special anniversary edition - sageglass€¦ · the magazine of record for architectural glass...

Special Anniversary Edition

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Inside:The People, Companies and Stories

That Changed the Glass Industry

THE MAGAZINE OF RECORD FOR ARCHITECTURAL GLASS INDUSTRY LEADERS VOLUME 50, ISSUE 8 AUGUST 2015

Reactive, InteractiveCapabilities to MarkTomorrow’s GlassStructures b y M e g a n H e a d l e y

68 USGlass, Metal & Glazing | August 2015 www.usglassmag.com

www.usglassmag.com August 2015 | USGlass, Metal & Glazing 69

G lass has undergone a remarkabletransformation in the last 50years. Float glass was a new

product in the 1960s, low-E didn’t emergeuntil 1981 and only in the last decade havewe seen the explosion of glass integratedwith heating elements, photovoltaics, dy-namic shading and even touchscreen ca-pabilities. Given the rapid rate ofinnovation during the last five decades, it’smind-boggling to imagine what the next50 years might hold. A sneak peek atsome of the wildest emerging design andconstruction trends of today reveals a ma-terial that is increasingly more responsiveto the environment.

Throwing the GauntletIn “It’s Alive,” a February 2013 report

forecasting the characteristics of build-ings in 2050, global structural engi-neering firm Arup proposes thatreactive façades—which respond toenvironmental conditions—will be thenorm. The report predicts that highlymulti-functional façades will provideeverything from energy to food to inte-grated communication.

By 2050, Arup adds, photovoltaicswill be available in paint form for easymass coverage. Nanoparticle treat-ments applied to façades will neutral-ize airborne pollutants and help cleanthe air around them. Of course, anychange in temperature, wind patterns,

moisture levels or sunlight will result ina related change from the façade thatwill optimize thermal comfort forbuilding inhabitants.

Daniel Safarik, editor for the Councilon Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat inChicago, says the research he sees is insync with this proposal. “In general, wecan expect to see more environmentallyresponsive skyscrapers than we havetoday,” Safarik says. “That could meanincorporation of greenery such as greenwalls, vertical farming and harvestingof wind forces at height via turbines.But it also means better urban environ-ments—more transparency at thestreet level and human scale (which ofcourse means glass), more variationalong the height of the building to re-flect atmospheric, functional and adja-cent contextual conditions, and moreintegration of the best parts of hori-zontal living (gardens, walkable ameni-ties) at various heights through devicessuch as skybridges.”

Buildings won’t simply be interactingwith the environment, though. If re-searchers have their way, they’ll also beinteracting with inhabitants.

“Buildings are being designed tocomplement people’s lifestyles, whichhave become less traditional over theyears. Architects are creating buildings

Building integrated photovoltaics, such as the 392-square-foot installation byBagatelos Architectural Glass at the Sacramento Municipal Utility Building,represent a technology that the industry could see more of in the future.

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that allow people to interact effectively,whether they are at work, home or apublic space,” says Roger Watson, vicepresident of sales and marketing forSaint-Gobain Glass. “Glass plays an im-portant role in how people interact, asit’s a very diverse material. There will bea greater demand for glass that is mul-tifunctional, providing people with theability to not just see what’s happeningoutside, but really be connected withthe elements around them throughsound filtration and tinting to adjustthe level of sunlight,” he predicts.

These characteristics may not be thenorm today, but they are already beingexplored by researchers.

Communication Medium The Arup report also predicts that fu-

ture façades will provide integratedcommunication, and it’s an expectationthat other researchers share.

“We expect windows and glass to bemulti-functional—glass will be interac-tive and act as another medium for trans-porting information,” Watson predicts.

Touchscreens are already being ex-plored in retail applications by companiessuch as Panasonic, Corning and Samsung(see December 2013 USGlass, page 40), butWatson suggests that interaction may takemore subtle directions as well.

