As they mark the 60-year anniversary of this groundbreaking product, it is essential to reflect on the evolution and impact of Solarban® glass as a standard-bearer for energy efficiency and sustainable design in the construction industry.

Launched in 1964, Solarban® glass was a trailblazer, becoming one of the earliest coated energy-efficient glass solutions. Designed specifically to deflect heat, it not only enhanced occupant comfort but also contributed to significant reductions in utility expenses related to heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. In doing so, Solarban® laid the groundwork for the sustainable building movement, enabling architects and designers to meet—and often exceed—eco-friendly design objectives.

Throughout its six-decade journey, Solarban® glass has consistently led the charge in innovation within architectural glass. The 1980s and early 1990s witnessed the introduction of single-silver and double-silver low-emissivity (low-e) glasses. These advancements further improved thermal performance in residential and commercial buildings, allowing for exceptional year-round comfort while curbing heating and cooling costs.

The dawn of the new millennium brought about another revolutionary leap with the launch of Solarban® 60 glass—a double-silver vacuum temperable low-e glass. This innovation was particularly significant because it facilitated post-manufacturing fabrication, allowing architects and builders greater flexibility in design while maintaining high energy-efficiency standards.

As the industry evolved, so did the capabilities of Solarban® glass. At the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in 2005, Vitro introduced Solarban® 70 glass, the world’s first triple-silver low-e glass. Its immediate success is a testament to its performance, with more than 700 million square feet shipped to date. This product rapidly became the go-to choice among architects and construction professionals, symbolizing a new era in sustainable building materials.

Continuing on this trajectory of innovation, in 2015, Vitro unveiled Solarban® 90 glass, heralded as the first-ever quad-silver low-e glass. This product represents the pinnacle of solar control technology, offering the highest levels of thermal performance in the Solarban® line, thus reinforcing Vitro’s commitment to developing solutions that meet the growing demands for energy efficiency and sustainable design.

The evolution of Solarban® glass over the past 60 years is not just a story of technological advancement; it is also a reflection of a broader commitment to sustainability in architecture. As building codes tighten and environmental considerations become increasingly paramount, the role of products like Solarban® glass will only grow more critical.

As we celebrate six decades of Solarban® glass, we also look ahead to the future. The advancements we’ve witnessed thus far are merely the beginning. The continued dedication of Vitro Architectural Glass to innovation reflects the collective aspiration for greener, more sustainable environments, providing architects and designers with the tools they need to create structures that are not only beautiful but also responsible. With the legacy of Solarban® glass as a cornerstone of this mission, the future of architectural glass promises to be bright and environmentally conscious.

Source: LIJIANG Glass with additional information added by GlassBalkan

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Epic I, the newly built office building in Dallas, stands out for its impressive architectural design and construction. The building mediates between the low-rise, pedestrian-scaled Deep Ellum historic neighborhood and Dallas’ downtown high-rises, creatively stacked in two to five-story blocks.

To achieve neutrality, energy performance, and blend into the urban fabric, Perkins&Will, Dallas, selected Solarban® 90 Starphire® glass and Solarban® 72 glass from Vitro Architectural Glass. The unitized curtainwall on all four elevations of the main tower contains Solarban® 90 Starphire® glass, while a smaller ground level retail section features Solarban® 72 glass.

Ron Stelmarski, FAIA, design director at Perkins&Will, Dallas, explains that the neutral color complements the materials of neighborhood storefronts, and the project palette consists of concrete, dark metal, and light grey metal lath. The low solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) was crucial for meeting energy code while still allowing ample light into the building.

Solarban® 90 glass conveys an appearance similar to clear glass in both color and reflectance when viewed from the interior or exterior of a building. When combined in a standard one-inch insulating glass unit (IGU) with Starphire Ultra-Clear® glass, it delivers visible light transmittance (VLT) of 54% and SHGC of 0.23.

Fabricated by Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope ®, Wright City, Mo., and installed onto 5-in. by 10-in. curtainwall units with 5-in. by 4-in. transoms, the Solarban 90® Starphire® glass units are full vision glass, with the exception of a small band of shadowboxes at the bottom of each volume to support increased light penetration into the interior spaces.

Kristin Winters, AIA, associate principal, Perkins&Will, Dallas, states that the transparency helps connect the internal spaces with the neighborhood by providing visibility into the building to see the activity and spaces within.

The unique, shifting-block façade of the building energizes its composition, creates upper-level outdoor terraces, and captures energy savings for the LEED® gold-certified, 16-story office building through self-shading. These shifts are expected to trim the facility’s annual energy use by 5%.

The façade design also incorporates vertical fins and exterior mullion cap extensions for additional solar shading and visual depth and to dynamically reflect the sky’s changing conditions and the colors of sunrise and sunset.

Earning a Rethinking the Future 2020 runner-up award from RTF Architecture, the façade also features a lighted gasket to illuminate the soffits, creating an evening signpost for the area.

The Pittman Hotel, a recently completed adaptive reuse of the historic Knights of Pythias Temple with a modern addition, is the neighboring building that also features Solarban® 90 glass and Solarban® 72 glass punched windows throughout the masonry exterior. The two projects demonstrate the successful integration of shifting urban densities between the two neighborhoods using architectural expression and materiality to look toward the future while still respecting the existing city fabric.

Epic I and the Pittman Hotel bracket this active streetscape and form a hinge between the past and present toward a reimagined future, says Winters.

For more information about Solarban® 90, Starphire®, and Solarban® 72 glasses and Vitro Glass’s full line of architectural glasses, please visit www.vitroglazings.com.

Source: Vitro Architectural Glass with additional information added by GlassBalkan

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