July 23, 2022Updated: July 23, 2022 11:14 a.m.
This is the carousel. Use the Next and Next buttons to proceed
Stanford Professor Yi Cui is wearing a prototype of the WarmLife jacket, which is designed to reduce energy consumption by keeping the wearer at a warmer temperature.
Cui shows a sample of the CoolLife fabric, which is woven from polyethylene, the same material as plastic supermarket bags.
Heating and cooling buildings saves energy. Cooling, the biggest consumer, accounts for about a fifth of US energy use, according to the US Energy Information Administration — and that number is projected to accelerate as the world warms.
Stanford Professor Yi Cui wants to cut that through “smart clothes” that keep wearers comfortable or warm, so they don’t have to turn up the heat or turn down the A/C.
His startup Sunnyvale LifeLabs sells clothing that looks and functions just like regular sportswear but is made from technological fabrics he’s developed to regulate body temperature. body
“We spend a lot of energy to make it cool in the summer and warm in the winter to keep people comfortable inside,” said Cui, a professor of materials science. and engineer at Stanford and director of its Precourt Institute for Energy. “If the summer air conditioner can go up to 3 degrees Celsius, you can save about 30% of the house’s energy consumption. Every 1 degree Celsius saves 10%.
The converse is true in winter: save energy by turning down the heating when people’s clothes can keep them warm.
LifeLabs products include t-shirts, pants, shorts, windbreakers, jackets, pants, underwear and sleepwear, as well as sleeping accessories such as sheets and pillows. A short-sleeved button-down shirt retails for $69 and a sunscreen with SPF protection costs $129, for example.
As for clothes that reduce the energy used to heat and cool buildings, LifeLabs and similar products need to be promoted – by individual consumers, but more importantly, by commercial consumers.
Imagine a factory, warehouse or school where everyone wears uniforms made from climate controlled fabrics. Those big buildings can control their energy consumption. “If you can get an entire factory of workers to wear it, it can make a big impact,” Cui said.
Relying on $13.8 million in business financing, the 12-person LifeLabs has sold less than 10,000 dresses since launching its direct-to-consumer sales last fall. Cui acknowledges that it takes a lot of marketing to create awareness. It is expected to expand by partnering with major clothing manufacturers and other commercial businesses such as workplaces.
Using clothing to save energy is still not a popular idea. During the 1970s oil crisis, Pres. Jimmy Carter was met with derision when he urged Americans to sweat so they could lower their buttons.
But in the years since then, attitudes have changed as the pace of global warming has accelerated. Energy experts say any quick and cheap way to curb energy use is worthwhile, compared to more difficult solutions like building new buildings.
“Allowing customers to make small changes in demand is a cost-effective way to reduce the need for installed hardware, whether it’s more production, more storage or more media,” wrote Severin. Borenstein, a professor and executive director of the Energy Institute at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, in the blog post, although it does not specifically discuss clothing.
But Borenstein was skeptical about the LifeLabs concept, saying in an email that social norms rather than technological clothing are what need to change. For example, he said, “The Japanese introduced the summer of the Hawaiian shirt after the accident in Fukushima and the lack of electricity they had the following summer. They turned the thermostats to the 82 degrees and it was considered a great success.Also, sweats/sweatshirts and thick socks are a good way to keep warm in the winter.
“The bed seems to be more important since there is a lot of discussion about how to sleep comfortably and the importance of sleeping in a cool room,” he said.
Donald Wulfinghoff, who runs the Energy Institute Press, which publishes guidelines on energy conservation, was more than happy with the idea.
“Comments about saving heating and cooling energy almost always fall under the category of ‘greenwashing,'” he wrote in an email.
But LifeLabs investors — who, of course, are not biased — see it as a potential game changer.
“We strongly believe that the advancement of technology will make a big impact in the fight against climate problems by encouraging people to reduce the use of personal energy, ” said Bo Bai, the founder of the Asia Green Fund in a statement. In April his company led a $6 million dollar investment in LifeLabs.
On a recent day, Cui wore a black polo shirt and brown pants that seemed unmistakable from Silicon Valley’s typical clothing, both made from CooLife fabrics. “You can feel the cold right away,” he said, reaching for his shirt.
He showed a shelf of LifeLabs products. Its WarmLife clothing traps human heat using a thin metal layer sandwiched between ordinary fabrics, he said. A full jacket uses as much aluminum as what’s in a paper clip, and it’s about three times lighter than a down jacket, Cui said.
“If you put your hands inside, within 5 or 10 seconds you will feel the warmth increase; I feel it right away,” said Cui, revealingly.
WarmLife is made from 97% recycled materials, according to the company. Its nylon fiber is primarily purchased, such as shredded fabric and yarn waste, while its polyester is recycled, recycled from used bottles.
CoolLife fabric is woven from polyethylene, the same material as plastic supermarket bags. “CoolLife is made from virgin yarn as of now, with the goal of becoming a reusable material in the future,” the company said.
According to Cui, his method is better than other cooling fabrics that use mesh fabric – the holes – to allow the body heat. “We do the cooling before the sweat comes,” he said. “I don’t think any other cold technology can do that.”
The group of “war clothes” is still developing there are no independent studies to confirm or confirm the information of LifeLabs, and the company cannot tell outside experts who are familiar with its work.
Of course, there are compromises. Companies from Sony to Under Armor sell temperature-regulating clothing, and other university labs such as UC San Diego and the University of Maryland have reported flaws. in temperature controlled fabrics. A quick Amazon search turns up more than 4,000 matches for “temperature control clothing.” Most common items are hot pants and wet t-shirts; some are more dangerous, such as electric heating and Bluetooth controls.
LifeLabs tests its clothing using specialized mannequins that simulate human body temperature. Dummies’ temperature tests show that CoolTech can reduce body temperature by 2 or 3 degrees Celsius, Cui said.
Next to his drawing board is a double layer that can be heated and cooled as the temperature changes throughout the day. It’s not out yet but it has a name: DualLife.
“Anytime you have a big temperature difference between day and night, when you’re hot when you run and cold when you sit still is useful for DualLife,” Cui said.
Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid
Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid
