New Trade Fair Centre Stuttgart

Glass, steel and a "green wave"

With a total of 100,000 square metres of exhibition area, Stuttgart's New Trade Fair Centre offers abundant floor space. At the eastern entrance there is a spacious piazza, partly spanned by a flying glass roof. Passing through this entrance, the visitors reach the glassy courtyard. From here, the "green wave" of the exhibition halls and exhibition park open out. The curved roofs, partly covered with greenery, fit in harmonically with the landscape. Glass is an omnipresent material: Approximately 50,000 square metres of functional glazing ensure energy efficiency and a pleasant indoor climate, and allow the items on display to be presented in their true colours.

MobileLifeCampus, Wolfsburg, Germany

Vitreous Innovation Centre

Innovative in form and function: Architect Gunter Henn calls his newly designed “MobileLifeCampus” a new type of communication architecture. With its transparency and its dynamic band-like structure, the building, which was built on the western outskirts of Wolfsburg and inaugurated in May 2006, underlines its use as a networking innovation centre and platform for cooperation between partners from science, research and industry – particularly for its builder, Wolfsburg AG. At the same time, the structure documents the enormous capabilities of modern glazing. High-quality ipasol solar control glazing (Interpane) combines thermal and overheating protection without any major decrease in transparency. This results in a high yield of natural daylight and an optimized climate in the building. 

Interpane at BAU 2007

Energy efficiency and designed glazing

Insulating glass for higher energy efficiency and glass products for the design of interior spaces, furniture, and facades were highlights of the Interpane presentation at BAU 2007. Solar control glazing for any transmittance classification, low emissivity glazing with insulation values down to 0.5 W/m²K, which are also for application in modern passive house architecture, as well as the temperable low-E coating "iplus ET" offer processors, architects, and planners solutions for practically any architectural challenge. The digitally printed panes for interior and exterior applications are newly on offer. One of the highlights: The intelligent LC glazing “ipaview CF switches from “transparent” to “nontransparent” within just seconds on the touch of a button.

History of low-e coatings

History of the development and industrial production of low-e coatings for high heat insulating glass units

by Hans J. Gläser

Low-e coatings play a dominate role in high heat insulating multiple glass units with which an essential part of heat energy can be saved in buildings. With such coatings as main part and to a lower part with low thermal conductive filling gases of the units’ interspaces, their heat transmittance can be reduced from 6.0 W/m²K for a single glazing – in some countries applied until today - to 0.4 W/m²K for a triple insulating glass unit. This astonishing development is regarded as being one of the most important innovations of the flat glass industry in the last century. In the following report, the roots of the low-e coatings in the 1960’s, their start-up for production in the 1970’s, and the most important further developments steps accompagned and partly also co-designed actively by the author are depicted.

Solar control

Solar control – a versatile task

by Dipl.-Ing. Rainer Walk, Interpane Plattling, Germany

The objective of solar control measures

Increased user convenience and lower energy consumption are among the main demands placed on modern building design. The buildings must provide living space within a comfortable environment. The façade as the interface between the inside and outside climates protects against all kinds of weather conditions.
 
In the summer, the inside of the building should remain comfortably cool. Therefore, the upper limit for the room temperature defines the demands on heat protection. However, energy efficiency is also an important factor; the desired room climate should be maintained with the lowest possible energy input.