“People will have the ability to con-trol the environment around them at

any given moment,” he says. “For exam-ple, if a person wants to hear the birdschirping outside, but not the traffic,they could maybe adjust the acousticsof their window to achieve their desiredlevel of comfort. Advanced technologyprovides the ability to regulate emotion,and this type of intelligence will extendto windows—people will have the abil-ity to control their personal habitat.”

It turns out this is a not-so-distant pos-sibility. Ericsson, the Stockholm-basedprovider of communications technologysolutions, launched its “Window of Op-portunity” exploration project in 2013 to

Will Skyscrapers Still Wear Glass in the Future?

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The Tallest 20 in 2020Rank Tower Location Height Scheduled Completion1. Kingdom Tower Jedda, Saudi Arabia 3,281 feet 20192. Burj Khalifa Dubai, United Arab Emirates 2,723 feet 20103. Ping An Finance Center Shenzhen, China 2,165 feet 20164. Seoul Light DMC Tower Seoul, South Korea 2,101 feet NA5. Signature Tower Jakarta Jakarta, Indonesia 2,093 feet 20206. Shanghai Tower Shanghai, China 2,073 feet 20157. Wuhan Greenland Center Wuhan, China 2,087 feet 20178. Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel Mecca, Saudi Arabia 1,972 feet 20129. Golden Finance 117 Tianjin, China 1,957 feet 201610. Lotte World Tower Seoul, South Korea 1,824 feet 201611. Doha Convention Center Tower Doha, Qatar 1,808 feet NA12. One World Trade Center New York, United States 1,792 feet 201413. The CTF Guangzhou Guangzhou, China 1,739 feet 201614. Tianjin CTF Binhai Center Tianjin, China 1,739 feet 201815. Dalian Greenland Center Dalian, China 1,699 feet 201816. Pentominium Dubai, United Arab Emirates 1,693 feet NA17. Busan Lotte Town Tower Busan, South Korea 1,674 feet 202018. Taipei 101 Taipei, Taiwan 1,667 feet 200419. Kaisa Feng Long Center Shenzhen, China 1,640 feet NA20. Shanghai World Financial Center Shanghai, China 1,622 feet 2008

Source: Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat

While we can’t really predictdesign trends in 50 years,we can expect that build-

ings in upcoming decades will con-tinue to grow taller. Within thisdecade, we will likely witness notonly the world’s first kilometer-tallbuilding, but also the completion ofa significant number of buildings

over 2,000 feet—or twice the heightof the Eiffel Tower. Prior to the com-pletion of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai,this building type did not exist. Yet,according to the Council of TallBuildings and Urban Habitat, by2020 we can expect at least eightsuch buildings around the world.

If that doesn’t boggle your mind,

consider this: with the exception of theBurj Khalifa and Makkah Royal ClockTower, all of the tallest 20 buildings inthe year 2020 are not yet built.

And of the projected list below, canyou guess how many are expected tobe clad in glass? Spoiler alert:Mecca’s Royal Clock Tower is the sin-gle exception.


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test what happens when ordinary win-dows act as connectors. According to in-formation from the company, by using atransparent antenna, an ordinary win-dow could easily become part of the mo-bile broadband network, boosting indoorcoverage for an improved mobile experi-ence inside buildings.

Jan Hederen, strategy manager of De-velopment Unit Radio for Ericsson, saysthat using the window to boost signalsmay be a first step toward a new way ofthinking about communication. “Com-munication is everywhere and plays out asthe bridge between different services suchas energy, security, media display, interac-tion and communication with the networkin itself (as a gateway to the Internet).”

What about communicating mes-sages to external viewers? For severalyears, glass has been a part of thetrendy “media façades,” where glass in-tegrated with LEDs can switch instantlyfrom building to billboard. Tomorrow’stechnologies, however, may improve theresolution of these pixelated pictures.

Dr. Alan McLenaghan, CEO of SAGEElectrochromics Inc., a wholly ownedsubsidiary of Saint-Gobain, suggests,“Ten years from now, I expect glass tobe able to heat a building, keep it cool,and even change the façade by incor-porating messaging or designs. Imag-ine the impact of a Super Bowl host citydisplaying team names and logos onthe side of a 50-story building—alldone just through the software control-ling glass tint levels.”

