MAR 27

In terms of energy efficiency, windows are one of the biggest contributors to heat loss from buildings. But a new window technology called vacuum-insulated glass (VIG) being developed by Guardian Industries could allow for windows that can provide insulation values comparable to, well...walls, with a new double-pane glass with a vacuum between the panes.

{digg}http://digg.com/design/Saving_the_World_and_15_Bn_year_with_New_Windows{/digg}The principle behind the thermos, namely that a vacuum is a very effective insulator, is now being applied to windows, which are one of the most energy inefficient parts of a building, responsible for up to 30% of the heating needed. Heat is transferred by one of three methods, conduction, convection, or radiation. A vacuum prevents transfer by convection or conduction, and a low-E coating on windows can block much of the radiation transfer.

The manufacturer, Guardian Industries, is reportedly hoping to have this glass commercially available by the end of 2009. More importantly, while other researchers have been exploring the idea of vacuum glass for several years, Guardian is expecting to be able to produce this glass at a reasonable cost .

The head of the Building Technologies Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, was quoted as saying, “This performance level would convert most windows in heating climates into net energy suppliers, providing more energy to the home via passive solar gain (even facing north) than the window loses...If you could convert every window [in the U.S.] to this performance level, you would save homeowners about $15 billion each year.”

via: BuildingGreen.com

A longer version of this article is cross-posted at Green Building Elements

Comments (9)

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written by Batman, March 27, 2008

Now just get it in the gov't buildings and they can lower our taxes >.>

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Big in Japan
written by Andy Stannard, March 28, 2008

I believe that this window technology is allready being produced in Japan at the moment. The Japanese version uses thinner panes of glass that are seperated by a much thiner gap than standard double glazing. In order for the two sheets to not be sucked together by the vacume many tiny spacers are inserted between the panes.

The glass is sealed with another layer of glass round the sides that produces the airtight seal. Due to the thiner double glazzing sheet they can be used to replace glass that was single glazzed before.

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R12 upto R15 windows are already availab
written by Mark Bartosik, March 28, 2008

Last week I fitted some AlpenEG (www.alpeneg.com) windows, many are R11.6 and made with impact rated glass (could have got better R value without impact glass).

They are affordable, and wow are they an improvement over the old windows and normal double glassed units. The wall temp on a 32F night was 68F and the inner window temp was 67F, so only a 1F difference compared with the wall! Prior windows gave about 10F difference.

AlpenEG -- highly recommended.

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Heard of triple-glassing?
written by Mathias, March 28, 2008

Anyone know how these compare to the triple-glassing windows with inert argon gas between the panes that are pretty much standard in Scandinavian countries?

/Mathias

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net energy gain
written by kballs, March 28, 2008

It sounds like they allow radiated solar heat in (by allowing non-infrared/visible light heat energy in) and reflect infrared from inside the home back inside... this would be great in the winter, but in the summer it puts a load on your A/C (so in that case you'd want them to also reflect some of the visible light to reduce the heat gain during the summer and allow them to be closer to neutral in the winter while keeping the building cooler in the summer).

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Not as new as it looks
written by Evelin Mollers, March 30, 2008

I agree with the notion of this post.

Nearly vacuum windows would be perfect, but I think this new windows are not so new at all. I have seen this type of technology very often in Europe where windows are used for shielding of noise and heat.

I doubt that this new windows are a new technology. I think this might be just an upgrade.

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VIG Will Change Windows Forever
written by DaveCarrera4, August 26, 2008

There are 3 companies currently making VIG units. Two are in China and don't produce any volume and have a low quality. The other is NSG in Japan. NSG unfortunately uses a pyrolytic low-E coated glass and it does not have the emissivity value that the Guardian low-E VIG will have. Therfore, the NSG product is around R-5, whereas the Guardian product will be at least R-10 center of glass. The US government is scrambling to raise the bar on Energy Star rated windows, but there isn't very good technology out there to raise the R value much. The VIG window will forever change the industry. Triple pane for example is expensive and has lower light transmission due to two coating and 3 pieces of glass - which can only reach a high R value (close to VIG) by using rare Krypton gas in both cavities. It is also prone to organic edge seal failure, compared to a VIG which has a solid edge seal that is gas tight. VIG won't work without the low-E coated glass, this is where Guardian (HQ in Auburn Hills, MI) outdoes it's competitors as perhaps the largest supplier of low E glass around the globe.

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Vacuum insulating glass
written by lotfikian, March 03, 2009

Would you please tell me the quotation of the Vacuum Insulating Glass?
have you any sample?

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owner/ teacher
written by Adam Turnbull, March 03, 2010

I live in Japan and am planning on building in the next 18 months. I want to go green but does Japan have equal or close to the tech of the rest of the world without its tiresome middle-man price markups.

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