Stop With the Glass Façades Already

agree completely. The problem for architects with large curtain wall buildings is what to use instead. Glass somehow sets itself apart from the horrid looking lightweight cladding panels that are the default alternatives; suggestions please treehugger! lets see some sustainable cladding panel material.
I also think that the vernacular window height and position in the wall translates very badly to this kind of large apartment building in cities; it's no longer appropriate to have a window made for looking straight out that can't see the street.

I think, in a few years, it will be economical to leave the top floors vacant, and use them as heat concentrators for heat engines! All you need is a source of relative cool, and you could run ventilation fans to cool the rest of the building.

I am not getting this . . . a graduate student with a stylish $1.5M apartment and $20k sofa set? It sounds like she's not hurting for anything, if she can spend money like that. What am I missing in the story?

Typical WSJ article caring about how terrible it is to be 23 years old and suffering while having such luxurious habits. Most of us just get angry reading about it. Waste of time, waste of energy... "You'd better pick beige interiors, because everything is going to become beige in two years."

Get a life.

Wait. A 23 year-old grad student that lives in a $1.5 million condo and has a $20,000 sofa?

At least the windows give the homeowner the option of light. A variety of films and frostings can be applied to control the level of light passage. And like some of the other comments, if one can afford a 1.5mil apartment and 20k couch, then affording window screenings should not be an issue.

She clearly had a different graduate school experience than I did. I remember it as bundling up to afford the heating bill and living in the design school ghetto of Cambridge, MA

One thing to keep in mind is the use of exterior and interior shading and daylight management tools. While they would present an upfront investment, energy modeling has shown that shading devices can significantly reduce the initial investment required in cooling equipment, as well as lower operating costs over the lifecycle of the building. In addition, occupants usually report a higher quality of life and increased productivity. With some of the shading devices being designed today, I think they actually enhance the aesthetics of the building - especially some of these controllable systems. I'd love to show off to my friends my intelligent, external controllable shading system. In fact, I'd favour that over a $20,000 couch!!!!

The problem is not the use of glass, it's overconsumption.

To be fair, it was a "pair" of sofas :-P

In response to Dave's comment and call for suggestions:

Lloyd, I've spent the past year traveling and speaking with world experts on solar shading and daylighting, and I'd be happy to provide you with some of my research if we could get a post out there on the advantages of solar shading.

It almost offends me to see an article out there like this!!! As someone passionate about the potential for solar shading and energy savings, maybe it's time to get architects and designers thinking about this stuff from the start. From the initial concept, I'd love to see architects think "Yes, my building will be this material, this many stories, this beautiful roof, and yes, it will have effective solar shading!"

Lloyd, if there's any opportunity for a post on this, I'd be happy to contribute whatever I can. kevin.paul.morris@gmail.com

With a set up like that.... is she single?!

Forget the "personal interest", the following is the environmentally important part of the article

The big step in building we need: Change the building code

so that it doesn't demand a minimum R-value of a component such as the solid wall (of which there is almost none) but an average over the entire wall. Then if a builder wants to do a lot of glass, it better be high-performance stuff. No more floor-to-ceiling glass with an R-value of 4.

@Dave

One of Lloyd's suggestion's to other architects was -- use higher R value glass solutions ( ie additions and/or systems) for those architects who could no give up on the glass walls.

you get what you pay for.

a lot of architects wouldn't design like this because it' obviously doesn't work. but clients with huge pocketbooks and even bigger egos don't hire architects like that. they hire architects that will do exactly what they want without debate. developers build condos that look good in ads and walkthroughs... never mind how it actually functions.

people who live in these condos get what they deserve... but the fact that they are standing on the backs of the rest of us is sickening.

bottom line:

architects need to grow spines
private clients need to grow brains
developers need to grow hearts

This is a joke right? When I was a student we purposely put our Salvation Army couch out in the sun to bleach the stains away...

They are called window treatments for starters. They protect against excess heat and light as well as the dozens of perverts that probably watched her every move.