What if all of those applications—re-acting to and impacting the environ-ment—were connected in one package?

Adaptive GlassHederen adds that glass-as-antenna

is a primary component for developinga window into a mobile network, butthat application is the first step into anew range of uses for windows.

For example: “If we add another filmto the window, we can turn it into a dig-ital blinder that is supported with, forexample, a temperature sensor insidethe house. If it is too cold, it lets the heatwaves from the sun go through (savingother heating)—or if it turns out to betoo hot, it could shield out the sun

(eliminate/lower the need for air con-ditioning). That is then two ways tosave energy. Further on, there are trans-parent solar cells (in early lab tests atthe moment, but also soon to enter pro-duction) which then change the ‘win-dow-life’ into being part of theenergy-production grid,” Hederen says.

By adding precise information aboutthe local weather pressure, measured byvarious parts of the communication net-work, Hederen notes, windows couldchange their behavior based on weatherforecasts. “We can predict rain by usingmicrowave links—and it’s a no-brainerthat we can add other sensor information

to that distributed network (e.g. temper-ature, wind speed, pressure, humidity).All in all, that could serve as perfect inputdata to how the windows behave,” he says.

Windows that see the weather comingand adapt to meet it? It’s a close step toArup’s prediction of future façades thatadapt to changes in temperature, windpatterns, moisture levels or sunlight.

Photovoltaics In Arup’s future, harnessing solar en-

ergy will be as simple as applying acoating to your building. But accordingto Mic Patterson, director of strategicdevelopment for the Advanced Tech-nology Studio—Enclos in Los Angeles,the most effective solution will be atechnology that maximizes visibility.

“There is a great looming need fornew photovoltaic glazings that combinehighly efficient conversion of sunlightinto electricity, even in conditions of in-direct light, with high transparency,”Patterson says. “The goals for carbonneutrality in the commercial buildingsector are dependent upon the devel-opment of such materials. Achievingnet-zero in the tall buildings that dom-inate the urban landscape will necessi-tate activating the façades, and


Jan Hederén, strategy manager, development unit radio, Ericsson,demonstrates the clarity in a working connected window.

I don’t know of a single example of a

net-zero-ready façadesystem and I suspect,

consequently, that we continue to

build tomorrow’s challenges today. —Mic Patterson, Enclos

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transforming these buildings from en-ergy consumers to energy producers.”

As Patterson points out, the currentsolution—rooftop collectors—sim-ply doesn’t work in high-rise con-struction because of the low ratio ofroof-to-floor area.

“Ideally, these photovoltaic glazingscould also combine the function of shad-ing, as with the electrochromic glazingscurrently on the market,” he concludes.

As Nick Bagatelos, president ofBagatelos Architectural Glass Systemsin Sacramento, Calif., points out, whiletechnology is making fast improve-ments, promoting the basics of gooddaylighting design can help activatemore façades today.

“The technology is improving veryfast,” Bagatelos says. “The delay willcome from slow adoption of the prod-ucts. This slow adoption is due partiallyto price, but more importantly percep-tion of liabilities around ‘new’ buildingmaterials. There are two ways to over-come this: create excellent proceduresthat reduce risk and legislate improve-ments in building performance.”

Think ThinSuper-thin glass—less than 1 mil-

limeter thick—is another developmentthat continues to draw interest. Cur-rently, researchers and scientists in Eu-rope are exploring how this technologywill be used in the glass industry overthe next decade.

Dirk Schulte, vice president of busi-ness development with APG Interna-tional in Glassboro, N.J., points to thecanopy display featured at glasstec2014, which his company constructedwith Corning’s Gorilla Glass that waslaminated by SFL Technologies basedin Austria.

