform for construction information and reportedly the world’s fastest PDF viewer, which combines the power of the cloud with the mobility of the iPad to provide a service that allows builders to view and communicate with all their project information from the field, the announcement said.

SmarterShade, the third-place winner, which was awarded a cash-prize of $10,000 (about €7,700), is an Indiana-based company dealing in an emerging technology called “smart windows”, whereby a user can control the amount of light and heat entering a home or office through controlling the tint level on their window. The first generation of SmarterShade is a retrofit film system that is integrated into the window itself, the announcement elaborated.

Saint-Gobain said that the award recognises start-ups offering the most innovative solutions in the field of habitat, energy and the environment, and added that after being held twice in France and once in Germany, this year, the international competition was held in the USA for the first time, at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in San Francisco.