A Dynamic Market

The Six Biggest Trends in

Electrochromic Glazing

by Nick St. Denis

1

4

www.glassguides.com

Architects’ Guide to Glass & Metal

Saint-Gobain’s new North American corporate head-

quarters, located in Malvern, Pa., features 17,000

square feet of Sage electrochromic glass.

ynamic glass isn’t considered mainstream yet, but it’s

proving to be more than just a niche technology.

Electrochromic glass, which adjusts light transmittance

electronically to control sunlight, reduce energy consump-

tion and eliminate glare without blocking the view, contin-

ues to build momentum as architects and building owners

d

realize its potential—in a variety of applications.

Jobs are getting bigger, and new sectors are implementing

the technology.

Things are changing, and manufacturers in the industry

would say for the better.

1

. Segment Growth

A report released by industry analyst n-tech Research last

year indicates materials used in smart windows—including

electrochromic and thermochromic glass—will grow to

approximately $760 million by 2020.

More recently, another report from the firm focusing on

electrochromic glazing projected the smart window market

will grow from $40 million to nearly $500 million by 2019.

That’s just a fraction of the $3 billion in revenue projected

for the electrochromic glazing industry as a whole.

Both SageGlass and View, manufacturers of electrochro-

mic glass, reported doubling their pipelines in the past year.

continued on page 16

Electrochromic glass was recently

installed in a skylight in the grand

entrance of the Mall of America

in Bloomington, Minn.

Summer 2016

www.glassguides.com

15

A_c_o_nD_t_i_ny_un_e_dam_f_r_oi_mc_pM_a_ga_er₁k₅et

Higher education

is a big user of

2. Increasing Project Scope

View has also witnessed a notable rise in inter-

Helen Sanders, vice president of technical busi- est from this sector, according to Erich Klawuhn,

dynamic glass. The

Lory Student Center

at Colorado State

University, for exam-

ple, features nearly

ness development for Sage, says project sizes are

getting much bigger, and quickly.

Her company, in fact, recently announced its

vice president of product management.

“A technology such as electrochromic glazing

that focuses on return-on-investment and long-

glass will be installed at the 3.0 University Place in term savings compared to baseline—that’s per-

Philadelphia, the world’s first commercial office

building pre-certified LEED V4 Platinum by the

U.S. Green Building Council. The building’s

189,000-square-foot façade will feature 50,000

square feet of SageGlass.

fect for owner-occupied buildings. They’re the

ones that have been adopters of dynamic glass

up until this point,” he says. “But what we’re

starting to see now is tenant-occupied buildings

or developers.”

3

,000 square feet of

glass manufactured

by View.

“

That’s a massive project,” she says, “and pretty

The electrochromic market is also targeting the

airport sector, which offers big opportunities due

to its use of large, expansive applications of glass,

says Klawuhn. “There is a lot of building and

significant in the electrochromic world.”

Sage vice president of marketing Derek

Malmquist says current projects are five to ten

times larger than what his company would’ve con- investment going into airports, and dynamic glass

sidered a good-sized project three years ago. The

company’s product has been on the market for

more than a decade.

is a great fit for it.”

Residential highrise projects are another key

prospect for dynamic glass. In Washington, D.C.,

View was specified in the penthouse amenities

space of a couple of large residential structures, and

it’s now doing an installation of an entire building.

“

People now recognize that this is a way to

design with more glass without taking an energy

penalty or a comfort penalty,” he says.

3

. New Sectors Involved

4. Integration a Key

Since its inception, electrochromic glass typically

Companies have developed new technolo-

gies that allow more pinpointed solutions for

the occupants. Sage, for example, developed

LightZone, which enables sections of a lite of

glass to be tinted at different levels. It further

expanded the technology and can now produce

customized shapes.

has been geared toward owner-occupied office

spaces and higher education. During the last few

years, the healthcare sector has gained momen-

tum as the industry recognizes the positive

impact occupant comfort and daylighting can

have on patients.