“It’s an intention to think ahead andhow the technology can be furtherimplemented. The glass will be fur-ther developed … [there is a lot] thatstill needs to be investigated … Thereare a lot of unknowns right now. It’s agreat product and has future potentialin sophisticated, architectural mar-kets. But it’s still in a very early stage,and needs consideration and furtherdevelopment.”

Why Glass?If this is a glance at what future ar-

chitecture holds, then glass will surelystill play a central role in it.

Why does glass make such a perfectvehicle for these advanced technologies?“The simplest answer is that glass iseverywhere,” Hederen says. “It is an ele-ment that is part of (almost) all buildings.It’s known—its technical properties andusers’ habits—and can be used as a plat-form for global scale in the applicationsand solutions delivered.”

True. But what’s also known is thatglass suppliers are still working to cre-ate a product that will meet tomor-row’s advanced energy-efficiencygoals. With intense energy goals beingput before designers, energy innova-tion is in strong demand.

“Unless glass technology radicallyimproves to incorporate self-tintingand other modes of UV blocking, wewill either have far more opaque build-ings, or glass buildings that use a sub-stantial amount of shading andhardware,” Safarik predicts.

Is it too tall an order? Given the chal-lenges fabricators have already sur-mounted, probably not. All it takes is alittle motivation.

Bagatelos offers one solution formoving forward faster.

“I think building materials manufac-turers should collaborate to create moreaggressive national performance crite-ria for buildings in the United States,”he says. “There are cost-effectivesolutions to building net-zeroenergy buildings, and the man-ufacturers in the U.S. shouldwork together to facilitate the in-corporation of these products.We should lead the world, andexport this technology. We buildbetter, faster and for cheaper

than anyone in the world. If standardswere set higher, American contractorswould rapidly find very efficient waysto achieve these criteria.”

But Patterson points to another po-tential problem that few fabricators areconsidering when they dream of to-morrow’s glass products: the ability toupgrade to a new product easily.

As he points out, “Most of the goals forcarbon neutrality target the conversionof the commercial building sector to net-zero by 2050. This means that the tallbuildings being designed right now andinto the foreseeable future will requireretrofit with these new glazing materialsby that time. Which means that a muchmore immediate development need isthat of curtainwall systems designed inanticipation of this retrofit requirement,and that facilitate the retrofit with a min-imum of cost and disruption to ongoingbuilding operations. Call such a façadesystem ‘net-zero ready’; when the antic-ipated glazing materials are available,they can be easily retrofit into the exist-ing façade system. I don’t know of a sin-gle example of a net-zero-ready façadesystem and I suspect, consequently, thatwe continue to build tomorrow’s chal-lenges today.”

The next big thing, then, may be in-tegrating into future products an easyability to switch out today’s glass for amore advanced material—a most lu-crative proposition for fabricators andinstallers alike. ■


M e g a n H e a d l e y isspecial projects editor forUSGlass magazine. She can be reached [email protected].

The technology is improving very fast. The delay will come from slow adoption

of the products ... partially to price, but more importantly perception

of liabilities around ‘new’ building materials. —Nick Bagatelos, president,

Bagatelos Architectural Glass Systems


Asahi Glass Company (AGC)/AGC Glass Company North AmericaLocation: AGC Glass Company North Americaheadquartered in Alpharetta, Ga. Number of years in business: Since 1907 globally, since 1992 in U.S. Number of employees now: 3,000-plus in North America, 50,000-plus worldwide.Number of locations today: More than 200 worldwide, six productionfacilities specific to AGC flat glass pro-duction and coatings in North America. Product offerings now: Architectural glass for commercial, in-terior, residential and industrial appli-cations, automotive and display glass;also has a chemical business unit thatproduces glazing materials such as

