TRIZ, Windows & Our Breathing Homes Prashant Y.Joglekar Corporate Quality Office Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.

On a burning Sunday afternoon, I was cooling myself under fully blasting Air-Con while watching a famous TV show. During commercial break, there was an advertisement of a leading shoe brand, claiming that its shoes breathe. Suddenly power went off and the next moment, I started sweating. There was a strange feeling as if I am traveling from North-pole to equator. If shoes can breathe, what about our homes? I thought to myself and thanked GOD, for we have windows (our homes nostrils) our resource of natural ventilation. With trees surrounding my building, my pain was subsided to a reasonable extent. Window is an integral part of our home sweet home, workplace and of all establishments that want to be open & keep a close eye on all the worldly events. From a TRIZ perspective, window is one of the greatest innovations solving a major physical contradiction; I want to be in and want to be out (In hindsight, all innovations are next common sense, so to us this is no more an innovation now) On a lighter note, Window is also the subject of poetic work and there are many literary masterpieces written on the subject. The word w indow seems to have brought lot of luck to the techy- Czar Bill Gates, as his companys products are prefixed with it (WINDOWS 97, WINDOWS 2000, WINDOWS Vista etc..) Windows seem to have bestowed upon him & his heart counts name, fame & wealth. His generosity is also helping opportunity starved world with a ray of hope, with which they can think of breathing freely. All this is because of WINDOWS. As these thoughts conceived, few contradictions dawned on my mind. Let us do some serious business using TRIZ. The first thing we will do is to start looking at the functions of the window (we need to do this for any system in order to innovate, this is an essential step called functional & attribute analysis) Let us look at the few important functions and also some auxiliary functions of window. To receive sun light To receive fresh air, Facilitate movement of air from outside as well as from inside To communicate with the person who is standing down or vice a versa. To see a person and communicate To give something from inside of the house ( Wives handover conveniently forgotten shopping bags to their poor husband) For young hearts, it is a way to communicate ( Window Winking ) It provides an opportunity to refresh a depressed mind by looking at the nature or street happenings (This need is felt after performance appraisal for some introspection) To enjoy the rain while still in Symbolically it also represents our willingness to be open to the world. Opens and closes our interface with the outside world

For the purpose of this discussion let us take up only one key function to identify contradiction associated with it, let us say we have windows because we want to have better ventilation which also helps in keeping the air quality , temperature inside the room to a comfortable limit.( we live in concrete jungles, arent we?). During the day we want windows to be open, during night we want them to be half closed or completely closed, in summer we need air circulation so we keep

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windows open, or completely closed (in case we use air conditioner) , in monsoon we want to prevent rain water coming inside the house so close it then etc. The system needs to cater all these requirements, I want the window to be as open or close as I want (partial, and infinitely variable etc at different times. If we see from a TRIZ perspective this is a physical contradiction in time and need to be solved by looking at the relevant inventive principles. The inventive principles that can be used are Dynamics, Preliminary Action, Periodic Action, Beforehand Cushioning, Partial or excessive action, skipping, copying, mechanical vibration, Thermal expansion, Discarding & Recovering, Preliminary Anti-action, Continuity of Useful Action If we just look at the top most principle Dynamism which says Split an object or system into parts capable of moving relative to each other; if an object or system is rigid or inflexible, make it movable or adaptable The result is sliding widows; we see these windows have fast become part of our homes replacing the normal ones. (At the left in following figure) Sometime we wish that we have all sliding windows, however there is one contradiction with them; they can never be fully opened as window frame boundary limits their full opening. Look at figure 1. So in case of 4 sliding windows, the total open area at any given time is three quarter. if you have 2 sliding windows then it is half open. Let us examine the contradiction and see whether we can generate some useful ideas which can satisfy our basic function (having opportunity for ventilation)

Figure 1 : Normal Windows to Sliding Windows but they can open only 3/4 the area, For better ventilation, w want more air to come in and more to go out (so more can come in). e This will be only possible if the air inside moves faster without any obstruction. So we dive into 1 contradiction matrix to identify which parameters represent our situation the best. After careful examination we find the parameter which we are trying to improve (maximize) is Amount of substance (air) and its speed (the received air needs to be moved at a higher speed for better ventilation) and the parameter that goes worst (or parameter stopping from achieving the desired improvement) is the frame area, Matrix Parameter : Area of the stationary object. The inventive principles that the matrix gives us are listed in the following table. Many great inventors/ innovators have used these principles when encountered with the similar problems, it means we are in possession of their ideas now. Refer Contradiction table on the following page.

th

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Parameters We Would Like To Improve 1. Amount of Substance 2. Speed

