Glass Technologies

Catalog description

Glass has become one of the favored envelope materials of contemporary architecture. The latest thin- film coatings reduce emission and control the amount of solar radiation transmitted indoors. Other technologies make glass translucent or transparent in seconds or allow to generate energy. However, in most projects the environment of a building is not properly taken into account and it has come short to harmonize material based performance criteria such as visible light transmission, heat gain/loss and ventilation and to connect them to the appearance of the building. Changes are required not just in technology, but also in people's behavior. Incentives such as Building LEED certifications certainly help but a more significant impact can be achieved through policy changes that require a more energy efficient way of designing a building. During this Semester, the students will learn about innovative glass technologies and internalize this knowledge when analyzing and critically discussing case studies of real buildings. They will learn to use this knowledge to improve the glass façade of an existing buildings (three buildings will be given as choice). The students will be asked to improve the current design while focusing on appearance, interior heat gain, enhance natural light quality for vital space interaction and comfort and maintain regulated air flow. The final results shall be showcased on a Poster (size 24” x 36”). The progress of the project will be enhanced throughout weekly assignments.