Buildings with solid glass exteriors

[City_boy12]

Are buildings with solid glass exteriors harder to heat and cool, or no because the glass can be tinted and double painted? If they are harder to heat and cool, why are so many buildings built like that today? Can you make a building look as if it has a glass glaze but actually have the inside walls not be walls of windows???

[Coldrsx]

first off... 'paned'...double paned.

Glass has a lower R value than say an insulated wall but generally you have a window there anyways so it is portion of the wall that is more insulated versus say curtain wall.

Many towers are build like that because of:

1. architectural look/style
2. design standards
3. precedent of its competing towers
4. speed of construction

"Can you make a building look as if it has a glass glaze but actually have the inside walls not be walls of windows???"

of course, you can do anything. Remember that a large portion of those "windows" are not open usable space behind it... but slab, HVAC spacing etc.

You can do amazing buildings without curtain wall though, look at gems like the empire state, chrysler etc.

[1ajs]

u can also have an inner and outer wall of glass with windows that open on both walls

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3080/2877371495_2ddde1fc41_o.jpg

[City_boy12]

So a building with a glass glaze doesn't always have solid window walls everywhere inside?

[Coldrsx]

^while the outside might be all glass, that sqft of exterior glass is not all window per se on the interior.

http://images.google.ca/images?um=1&hl=en&q=curtain+wall+detail

[City_boy12]

So basically you could have a building where the outside looks like this...
http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/7930/101b0144xs6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
while the inside looks like this...
http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/9451/insidedk6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)???
(Both pics from google images)

[Glazier Man]

You will be lucky if you have an R Value of 5 with a thermally broken Curtain wall or Unitized Panel System... At the Slab, you have an Insulated Galvanized Back-Pan with a Glass Panel, Single Glazied Tempered Spandel, with no insulating properties, but does generate a lot of heat with the radiant heat of the sun...anyway....don't be fooled into thinking you will have any kind of efficientcy with R values with window design....you get temp defelection that ultimately is controlled with mechanical heating systems inside....Yes, we would like to look outside of the buildings we inhabit...

[City_boy12]

that means nothing to me. what is R value?

[Glazier Man]

google it City Boy

[Coldrsx]

google it City Boy

haha... that made me laugh

[Coldrsx]

A material’s R-value is the measure of its resistance to heat flow. The way it works is simple: the higher the R-value, the more the material insulates.

[Coldrsx]

You will be lucky if you have an R Value of 5 with a thermally broken Curtain wall or Unitized Panel System... At the Slab, you have an Insulated Galvanized Back-Pan with a Glass Panel, Single Glazied Tempered Spandel, with no insulating properties, but does generate a lot of heat with the radiant heat of the sun...anyway....don't be fooled into thinking you will have any kind of efficientcy with R values with window design....you get temp defelection that ultimately is controlled with mechanical heating systems inside....Yes, we would like to look outside of the buildings we inhabit...

unless you use http://www.visionwall.com/

R8 baby!

[City_boy12]

All I know is that almost all the green buildings I've seen in photos are glassy (and no they are not in all Northern Europe). Take for example the new Bank of America Tower (http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/10/02/serge-appel-on-one-bryant-park/#more-10275) in NY. It is glassy and was named the greenest skyscraper in the world. It is said to have glass that minimizes solar heat gain while maximizing daytime light. And look what this says: http://www.visionwall.com/Html%20Files/featuresbenefits.htm

[Coldrsx]

glass buildings can do some things very well and other things not as well, but overall it is a very good material (done right and paired with a good envelope) for most buildings.

[City_boy12]

So in some ways are they better for the environment compared to othe rmaterials?

[Coldrsx]

^there are always tradeoffs.

You could build a square box with no windows and 4 feet of insulation...sure it would high a high R value and be warm, but would you want to work there?

Glass has a low R value and thermal issues for comfort control, but it provides natural light, potential for operable windows/ventilation, and architecturally is hot.

[City_boy12]

Glass has a low R value and thermal issues for comfort control
So therefore it is bad to have glass as a curtain wall?

[Coldrsx]

^not at all... it is inferior to say an EIFS for R value but makes up for it in many other ways.

do some research dog