This is a great point! While a lot of progress has been made with respect to window technology, the very best ones are still only about an R-5. Chances are the windows are barely getting an R-3, even if they are what would be considered "good" windows. To put this in perspective, that's about the same R-value as an uninsulated wood 2x4. I don't know how many people would drop $1.5 million to live in an uninsulated space, but that's basically what's happening if the walls are all glass. It would be great if building codes were changed to allow only a certain percentage of the wall be glass.

For all of the agita over curtain walls, could it be possible that the energy used to cool the building during the summer could be largely offset by the abundant free solar heat it receives in the winter?

A couple of things here.

First, absolutely, the building codes must change, but this is difficult since building codes are set at the state and local level. I'm pretty sure there's no way to mandate this nationally.

Second, it's more efficient to cool places than it is to heat them. While it would be crazy to build floor to ceiling south facing glass in Arizona, in New York, your winter heating bill would probably be much less. The article doesn't mention it, but I wonder what kind of effect this has during the winter?

Well love, it's called *curtains*. They would have prevented most of the problems listed here. Of course, they wouldn't really help much on the whole efficiency front...

Big glass facades do have their place in architecture - they belong in south-facing walls in passiv-haus buildings in coldish/moderate climates.

"For all of the agita over curtain walls, could it be possible that the energy used to cool the building during the summer could be largely offset by the abundant free solar heat it receives in the winter?"

Effectively this is a poorly designed passive solar house, so not only does it gain heat in summer, in winter it probably has so much excessive glazing it loses more heat at night than it gains during the daytime.

Every building is effectively a passive solar design, some just weren't intentionally so, and are really bad as a result.

Window tint would be another cheap solution and wouldn't block the views.

^ Bram nailed it.

A few people have hit on the solution - controlled daylighting with light diffusing or directing materials. These glazings are up to and over R15 and are designed not to replace vision glass, but to replace solid walls to meet the architects aestethic and the owner's needs.

Several buildings around the world use light diffused glazings, including the Museo De Arte de Ponce in Puerto Rico (paintings in daylight are possible), Cirque du Soleil's National Circus School in Montreal, Quebec and Kirkwood Community College Recreation Center, Cedar Rapids, Iowa (glare reduction is important on shiny floors and for trapeze artists). The Port Hawksbury Civic Centre on Cape Breton Island hosted a world curling event in their well daylit areana with no detriment to the ice quality.

Many school boards are attempting to have the building code changed to include daylight in classrooms and the biggest complaint given is that LCD projectors are difficult to use without blackout curtains!!!

Anyhow, I maintain that this apartment should have a lovely glass facade - with R15+, light diffusing glazings rather than windows :)

A univestity graduate who's never heard of shades and venetian blinds??!

Speaking of glass on facades, Lord Foster and Partners' Commerzbank in Frankfurt is a project worth studying as an example of why glass is indeed suitable for facades. And no, Bendheim was not involved.

Here is another energy-efficient project with glass - in this case Viracon is the manufacturer, http://www.glassonweb.com/news/index/8262/.

I never understood why anyone would want an all glass exterior for any reason. Privacy aside, how could you be surprised that there would be too much light? Reading at the beach is pure hell. Or maybe my eyes are just sensitive, I don't know? I hardly ever open the curtains in my house. It's too hot. Too much light. And I feel too exposed. It just stuns me that anyone would think that completely glass walls would really make for a comfortable environment.

But, then, given a choice, I'm one of the people who'd rather sit inside a restaurant in Summer even though everyone else is sitting on the hot concrete slab outside the restaurant enjoying the beautiful smells and sounds and delivery trucks and SUVs rumbling by.

i think if an architect wants only an exterior look for the building then he must make a wall and then clad it with the glass, leaving openings at the contemporary window heights

and also avoiding glass facade on southern face makes a true sense

I'm surprised no one said anything about using plants to block the sun. A little hydroponic action and you could grow a surplus of fruits and vegetables; the plants would probably even improve the air quality since the windows don't open.

Another cool addition would be an accordion style set of photovoltaics or water heating panels that could easily be opened and closed and for a couple more dollars it could even be automated.

Hi Iam a specifier of glass to be used in buildings in Soutth Africa , There are systems to be used but they are up to 3 times the price , consumers and proffesionals need to be educated and cities or goverments need to give tax breaks to those who use the optimal product and reduce all the negatives in this regard . It can be done , West should be a BRICK wall