by Shane Henson — December 9, 2013—Minneapolis-St. Paul-based SAGE Electrochromics , a wholly owned subsidiary of building materials giant Saint-Gobain of Paris, recently announced that its dynamic SageGlass was chosen to transform a leaky metal roof on the U.S. Naval Academy’s Macdonough Hall into a glass roof delivering abundant daylight and energy savings and the ability to tint on demand.
Macdonough Hall is one of the original buildings constructed on the Naval Academy campus, and today serves as an athletic facility. The new roof is part of a three-year, $8.5 million renovation that helped turn the aging building into one of the nation’s premier gymnastics facilities.
When the metal roof required replacement, the Navy saw an opportunity to bring daylight to the dim interior by adding more skylights. But Navy architect Tony Freitag said he wanted to go one step further: he sought to improve the building’s energy performance and maximize daylighting by replacing the metal roof with one made of glass.
“The challenge was, if we made an all-glass roof, how would we avoid ‘poaching the people inside of the building,’ so to speak. The space is already hot and humid, so controlling solar heat gain was a major concern,” Freitag said.
SageGlass proved to be an ideal solution. SageGlass is electronically tintable dynamic glass that maximizes daylight and outdoor views in buildings while controlling glare and heat gain. The glass can darken or clear automatically or manually to save energy and help keep building occupants continuously comfortable throughout the day.
Those who have experienced the space since the addition of the SageGlass skylight have expressed enthusiasm about the improved atmosphere, says Freitag.
“The SageGlass skylight creates a bright space with natural light and enhances the daylight in adjacent spaces as well. Everyone I’ve talked to, including the athletic department and military leaders, believe it’s a vast improvement,” he said.
In addition to saving energy and improving the ambiance of the space, SageGlass also offers a “fun” benefit: the ability to program the glass to spell out a customized message. During the Navy/Air Force football game held in October, school officials programmed the panes of SageGlass to spell out “GO NAVY” for the sporting world to see.