The electrochromic sector has seen another

new trend as other corners of the market begin to

understand the value dynamic glass can provide.

Another way in which electrochromic glass has

been able to grow is its ability to be integrated

with other technologies to form a unique solution

for the end user.

“

We’re seeing more interest from high-end

developers,” says Malmquist. “These Class-A

office buildings need to be greener and more

comfortable, and that is driving developers to

invest more in the technology.”

Sage recently partnered with MechoSystems,

a manufacturer of automatic shading devices,

continued on page 19

1

6

www.glassguides.com

Architects’ Guide to Glass & Metal

A_c_o_nD_t_i_ny_un_e_dam_f_r_oi_mc_pM_a_ga_er₁k₆et

Perforation

Perfection

to integrate its SolarTrac technology. With

SolarTrac, SageGlass light transmittance levels

adjust according to a predictive sky analysis and

user-defined heat-load and solar-penetration

thresholds.

I-Drive 360 Parking Deck, Orlando, FL

“

When you look at shade control and elec-

Owner: I-Drive Live 360

Architect: Finfrock, Apopka, FL

trochromic control, you’re looking for the same

signals—cloudy and sunny,” says Malmquist. “The

same predictive and control inputs are needed.

That was a very interesting partnership.”

General contractor: Finfrock, Apopka, FL

Installing contractor: Mullets Aluminum Products, Sarasota, FL

Profiles: 7.2 Corrugated perforated

Color: Musket Gray

Adds Sanders: “We’ve been putting these kinds

of collaborations together for many years. We do

it because it’s important to our customers that we

can integrate with other systems in the building to

provide full functionality.”

5

. Solution to Unique Challenges

Electrochromic glazing combined with opti-

mized air flow, an efficient HVAC system and

renewable energy, among other variables, can help

a project meet net zero energy. Sometimes, even

space can be a factor.

“

They may want clear glass and a big façade,

but they don’t have the room for an HVAC sys-

tem that is required to make the occupants com-

fortable,” Klawuhn says. “So they look to electro-

chromic glass. We’re hearing that more and more

in the design and engineering phase.”

The ability of the manufacturer to stay connect-

ed with the end-user has also been a major posi-

tive for the electrochromic market.

“

of perforation hole sizes and patterns to meet

virtually any architectural design need.”

Petersen can provide a nearly endless combination

7.2 PANEL

Dave Landis, architectural/technical sales manager, Petersen Aluminum

Musket Gray - Energy Star - Cool Color

If a zoning change is necessary or an error must

be addressed, View can log in remotely to a cus-

tomer’s system and make an update.

CASE STUDY

6

. More Shapes and Sizes

Klawuhn says market research six years ago

showed most of the commercial sector would be

satisfied with 5-by-10-foot glass. Those dimensions

became the standard large size because the interi-

ors of commercial buildings are typically designed

in five-foot increments.

However, View anticipated demand for larger

glass in certain market segments, and it debuted

its 10-by-6-foot version late last year.

PAC-CLAD.COM

MD: 1 800 344 1400 | TX: 1 800 441 8661 | GA: 1 800 272 4482 | MN: 1 877 571 2025

| IL: 1 800 PAC CLAD

Dynamic glass has also enabled designers to go

bigger with bending facades.

“We can do complex shapes and curves … in

places you couldn’t otherwise shade mechanical-

ly,” says Sanders, “... A lot of these kinds of things

are enabling architects. And with our improved

exterior aesthetic, it is actually allowing the archi-

View has worked on some retrofit projects that

fit the bill for these larger sizes.

“

One, for example, had widths beyond five

feet,” he says. “They committed to a dynamic glass tect to feel comfortable they’re going to have a

retrofit for the entire building, but with five-foot-

wide glass, they would’ve had to reconfigure the

nice-looking building outside.”

AGG

mullion. It significantly saved them a lot of glazing Nick St. Denis is the editor of Architects’ Guide to

labor and aluminum framing cost.”

Glass & Metal. He can be reached at nstdenis@glass.com.

Summer 2016

www.glassguides.com

19