Plastipack Ltd has been awarded the 2018 Institute of Physics Business Innovation Award for the development of EnergyGuard™ Selective Transmission material in collaboration with the University of Surrey.

The award recognises Plastipack’s excellence in innovation, delivering significant economical and societal impact through the application of physics.

Plastipack Ltd, creators of the GeoBubble™, have been awarded the 2018 Institute of Physics Business Innovation Award for the development of EnergyGuard™ Selective Transmission material in collaboration with the University of Surrey.

The award recognises Plastipack’s excellence in innovation, delivering significant economical and societal impact through the application of physics.

Plastipack has been awarded the prize at an event at the Houses of Parliament for the development of its swimming pool cover material – EnergyGuard™ Selective Transmission. This material maximises pool temperatures while inhibiting the growth of algae, making it Plastipack’s most innovative and environmentally friendly cover material to date, reducing heating costs as well as chemical usage.

Each year, the Institute of Physics (IOP) awards the prize to a handful of small, medium and large companies that have excelled in innovation, delivering significant economic and/or societal impact through the application of physics.

Maximising pool temperature while inhibiting algae growth is now possible with this innovative light filtering material. Offering optimised solar gain and algae inhibition, the patented EnergyGuard™ ST material effectively delivers the best possible balance between solar heat gain, chemical and filtration reductions, making it the most innovative solar cover to date.

The material’s bubble layer uses a midnight blue pigment combination, giving the material its selective transmission properties. The pigment formulation works as a selective filter absorbing the visible wavelengths responsible for photosynthesis. This absorbed energy is passed to the pool through conduction, while the transmission properties of the bubble layer allows for Infrared radiation wavelengths to pass through the material and be directly absorbed by the water. 

Like all Plastipack materials, EnergyGuard™ ST provides a barrier to evaporation, giving the pool the ability to preserve water and reduce heat loss through evaporative cooling.