Living under glass.
Glass as a design and light feature. Glass pavers can be embedded with light. Living under glass by Dorothy Dobbie T
oday’s homes are wonders of glass and light and even owners of older homes are finding ways to let in the light by installing more glass.
Bay windows have made a comeback because they let in
light from three angles. Garden doors and sunrooms are on a huge number of wish lists. We want all the natural light we can get. With the breakthroughs in modern products, glass no longer has to be a one way street to the poorhouse watching your energy bills mount with the passing of heat from indoors to outdoors. There are some interesting strategies being devised
to ensure the light gets in without direct sunlight roast- ing everything in the room. A light shelf allows high light transmission levels to enter the room at the top of a window, shading the area directly under it by means of an overhang that could be mounted indoors or out. In addition to all the various ways of reducing heat trans-
mission, European markets are selling a smart glass, which lets window glass adjust from light to dark, in much the same way eye glasses can accommodate the amount of light penetrating the glass. All glass reduces the penetration of some light. A single
pane of residential glass lets in only 81% of available light, one reason that plants always respond to the outdoors even in shade better than they do to a sunny window. And most glass has a natural greenish tinge that is due to the presence of iron impurities. High white glass, expensive and used in high end retails displays, has had most of the iron removed. Choosing the right kind of glass for your home can be
intimidating when people start throwing out R values and U factors, usually when speaking about insulated glass, the kind of glass that has argon or krypton gas pumped between
32 • Summer 2014 Sheltered by a roof, glass walls create a sense of being projected outdoors.
two sheets of glass. These gases are poor heat conductors. The U factor, which measures the heat transfer due to the differentiation of temperature on each side of the glass, is important when living in a cold climate where we have to heat our homes in winter. The R value measures the resis- tance and a typical quarter-inch thick single pane of glass would have an R value of .91. A triple pane with 1/2 inch air spaces, on the other hand, would have an R value of 3.23. In Canada we measure these as Energy Ratings and the triple pane windows might have ERs in the low 40s while double panes would be in the low to mid 20s. The U factor (which stands for Solar Heat Gain Coeffi-
cient) measures the percentage of heat flowing from a warm place to a cool place. In this case, the lower the number, the better job the window will do in keeping heat in. Other things to think about include whether you want
your glass to let in direct light or more diffuse light, such as may be the case with a skylight. Laminated glass which houses a piece of plastic or mylar between two panes, will help prevent shattering and can also be created as one way
www.localgardener.net
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40