According to the Glass & Glazing Federation (GGF) glass remains a popular feature in the construction of new buildings; on an aesthetic level by allowing occupants of a building to see the outside world and by its very nature of allowing natural light to flow through a building, one of the key concerns however is whether or not it is sustainable. To consider this we need to look into the manufacturing process of glass which is a labour intensive process comprising of a mixture of glass sand and silica as well as cullet (recycled waste glass). However manufacturers have expertise and use many processes to keep the energy consumed at a minimum.
Due to its transparency, just as light can enter a building via solar radiation, energy can both leave the building. Building design therefore needs to assess the heat loss (U value) and the solar gain (g value) so that correct glass can be installed to reduce the risk of over heating and allowing too much light in or being unable to to keep a building warm in a cold climate.
When a correct glazing solution has been specified, glass will work efficiently to reduce the energy consumption of the building and when it eventually comes to the duration of its long product life cycle or needs to removed for whatever reason it can then be recycled and made into cullet to start the manufacturing process all over again, making it a sustainable and recyclable product.
The Window Energy Rating Scheme (WER) has used the heat gain and heat loss balance as the fundamental rationale endorsed by governments within Building Regulations. WER is helping to encourage domestic and business property owners to install sustainable energy measures and is the basis for windows to be used in the Green Deal Scheme due to be launched in October 2012.
Due to improvements with technology, homeowners can make considerable savings by replacing their old first generation double glazing with Energy Efficient Windows (EEWs). One of the most visited areas on the GGF website is the Energy Savings Calculator, where homeowners can see how much they can save and reduce their carbon footprint by installing EEWs.
Syntegra consulting is a leading energy consulting company in the UK, for further information about this article and your companies carbon emission reduction requirements please visit our website dev.syntegra-epc.co.uk
