26/08/2015
Complex sustainable design is increasingly driving emerging new glass and glazing technologies.
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New design is 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.
Indeed, 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.
In tall buildings, with a high ratio of façade-to-roof surface areas, the façade and especially the glazing areas are of paramount importance for the overall heat loss and heat gain of the building.
The manner in which glazing is incorporated into a complete fenestration system and then the building façade, and then how the building façade is integrated into the entire building, will be increasingly important in future.
To facilitate some of these macro-trends effectively, driven by sustainable design, we at Sika are constantly developing new glass and glazing technologies.
For example, it is particularly important within insulating glass units, double or triple, that minimal levels of water vapour penetrate into the space between the panes and, in the case of noble gas-filled units, the gas loss should be minimal, as stipulated in BS EN 1279. We are so committed to sustainable R & D that our products offer this advantage and meet and exceed this standard.
Furthermore, in strictly following and setting new benchmarks in best practice for developing sustainable products, we work closely with the Building Research Establishments Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREEAM).
BREEAM sets the standard for best practice in sustainable building design, construction and operation and has become one of the most comprehensive and widely recognised measures of a building's environmental performance.
We can significantly help designers and clients here with our high strength structural glazing adhesives systems which allow filigree frames with smaller adhesive joint dimensions, allowing natural light to flood in! A big bonus and contributor to meeting the ‘health & wellbeing’ considerations discussed by BREEAM.
We work in partnership with designers, specifiers and contractors to find the most appropriate solutions alongside new design, and will continue to share these benefits with our customers and their own clients to create efficiencies using sustainable product application at every stage