by Shane Henson — February 13, 2012—SAGE Electrochomics, the manufacturer of an electronically tintable glass for windows, skylights and curtain walls, is rapidly becoming a go-to company for businesses wanting to improve energy efficiency without sacrificing the beauty of their buildings.
Most recently, the University of Kansas’s School of Architecture used the SageGlass product to achieve a sleek, energy-efficient curtain wall design while controlling the sun’s harmful effects in its new award-winning Center for Design Research (CDR) building.
SageGlass is a dynamic window glazing that electronically changes tint throughout the day to control daylight while maintaining the view to the outdoors. It was used to construct a butt-glazed curtain wall that forms most of the CDR building’s south façade.
The stone-and-glass facility, which was designed and built by students, is a model of sustainability. It recently won an Acknowledgement Award in the prestigious 2011 Holcim Award for Energy Efficient projects in North America. The CDR was also designed to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum standards, and is one of the first commercial buildings in North America to seek PassivHaus certification.
The CDR is located on a former farm in the school’s west campus and serves as a collaborative research facility for students and faculty. Its mission is to foster innovation in energy-efficient building design and small-scale energy technologies, as well as development of smart devices, systems and applications.
SageGlass was selected for both its design aesthetics and functionality, according to Dan Rockhill, a J.L. Constant Distinguished Professor of Architecture and the project’s leader.
“We wanted to create a taut exterior glass skin to emphasize the building’s stone construction and to fit in with the architectural vernacular of the other stone buildings on the farm,” Rockhill said. “SageGlass enabled us to achieve that design goal. It eliminated the need to install louvers to shade the south façade and prevent overheating. It also helped us achieve LEED points by reducing our artificial lighting requirements.”
In addition to preventing excessive heat gain and fading in warm seasons, the SageGlass curtain wall fronts a 10-inch-thick masonry Trombe wall, which absorbs the sun’s rays to provide much of the building’s heat during the winter.
