New Glass Lets Light Shine In, But Not the Heat

Posted on April 7, 2008 by Joyce Benson   Add a Comment |
Tag(s): Energy, Green Building

Buildings that have 40% of their exteriors covered in glass don’t have to tolerate overheating any longer.  It took five years and over $1 million in engineering costs, but Apogee’s building glass subsidiary Viracon, of Minnesota, has created a sustainable architectural glass called CrystalGray.

The energy efficient glass uses a special coating that bends light, shielding out hot rays of sun in the summer and holding in heat in the winter.  This allows for a brightly lit interior space without the uncomfortable and inefficient warm interior temperatures.  The new glass is expected to significantly reduce a building’s electrical [heating and cooling] consumption.  It even complies with LEED credit requirements for those building to the high performance standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Source:  StarTribune.com

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