Output details

Potential of emerging glazing technologies for highly glazed buildings in hot arid climates

Significance of output:

Highly glazed towers with their large air conditioning loads are the default architecture for most of the world’s rapidly growing cities. These buildings drive the 22 billion Euro float glass industry, according to Pilkington, accounting for 80% of worldwide demand with an annual production of 4.4 billion m2. This paper assesses under what economic conditions smart glazing technologies will emerge as viable alternatives in hot arid climates. Here, smart glazing includes super insulating glass, switchable light transmission and photovoltaic electricity generating coatings. This paper provides the performance benchmarks that these technologies must reach before they can become mass market.