Parameters Worst

That

Goes

Inventive Principles

Area of the stationary object

35 Parameter Changes 31- Porus Materials 04 Asymmetry 05 Merging 03- Local Quality 17 Another Dimension 14 Curvature 13- The Other Way Round 02 Taking Out 40- Composite Materials

Let us list the elements of the system and try to apply each of these inventive principles to them to see whether we can generate some useful solutions. T elements & possible attributes are he identified in the table below. Elements/ Resources of our living spaces Living Room Balcony Floor Window Frame Curtain Window Glass Building Material Free Space around window Atmosphere around our building Idea Generation with Inventive Principles 1. Another Dimension Let us consider principle 17 Another Dimension If an object contains or moves in a straight line , consider use of dimensions or movement outside the line; if an object contains or moves in a plane, consider use of dimensions or movement outside the plane The window shown in the figure 2 has used this principle, it has marble/ granite flat tile running parallel to the parapet length and going outside the boundary, so the sliding windows goes out and thus you get a completely opened window. Useful attributes of these elements Length, Height, Width Geometry Temp gradient Length, Height, Width Flexibility, Porosity, Material Properties Hardness, Transparency Porosity, Temperature Gradient All dimensions of space Wind Speed, Direction etc

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Figure 2 : Sliding Windows using TRIZ principle 17 ( Another Dimension) Can we see whether we can generate some idea with our system elment; b alcony, in modern building the buider provides balcony which is outside and hanging in free spaces.( Open Balcony, builder cashes free money from the dweller, using free space resource ) These balconies can be used by the occupants for breathing fresh air ( we are in , we are out). In case you fear tanning, water-sprinkled roof might help you. Following pictures show these balconies. These balconies bear some analogy with our nose, they are external, still their help all our internal system, by taking fresh air in) Refer Figure 3.

Figure 3 : Curved and Protruded Balconies

2.

Porous Material The principle reads Make an object porous or add porus elements; If an object is already porous, add something useful into the porus. Can we make glass porus, not sure, can we replace glass with some porus object. The fine nets which are fixed in the window frame allow fresh air to comes, ( protects from mosquitoes ) without window being open, in case we want window to be closed, but the air to come in, then this option can work for us. Refer Figure 4 below.

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Figure 4 : Windows with glass in two frames and nets in the remaining two 3. Taking Out Principle The principle reads extraction of unnecessary part can we take out the something from the balcony wall, French windows are the best to maximize the air flow, and they are big and allow lot of air to come in. 4. Local Quality The principle reads When an object or system is uniform then make it not uniform, the glass windows can be two with nets and two with glass. In case you feel privacy will get affected then use curtains. (Another contradiction, another solution) The principle further reads Change the things around the system from uniform to nonuniform. The things around the system is outside air, we can use a fan which can suck the air in ( in case there is a power cut, then may be a generator can help us) in any case you have a fan rotating above your head. Air conditioning/ exhaust fans are some of the artificial means to move the air and keep your house breathing. In case you are lucky enough to live by the sea side, the gushing wind will solve all your ventilation problems as the wind pressure (external environment) will drive out the air inside your house and there will be a continuous flow of air. Your home can breathe naturally, just as we do when we visit sea shore. Thank god that we have sea surrounding us in Mumbai and there are no concrete jungles there as yet. To buy a house near sea side could be the costliest ventilation proposal. Enable each part of a system to function in locally optimized conditions. In case there is no power, we use hand fans to move the polluted / stagnant air away from us, so that amount of less polluted / fresh air can come in. By this way, we are trying to use above principle. . Asymmetry Most of the free air is blocked by the buildings in front of your building then better town planning could be the answer. But in case you have asymmetrical building layouts, it might help (example another buildings garden in front of your building and vice a versa)

5.

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6.

Curvature Some of the building side walls are curved; this allows an unrestricted flow without losing wind pressure. Protruded Curved balconies can also guide the air flow in your house.

Conclusion: The discussion does not claim that ideas generated here are the only ventilation solutions, one can further generate more ideas. However it is an attempt to demystify & demonstrate use of contradiction matrix of TRIZ to generate several ideas for our day to day concerns. In solving any problem or finding any opportunity, we come across several contradiction chains. Each of these chains can only be solved by defining the root contradictions correctly. Talking clearly and using simple words, correct contradictions are formulated. One way of improving observation power is to think about contradictions, if all can not be solved then still it is sagacious to stay one ahead of others. References : 1. Matrix 2003 Updating the TRIZ Contradiction Matrix; Darrell Mann, Simon Dewulf, Boris Zlotin, Alla Zusman; CREAX Press

PS : All photographs are taken by the author for the purpose of this discussion.

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