10
APRIL 2016 PRO INSTALLER
PRO NEWS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
MODERN GLASS FAÇADES
MUST BE MULTIFUNCTIONAL
Energy efficiency. The glass façade of the new Festo
Automation Centre has been designed as an exhaust air
façade. Using electrochromic window panes, it adjusts
itself automatically to the prevailing lighting conditions.
A coloured view. The windows at the Merck Innovation
Center in Darmstadt contain liquid crystals which switch
from light to dark and back again within seconds.
Multitalented. Iconic Skin, the new opaque glass façade
from Seele, is doubly efficient. It has been designed as
a highly heat-insulating component and, according to the
manufacturer, offers good value for money.
Modern, transparent and
prestigious – large glass
façades are very much in
vogue for office complexes
and industrial buildings. Yet
their use only makes sense
in terms of energy savings
and cost effectiveness if
they also have air-conditioning functions and help the
energy supply.
The glass industry is therefore
keen to promote the development
of multifunctional windows and
façade elements – an area where
it has already achieved numerous
promising innovations.
Architects and engineers are currently facing major challenges. In
modern architecture there is an increasing demand for glass façades
that add brightness and make the
building look more prestigious.
According to forecasts, as many
as 1.33 billion square metres of
new façades will be in place by
2021. This is roughly the area of
Greater London. However, there
is a problem. During the summer
months, in particular, a building
encased in glass needs a lot of
energy to keep the inside temperature at a reasonable level.
Air conditioners are dreadful
energy guzzlers and largely responsible for buildings producing
around 40% of all carbon emissions in the industrialised countries.
Anyone planning to use glass
needs to install additional functions that create both shade and
air conditioning. This is all the
Flagship climateactive glass.
Quality control. EcontrolGlas produces electrically
dimmable glass that
reflects almost 90 per
cent of sunlight.
more important as fewer and fewer emissions are permitted under
international climate protection
targets.
The member states of the European Union, for instance, have
agreed that from 2020 any energy
requirements of new buildings
must be almost zero for heating,
hot water, ventilation and air conditioning and that any additional
energy requirements must be met
by facilities within the building
itself.
This is where multifunctional
façades can be helpful. “Even in
the past many elements already
formed part of the façade, such as
various control functions and sun
protection. In the future we will
see further functions being added,” says the architect Stefan Behnisch from Stuttgart. He mentions
lighting elements, heat exchangers
for the production of solar heat
and also mechanical ventilation
and aeration elements.
At the moment such façade systems are not standard. Façades are
still very much seen in terms of
their individual components which
are developed by different manufacturers. Planners therefore need
to spend a lot of time and effort
combining those components.
However, this will soon change,
as industry and research have
understood this need and are
now focusing more closely on
the development of integrated
solutions.
“All façades follow a consistent
physical pattern, even when conditions keep changing, both indoors
and outdoors,” says civil engineer
and ar chitect Werner Sobek, head
of the Institute of Lightweight
Design and Construction at the
University of Stuttgart. “What
everyone would really like to see
is a façade that can adjust itself
at the flick of a switch, so that
it adapts to circumstances, both
inside and outside.”
Builders’ database helps suppliers increase sales
Small builders are the
backbone of the building industry, working
on tens of thousands
of light commercial,
new-build and residential projects and
spending millions
every year on building
and home improvement products.
Yet most local builders
don’t actively advertise
themselves, preferring to
operate on word-of-mouth,
with some having only a
mobile phone number and
email address. Operating
under the radar, these
builders are notoriously
difficult for suppliers to
track down.
Now, Insight Data has
painstakingly developed
the Local Builders’ database, making it easier to
promote products and
services to small builders
and contractors.
The database contains
over 23,000 building contractors and firms across
the UK (with 17,800 verified email addresses). They
provide a range of services,
ranging from extensions
and home improvements to
light commercial and newbuild projects.
Jade Greenhow, Operations
Manager, comments: “The
Local Builders Database is
a powerful marketing tool
which can help suppliers to
drastically increase sales.
“With the ability to instantly create mailing, email or
telesales lists, or a follow-up
list for your sales team
through our online system
Salestracker, it really can
make a huge difference.”
The database contains
details of companies with
a turnover of up to £5m,
making it ideal for building
product suppliers, builders’
merchants, timber or plumbing merchants, window or
door suppliers, or service
suppliers relevant to the
building and construction
industry.
Log on to Salestracker, Insight Data’s online database
software, and select builders
you want to target by
location and sectors, with
data verified and updated in
real-time.
For more information,
contact Insight Data on
01934 808293 or email
[email protected]