????當午后的陽光開始從窗戶涌入辦公室，你有兩個選擇——要么拉下百葉簾，失去視野；要么聽之任之，在太陽的炙烤中度過這一天。城市綠色委員會（Urban Green Council）近期的一項調查顯示，任何時候紐約市都至少有59%的窗戶拉下了百葉簾。

????如果硅谷的這家初創企業真的有一手，大家也許很快就能兩全其美。加州米爾皮塔斯這家名為View的公司生產一種辦公室用玻璃，可以隨著陽光的變強自動轉暗。這種“動態”玻璃中含有納米技術層，厚度是一根頭發絲直徑的1/50。日光變強烈時會通過電流調節，使得玻璃中的離子改變位置，從而阻擋強烈的日照。

????公司CEO、擁有波士頓大學（Boston University）材料科學博士學位的企業家拉奧?馬爾普里說：“這些窗戶不僅能讓辦公室用戶更加心滿意足，同時還可以節能。”雖然這種自著色玻璃會讓一棟大樓的建設成本增加2%到3%，但馬爾普里稱，業主們省下來的錢用來覆蓋這些成本綽綽有余。他說，一名大樓業主最多可節省20%的制冷電費，同時還能省下購買百葉簾的開支。

????這種玻璃產自這家公司在密西西比州奧利夫布蘭奇的工廠，已經為美國宇航局（NASA）、Sap Labs、舊金山國際機場（San Francisco International Airport）、美國海軍陸戰隊（The Marine Corps）以及希爾頓酒店及度假村（Hilton Hotels & Resorts）等機構或公司所采用。

????丹?皮克特是俄亥俄州哥倫布建筑公司穆迪-諾蘭（Moody Nolan）的一名合伙人，他正將View的動態玻璃應用到兩座建筑中。他相信節能效果“將非同凡響”。皮克特的項目之一是為俄亥俄州代頓的房地產投資公司Century Link興建一座39,000平方英尺的新辦公大樓。皮克特說：“之所以選擇這種玻璃，一個審美上的原因是：我和客戶都很反感一眼望去全是或開或合、千姿百態的百葉簾的景象，而View的玻璃完全消除了這個問題。”

????不少公司都嘗試過自著色玻璃，但最后都以失敗告終——這種技術在規模化生產時往往難以搞定。但View似乎掌握了秘密配方——至少，康寧（Corning）、通用電氣（GE）和Khosia Ventures等投資方是這樣認為的。這家公司截至目前已經募集了3億多美元的資金，其中就有前面這些公司的參與。

????另外，市場潛力不可小覷。據馬爾普里計算，窗玻璃市場規模達到每年250億平方英尺（約合23億平方米）。而他認為，長期來看，View可以占領其中的10%——也就是約1,000億美元的市場機遇。

????截至目前還沒有其他大型競爭者出現。盡管View擁有專利，但高效率生產商（如中國制造商）的進入還要得了多久呢？

????不過，在那之前，馬爾普里的前景依然分外明朗。（財富中文網）

????譯者：Liam

????

????When the afternoon sun starts pouring into your office window you have two choices -- either draw the shade and lose your view or keep it open and swelter for the rest of the day. A recent study by the Urban Green Council revealed that at any time 59% of windows in New York City are covered by blinds.

????If a Silicon Valley startup has its way, you might soon be able to enjoy the best of both worlds. View of Milpitas, Calif., makes office glass that automatically dims with the intensity of the sun. This "dynamic" glass contains nanotech layers in the glass 1/50 the width of a human hair. As the sun intensifies it regulates an electric current that makes the ions in the glass shift positions, blocking the intensity of the light.

????"These windows not only make occupants happier," Says CEO Rao Mulpuri, an entrepreneur with a Ph.D. in material science from Boston University, "but also save energy." Although the self-tinting glass can add 2% to 3% to the construction cost of a building, Mulpuri claims that owners will save more than enough to make up for it. He says that a building owner can slice his air conditioning bills by as much as 20% plus save on not having to buy window shades.

????The glass, which is made in the company's factory in Olive Branch, Miss., is already being used by organizations such as NASA, SAP Labs, San Francisco International Airport, The Marine Corps, and Hilton Hotels & Resorts

????Dan Pickett, a partner at Moody Nolan, an architecture firm in Columbus, Ohio, is using View's dynamic glass in two buildings. He believes that the energy savings "will be dramatic." One of Pickett's projects is a new 39,000 square foot office building for Century Link, a real estate investment firm in Dayton, Ohio. Says Pickett: "One of the aesthetic reasons we chose the glass is that my client and I objected to the idea of mini blinds in various states of open or closed. View's glass completely eliminates that issue."

????A lot of companies have tried self-tinting glass and failed -- the technology is tricky to manufacture at scale. But View seems to have the secret sauce, or at least that's what investors such as Corning, GE, and Khosla Ventures believe, who have contributed to the more than $300 million that the company has raised so far.

????And besides, the market potential is huge. Mulpuri calculates that window glass is a 25 billion square foot annual market, and he thinks that in the long run View can capture 10% of that -- an estimated $100 billion opportunity.

????As of yet, no other major competitors on are the horizon, but even though View has patents, how long before efficient manufacturers such as the Chinese get into the game?

????But until that happens Mulpuri has a clear view ahead.