An "intelligent" glass facade makes use of self-regulating thermal protection and solar control measures to adapt in a dynamic, "living" way to changing light and weather conditions. In this way it meets the requirements of the building's users and at the same time reduces energy consumption levels. By optimum use of natural, renewable energy sources such as solar radiation and air flows, it can play a mayor part in protecting our environment. Intelligent glass facades are of particular ecological and economic importance in the kind of fully glazed buildings which until now needed full air-conditioning. Intelligent facades are capable of achieving a significant reduction in emissions and thus do not contribute to the greenhouse effect in the earth's atmosphere; investment and operating costs for the relevant building systems are kept as low as possible. After an introductory chapter "Glass, the Material", the individual chapters of this monograph divide the building skins according to the number of layers of glass in the facade, each type being illustrated with carefully chosen examples. At the begin the composition and surface treatments of the different types of glass pane are described. Following this is a description of the multi-layered assemblies of laminated and insulating glass, together with a look at the options available for filling the cavity, from thin films to thicker integrated units with insulating and light-defecting properties. The final chapter deals with the various ways of using the different types of glass in single-skin and multi-skin facades, in conjunction with additional solar control measures. This chapter finishes with a close look at intelligent glass facades, notable not only for their special construction, but for the interaction between facade and building services.
The present work seeks to acquaint the reader with the new glass products and, by means of technical summaries and built examples, to illustrate possibilities for their use. As such it also aims to present a joint basis for a dialogue between architects, facade planners and building engineers.