ETFE Film products; global business isconcentrated in three segments: glass(flat and automotive), chemical andelectronics (display glass).Product offerings then:In 1956, the Kingsport plant was theonly producing patterned glass; floatglass production for what was Amer-ican Saint Gobain began in the1960s. Significant milestones:Began producing automotive glass in1956, opening its first U.S. automotivemanufacturing plant in 1987; beganproducing float glass in 1966 in Japan(previously was sheet or cast glass);started producing and selling pyrolytic(hard coat) Comfort E low-E glass in1985; AGC was the first company to sellpyrolytic in the U.S.; began producingand selling sputter-coated low-E glass

in the U.S. in 1997; first to introduce U44th Surface Technology in North Amer-ica; developed 0.1 millimeter glass—world’s thinnest soda-lime glass for usein touchscreens, in 2011.AGC Glass Company is one of thelargest manufacturers of glass andglass-related products in North Amer-ica, offering a broad selection of flatglass and high-performance coatingsfor commercial, interior, residentialand industrial applications, as well asinnovative products for the automotiveglass market. AGC glass products areavailable through an extensive net-work of glass fabricators and windowmanufacturers in the U.S. and Canada.AGC Glass Company North America ispart of the AGC Group, employingmore than 50,000 worldwide in ap-proximately 30 countries.

Whether they’ve been in the busi-ness for five years, 50 years ormore than a century, companies

in the industry have continued to evolvedrastically from their infancy.

Here’s a look at how some companies have changed over theirlifespan, where they are now, and where they plan to be.

Editor’s note: The following profiles were provided to USGlassmagazine by these companies as part of this special company section in the August issue.

How IndustryCompanies

Have Changed Over the Years

AGC Glass Co.’s roots date back to 1907, with U.S. operations beginning in 1992.

Since the introduction of the architectural panel, Mapes has continued to be an industry leader in innovation and insulative technology.

To get a quote, build a spec or request samples, contact us at 800-228-2391 or MAPES.COM.

MAPES-R+1/4" GLAZING

50+ YEARS OF INNOVATION IN PANEL TECHNOLOGY

MAPES-R



Vetrotech Saint-Gobain International Location: Flamatt, Switzerland/Auburn, Wash.Number of years in business: 35Number of employees now: approximately 750 worldwideNumber of locations today: 23Sales volume now: approx. $164.3million (150 EUR) Product offerings now: Fire-rated glass and framing.Product offerings then: Fire-rated glass.Significant milestones: Fire-resistantglass spread over Europe for building andmarine applications; enlarged productrange with high-security products in2013; achieved first UL listing in 1983;Patent pending glass polishing process tocreate “highest quality fire-rated glass ce-ramic available in the U.S. market”; brokenational testing record for largest cur-tainwall component available.

Sage Electrochromics Inc.Location: Faribault, Minn.Number of years in business: 26Number of employees now: 190Number of employees when business started: 1Product offerings now: SageGlass; and LightZone; glass avail-able up to 5-by-10 feet in size.Product offerings then: Original SageGlass was only availablein 12-by-18 inches in size. Significant milestones:

Acquired by Saint-Gobain in 2012;Jean-Christophe Giron, vice presidentof R&D, named as finalist for globalinventor of the year by EuropeanPatent Office (SageGlass has morethan 300 global patents); SageGlassinstalled in Mall of America’s new ex-pansion (grand opening in September2015); John Van Dine was the founderand CEO of SageGlass from inceptionuntil he retired after 25 years; Van

Dine handed the company over toAlan McLenaghan as CEO, a 20-yearveteran of Saint-Gobain.Company’s goals for the future: “100-percent awareness of dynamicglass by architects and glazing con-tractors worldwide; to improve thehuman experience for everyone inthe built environment.”The parent company of SageGlass andVetrotech, Saint-Gobain, is celebrat-ing its 350th anniversary in2015. Saint-Gobain got its start in theglass business in 1665 when it wascommissioned to make the glass forthe Hall of Mirrors at the Palace ofVersailles in Paris by King Louis XIV.With its acquisition of SAGE in 2012,Saint-Gobain added architecturalelectrochromic glass to its portfolio.Buildings across the country rangingfrom hospitals and museums to casi-nos and libraries have already in-stalled SageGlass.

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