Sustainability Driven Trends and Innovation in Glass and Glazing

Increased global urbanization has caused tall buildings to become an inevitable building form making the façade and especially the glazing areas of paramount importance for the overall heat loss and heat gain of the building. The substantial technological advances in insulating glass and glazing systems made during the past 25 years have improved the possibility for designing well-functioning buildings with glass as the major material for the building envelope. More recently, sustainable design principles have begun to drive certain macro-trends in construction that are also starting to affect façade design, requiring reduced energy consumption, cradle-to-grave material and component assessment, and measures to improve the well-being and safety of building occupants. Emerging new glass and glazing technologies are driven by sustainable design. The paper discusses in detail technologies for improved thermal insulation glazing (novel low E coatings, gas-filling, warm-edge spacers, aerogel filled glazing, vacuum glazing). The contributions of silicone materials to energy savings and sustainability of glazing systems are highlighted in a few examples.