Airports Are Using 'Smart Glass' To Make You Spend More Money

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
There are many
depictions of a future in which we've mastered the art of manipulating the opacity of glass
Even in real life, sunglasses can adapt to the intensity of sunlight
So why, one might ask, can't we have that in our homes, or at workThe wait may soon be over
The tinted world of tomorrow is coming, and airports-mini-cities of steel, concrete and lots and lots of glass-are interested
In a test last fall, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport outfitted one of its gates with a new type of "smart glass" that can adjust for
sunlight exposure
The obvious point is to keep travelers from getting overheated-but the exercise also brought a more lucrative benefit.The test was designed
to see if the product, called View Dynamic Glass, might improve passenger satisfaction along a small stretch of terminal real
estate-specifically, gate seating at A28 and a burger restaurant's east-facing bar, one regularly torched by the Texas sun.It turns out that
a cooler, darker bar encourages an extra round or two
Alcohol sales soared 80 percent in October, compared with the same period in 2016, the installation of electrochromatic glass being the only
difference
Alcohol contributed 17 percent of the restaurant's total revenue in October 2017, compared with 9 percent the previous month and 8 percent
in October 2016.The lesson was clear for the airport: Remove heat and glare from a glass-ensconced bar and people will dally longer,
spending more.For years, airport executives have analyzed the links between travelers' impressions and their spending, with terminal "dwell
time" the critical link: People tend to hustle through New York's dreaded LaGuardia as rapidly as possible whle lingering in acclaimed
venues such as those in Seoul, Singapore and Munich
Travelers who are relaxed after emerging from security tend to spend more money while waiting for their flights
As the fourth-busiest U.S
airport, DFW could benefit from this dynamic, its officials concluded."We definitely see the impact," said Casey Norton, a DFW Airport
spokesman
The restaurant had approached the airport about its lagging sales, he said, and "they hypothesized that it was too damn hot" for customers
to stick around.The glass used in Dallas is manufactured by View Inc., a 10-year-old Silicon Valley company that targets commercial offices,
hospitals, higher education facilities, airports and other places where customer satisfaction is a priority
French materials giant Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA has a similar electrochromatic product called SageGlass.The technology is intended to
reduce light by activating internal shading and, by extension, reducing the ambient temperature
It works somewhat like the windows on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner; a button to lower or raises opacity."We spend 90 percent of our time
indoors," said Rahul Bammi, View's chief business officer
"The things that really matter are light, air quality, temperature and sound
We impact at least three of those in a positive way."The study at DFW, conducted by a Cornell University design professor, also found that
surface temperatures on seats and carpeting near the new gate glass were 10F to 15F lower, boosting dwell time by 53 percent over that at a
nearby gate with regular glass
Spending around the cooler gate rose as well.With their long warrens of glass walls, airports may seek to bolster revenues with this
technology
View was, unsurprisingly, eager to help in the DFW experiment
"People have been studying green buildings for 50 years but there's never been a comprehensive study on dynamic glass," Bammi said.The
additional revenue may come at exactly the right time for America's airports
Such glass could boost food and retail sales at a time when airports have been taking a financial hit
The rapid adoption of ride-sharing services has dented parking revenues, a massive source of cash for airports
Parking and ground transport accounts for about 40 percent of North American airport revenues, while spending on food and beverages is the
fastest-growing portion of their concessions business, according to the most recent survey by Airports Council International-North
America.View's "smart" glass installations all have Internet protocol and electrical power connections to allow for minute adjustments and
programming
"It's changing glass from essentially a dumb product to a smart product," Bammi said
Privately held View doesn't release any financial data but said it's provided glass for 400 projects since 2012
It's also doubling the size of its production facility in Olive Branch, Mississippi.The glass has been purchased by various companies and
schools, such as Boston Logan Airport; Delta Air Lines (for a lounge at the Seattle airport); Duke University; FedEx Corp., Levi's Stadium,
LinkedIn Corp.; and Wells-Fargo Co.San Francisco International Airport is spending $3 million for View's electrochromatic glass in the $2.4
billion overhaul of Terminal 1
In coming weeks, DFW plans to solicit bids for about 500,000 square feet of such glass to use in gate and concession areas with sun
exposure.Airports are just one of several markets "smart glass" makers are targeting
Beyond addressing human comforts, View pitches its glass to developers and others as a tool to lower heating and cooling costs by as much as
20 percent
Even with installation costs that are 20 percent to 30 percent higher than traditional glass, the expected energy savings over a building's
life make the choice "a no-brainer" for many commercial projects, Bammi said.Customer awareness of such glass products is slowly growing,
but most people don't realize that the construction industry has begun adopting such glass, Bammi said
"The most common response we get is, 'Why didn't someone think of this before'" he said.(This story has not been edited by staff and is
auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)