{"id":294,"date":"2014-09-03T01:29:09","date_gmt":"2014-09-03T08:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/sumi\/?p=294"},"modified":"2015-06-12T22:29:49","modified_gmt":"2015-06-13T05:29:49","slug":"build-a-window-workshop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/sumi\/2014\/09\/03\/build-a-window-workshop\/","title":{"rendered":"Build a window workshop"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Link<\/a>
Cutting out the sun. Photo by Sam Hughes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There’s more to window technology than putting together sheets of\u00a0glass.\u00a0Some claim you can feel\u00a010\u00b0C cooler inside with more efficient windows…how do they do it?<\/em><\/p>\n

I moved in to a great new apartment with big windows and bright rooms. Unfortunately, summer and\u00a0west-facing makes a\u00a0dreading\u00a0hot room in the\u00a0evening.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why some big bold letters \u201cfeel 10\u00b0C cooler\u201d\u00a0caught my eye. It was advertising a new window product\u00a0that effectively turns a normal window into a double-paned (or double-glazed) window<\/a>. Another exaggerated ad, I thought. Sunlight through a window is like pouring boiling water into a\u00a0ceramic mug \u2013 it might not burn immediately, but the heat still seeps through and I wouldn’t want to\u00a0touch it.<\/p>\n

\"Link<\/a>
Window from wikipedia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, reading further I found\u00a0that a high-tech energy efficient window was not only a simple sandwich of glass + air + glass.\u00a0You can make this setup a slightly more efficient thermal insulator with some crafty\u00a0materials science:<\/p>\n

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  1. Choose your layers:<\/strong> double or triple-paned? Even\u00a0quadruple<\/a> and quintuple layered glass<\/a>\u00a0have been created\u00a0for use in extremely cold regions. The air between the glass layers slows the heat transfer from one side of the window\u00a0to the other, helping (I emphasize \u201chelp\u201d) temperature control.\u00a0Therefore, the more layers, the better the insulation, but the windows will be\u00a0bulkier and heavier.\n

    \"Link<\/a>
    Layers of glass at a metro entrance. Photo by Ganymedes Costagravas.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>\n
  2. Choose your filling:<\/strong> Replace the air between the glass layers with argon, krypton, or xenon gas. These gases cut heat flow to half or even fractions less of that in air<\/a>, although xenon is not a\u00a0realistic material to use based on availability and cost. You can also remove\u00a0air altogether and turn it into a vacuum<\/a>\u00a0(a\u00a0no-air or extremely low-pressure condition).\n

    \"Link<\/a>
    Gases such as argon (Ar), krypton (Kr), and xenon (Xe) are part of the group of noble gases and have great thermal insulation properties. The gases are odorless and non-toxic. Image\u00a0from wikipedia.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>\n
  3. Choose your finishing coat<\/strong>: On the surface of the windows, adding an\u00a0extremely thin and transparent layer of metal (e.g. silver) blocks\u00a0out UV rays.<\/a> This way, you can cut out most of the heat without creating\u00a0a sunglass-like tint\u00a0on the window<\/a>\u00a0that darkens the room. The type\u00a0of\u00a0metal(s) used and the method of coating the glass\u00a0affects how effective the window\u00a0is against heat<\/a>.\n

    \"Link<\/a>
    “Invisible” building. Photo by Philip Nelson.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Furthermore, glass-making companies have experimented with varying thicknesses of glass, thicknesses of the air space, and\u00a0the material used for the window frame and spacers (the material holding the\u00a0two layers of glass together and sealing the air space).<\/p>\n

    Each choice has its pros and cons, and the suitability of each\u00a0depends\u00a0on your location and building based on factors like climate, building codes, and frame of the building (consult a home specialist if you’re considering to get one, this article explores some of the options only). The intriguing part is that a variety of choices in building a window can make noticeable changes in insulation\u00a0efficiency, some examples in\u00a0this chart<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \"Modern<\/a>
    Modern glass house. Photo by tpsdave on pixabay<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Eventually, with\u00a0super materials around like\u00a0ultra thin glass<\/a>\u00a0or ultra insulating foam like\u00a0aerogel<\/a>\u00a0(explained beautifully in Mark Miodownik’s book\u00a0Stuff Matters<\/em><\/a>), there might be further exciting advances in window technology!<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    There’s more to window technology than putting together sheets of\u00a0glass.\u00a0Some claim you can feel\u00a010\u00b0C cooler inside with more efficient windows…how do they do it? I moved in to a great new apartment with big windows and bright rooms. Unfortunately, summer and\u00a0west-facing makes a\u00a0dreading\u00a0hot room in the\u00a0evening. That\u2019s why some big bold letters \u201cfeel 10\u00b0C cooler\u201d\u00a0caught […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21657,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[265,558],"tags":[1049631,1049630,1049632,1049633,1049629],"class_list":["post-294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-home","category-technology","tag-double-paned-glass","tag-energy-efficient-windows","tag-gas-fillings","tag-low-e-glass","tag-window-glazing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/sumi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/sumi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/sumi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/sumi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21657"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/sumi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294"}],"version-history":[{"count":72,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/sumi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":479,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/sumi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294\/revisions\/479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/sumi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/sumi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/sumi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}