GLASS & SEALEDUNITS
Showing the cool edge to summer
Passive house comfort in Spain
» A PASSIVE HOUSE VILLA WITH clear edges and geometric shapes has been created on the coast of Asturias . Its large windows are cleverly shaded with structural solutions . A good feel-good climate is also ensured in summer by solar control glazing and premium spacer bars . With its extremely low thermal conductivity , it minimises heat loss from inside to outside as a warm edge in winter . As a cool edge , it reduces the flow of heat from outside to inside in summer , thus helping to keep indoor spaces cool . This detail delivers noticeable energy savings at all times of year .
In Gijon , on Spain ’ s northern coast , a villa has been built to the passive house standard which impresses with its clear stylistic idiom , excellent energy efficiency and high thermal comfort . Interlocking cubes of different sizes create a building with lots of daylight , shady verandas and open terraces .
For the demanding project to succeed , the architects of J . Noval Estudio de Arquitectura adapted the alignment and size of the openings as well as the shape of the building to the prevailing climate . This resulted in a compact , long building with a rectangular footprint , whose longest side runs from east to west .
The basement with utility room and other cellar rooms is supplied with daylight by English patios . The living area on the
ground floor affords an interrupted view outside . The open roof terrace is accessible via the structure above the living space .
The building has large south-facing glass façades . Apart from structural shading solutions , windows and doors from Finstral also provide protection against excessive summer heat . As a leading premium provider , the South Tyrolean family company has over 50 years of experience and the most extensive range of windows in Europe . Finstral makes everything under one roof and mostly itself , which is unusual in the industry and ensures constantly high levels of quality .
For the passive house villa , the triple insulating glazing based on ECLAZ , PLANITHERM and COOL-LITE EXTREME 60 / 28 from Saint-Gobain Building Glass Europe was used . The premium spacer bar SWISSPACER Ultimate ensures an especially energy-efficient glass edge . This results in a window solution with a Uw value of 0.79 W / m2K at a light transmission factor of 77 percent .
Images Copyright : Finstral / Marco Vega
“ Our spacer bars are already well known as a warm edge for saving energy in winter ,” says Frank Junker , Sales Manager at SWISSPACER . “ However , they also offer advantages in summer : they keep the heat of summer outside and , as a cool edge , contribute to much less energy having to be used for cooling buildings .”
A study by the Passive House Institute in Darmstadt proved how much of the useful cooling requirement can be saved with a premium spacer bar compared to aluminium spacer bars : in warm climate zones like Gijon , the energy requirement in passive houses works out almost 9 percent lower .
This performance aspect is sure to grow in importance as climate change progresses . According to forecasts , such as that of the German Climate Consortium , the frequency , intensity and duration of heatwaves will increase around the world . With a higher number of sunny days , the need for coolly calculated solutions will also rise .
www . swisspacer . com
64 » AUG 2021 » CLEARVIEW-UK . COM