Special Anniversary Edition METAL & GLAZING ® THE MAGAZINE OF RECORD FOR ARCHITECTURAL GLASS INDUSTRY LEADERS VOLUME 50, ISSUE 8 AUGUST 2015 Inside: The People, Companies and Stories That Changed the Glass Industry Free Subscriptions Available at www.glass.com/subcenter LARGEST CIRCULATION OF ANY GLASS MAGAZINE Reactive, Interactive Capabilities to Mark Tomorrow’s Glass Structures by Megan Headley 68 USGlass, Metal & Glazing | August 2015 www.usglassmag.com lass has undergone a remarkable moisture levels or sunlight will result in transformation in the last 50 a related change from the façade that Gyears. Float glass was a new will optimize thermal comfort for product in the 1960s, low-E didn’t emerge building inhabitants. until 1981 and only in the last decade have Daniel Safarik, editor for the Council we seen the explosion of glass integrated on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat in with heating elements, photovoltaics, dy- Chicago, says the research he sees is in namic shading and even touchscreen ca- sync with this proposal. “In general, we pabilities. Given the rapid rate of can expect to see more environmentally innovation during the last five decades, it’s responsive skyscrapers than we have mind-boggling to imagine what the next today,” Safarik says. “That could mean 50 years might hold. A sneak peek at incorporation of greenery such as green some of the wildest emerging design and walls, vertical farming and harvesting construction trends of today reveals a ma- of wind forces at height via turbines. terial that is increasingly more responsive But it also means better urban environ- to the environment. ments—more transparency at the street level and human scale (which of Throwing the Gauntlet course means glass), more variation In “It’s Alive,” a February 2013 report along the height of the building to re- forecasting the characteristics of build- flect atmospheric, functional and adja- ings in 2050, global structural engi- cent contextual conditions, and more neering firm Arup proposes that integration of the best parts of hori- reactive façades—which respond to zontal living (gardens, walkable ameni- environmental conditions—will be the ties) at various heights through devices norm. The report predicts that highly such as skybridges.” multi-functional façades will provide Buildings won’t simply be interacting everything from energy to food to inte- with the environment, though. If re- grated communication. searchers have their way, they’ll also be By 2050, Arup adds, photovoltaics interacting with inhabitants. will be available in paint form for easy “Buildings are being designed to mass coverage. Nanoparticle treat- complement people’s lifestyles, which ments applied to façades will neutral- have become less traditional over the ize airborne pollutants and help clean years. Architects are creating buildings the air around them. Of course, any change in temperature, wind patterns, continued on page 70 Building integrated photovoltaics, such as the 392-square-foot installation by Bagatelos Architectural Glass at the Sacramento Municipal Utility Building, represent a technology that the industry could see more of in the future. www.usglassmag.com August 2015 | USGlass, Metal & Glazing 69 continued from page 69 that allow people to interact effectively, Communication Medium any given moment,” he says. “For exam- whether they are at work, home or a The Arup report also predicts that fu- ple, if a person wants to hear the birds public space,” says Roger Watson, vice ture façades will provide integrated chirping outside, but not the traffic, president of sales and marketing for communication, and it’s an expectation they could maybe adjust the acoustics Saint-Gobain Glass. “Glass plays an im- that other researchers share. of their window to achieve their desired portant role in how people interact, as “We expect windows and glass to be level of comfort. Advanced technology it’s a very diverse material. There will be multi-functional—glass will be interac- provides the ability to regulate emotion, a greater demand for glass that is mul- tive and act as another medium for trans- and this type of intelligence will extend tifunctional, providing people with the porting information,” Watson predicts. to windows—people will have the abil- ability to not just see what’s happening Touchscreens are already being ex- ity to control their personal habitat.” outside, but really be connected with plored in retail applications by companies It turns out this is a not-so-distant pos- the elements around them through such as Panasonic, Corning and Samsung sibility. Ericsson, the Stockholm-based sound filtration and tinting to adjust (see December 2013 USGlass, page 40), but provider of communications technology the level of sunlight,” he predicts. Watson suggests that interaction may take solutions, launched its “Window of Op- These characteristics may not be the more subtle directions as well. portunity” exploration project in 2013 to norm today, but they are already being “People will have the ability to con- explored by researchers. trol the environment around them at continued on page 72 Will Skyscrapers Still Wear Glass in the Future? hile we can’t really predict over 2,000 feet—or twice the height consider this: with the exception of the design trends in 50 years, of the Eiffel Tower. Prior to the com- Burj Khalifa and Makkah Royal Clock Wwe can expect that build- pletion of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, Tower, all of the tallest 20 buildings in ings in upcoming decades will con- this building type did not exist. Yet, the year 2020 are not yet built. tinue to grow taller. Within this according to the Council of Tall And of the projected list below, can decade, we will likely witness not Buildings and Urban Habitat, by you guess how many are expected to only the world’s first kilometer-tall 2020 we can expect at least eight be clad in glass? Spoiler alert: building, but also the completion of such buildings around the world. Mecca’s Royal Clock Tower is the sin- a significant number of buildings If that doesn’t boggle your mind, gle exception. The Tallest 20 in 2020 Rank Tower Location Height Scheduled Completion 1. Kingdom Tower Jedda, Saudi Arabia 3,281 feet 2019 2. Burj Khalifa Dubai, United Arab Emirates 2,723 feet 2010 3. Ping An Finance Center Shenzhen, China 2,165 feet 2016 4. Seoul Light DMC Tower Seoul, South Korea 2,101 feet NA 5. Signature Tower Jakarta Jakarta, Indonesia 2,093 feet 2020 6. Shanghai Tower Shanghai, China 2,073 feet 2015 7. Wuhan Greenland Center Wuhan, China 2,087 feet 2017 8. Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel Mecca, Saudi Arabia 1,972 feet 2012 9. Golden Finance 117 Tianjin, China 1,957 feet 2016 10. Lotte World Tower Seoul, South Korea 1,824 feet 2016 11. Doha Convention Center Tower Doha, Qatar 1,808 feet NA 12. One World Trade Center New York, United States 1,792 feet 2014 13. The CTF Guangzhou Guangzhou, China 1,739 feet 2016 14. Tianjin CTF Binhai Center Tianjin, China 1,739 feet 2018 15. Dalian Greenland Center Dalian, China 1,699 feet 2018 16. Pentominium Dubai, United Arab Emirates 1,693 feet NA 17. Busan Lotte Town Tower Busan, South Korea 1,674 feet 2020 18. Taipei 101 Taipei, Taiwan 1,667 feet 2004 19. Kaisa Feng Long Center Shenzhen, China 1,640 feet NA 20. Shanghai World Financial Center Shanghai, China 1,622 feet 2008 Source: Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat 70 USGlass, Metal & Glazing | August 2015 www.usglassmag.com continued from page 70 test what happens when ordinary win- dows act as connectors. According to in- formation from the company, by using a transparent antenna, an ordinary win- dow could easily become part of the mo- bile broadband network, boosting indoor coverage for an improved mobile experi- ence inside buildings. Jan Hederen, strategy manager of De- velopment Unit Radio for Ericsson, says that using the window to boost signals may be a first step toward a new way of thinking about communication. “Com- munication is everywhere and plays out as the bridge between different services such as energy, security, media display, interac- tion and communication with the network in itself (as a gateway to the Internet).” What about communicating mes- sages to external viewers? For several years, glass has been a part of the Jan Hederén, strategy manager, development unit radio, Ericsson, trendy “media façades,” where glass in- demonstrates the clarity in a working connected window. tegrated with LEDs can switch instantly from building to billboard. Tomorrow’s (eliminate/lower the need for air con- to that distributed network (e.g. temper- technologies, however, may improve the ditioning). That is then two ways to ature, wind speed, pressure, humidity). resolution of these pixelated pictures. save energy. Further on, there are trans- All in all, that could serve as perfect input Dr. Alan McLenaghan, CEO of SAGE parent solar cells (in early lab tests at data to how the windows behave,” he says. Electrochromics Inc., a wholly owned the moment, but also soon to enter pro- Windows that see the weather coming subsidiary of Saint-Gobain, suggests, duction) which then change the ‘win- and adapt to meet it? It’s a close step to “Ten years from now, I expect glass to dow-life’ into being part of the Arup’s prediction of future façades that be able to heat a building, keep it cool, energy-production grid,” Hederen says. adapt to changes in temperature, wind and even change the façade by incor- patterns, moisture levels or sunlight. porating messaging or designs. Imag- ine the impact of a Super Bowl host city I don’t know of a Photovoltaics displaying team names and logos on single example of a In Arup’s future, harnessing solar en- the side of a 50-story building—all ergy will be as simple as applying a done just through the software control- net-zero-ready façade coating to your building.