South Facing Glazing

Model up the windows, provide an overhang to cut out summer mid day sunlight which causes overheating but allows low angle winter light to penetrate deep into the floor plate and provide usefull solar gain. This will help lower your heating load.

see http://erg.ucd.ie/pep/pdf/Passive_House_Sol_English.pdf

Another option is to use vines on trellisses or broadleaf trees on the east and west which blocks strong morning and winter direct sunlight in morning and evening during the summer, in winter the leaves die back and let the light through.

Alternativly Ecoglaze have a triple glazed assembly with integral louvre blinds. Reflective glass is a bit of a barrier between inside and out..

Thanks keating, I suppose I should say that I’m actually looking for a technical spec or product reference rather than the basic principles of solar shading. The design is intended to be a flush finished box – hence louvres, trellisses, overhangs etc are all out of the question. I know that Shuco do integretad solar micro blinds but I’ve always thought they looked a bit poxy.

So far the best product I’ve seen is Activ Neutral from Pilkington, since this seems to prevent excessive solar gain without blocking too much light. I think the budget may stretch as far as smart glass but again, I’ve never used it before so I’m not sure if it performs thermally as well as aesthetically.

@bitasean wrote:

Thanks keating, I suppose I should say that I’m actually looking for a technical spec or product reference rather than the basic principles of solar shading. The design is intended to be a flush finished box – hence louvres, trellisses, overhangs etc are all out of the question. I know that Shuco do integretad solar micro blinds but I’ve always thought they looked a bit poxy.

So far the best product I’ve seen is Activ Neutral from Pilkington, since this seems to prevent excessive solar gain without blocking too much light. I think the budget may stretch as far as smart glass but again, I’ve never used it before so I’m not sure if it performs thermally as well as aesthetically.

have you calculated that your solar gains are going to cause overheating in summer???

if not you should do so…

fixing summer over heating by restricting solar gain in the building element is nonsensical… what are you supposed to do in winter?? turn up the boiler!?!?!?

there is a reason brise soleil, louvres and overhangs are used.. its because they create a natural passive guard against summer over heating while still allowing maximum passive winter solar gain…..

what about designing a removable brise soleil…. you can then have your ‘box’ for the majority of the year… while still resolving the issue…

natural passive guard bedamned, it’s architecure I’m after!!

a removable brise soleil?? yuk!

Is it a commercial or residential project…

I would be trying to get all the sun I can…
But I get the best sun from the north now;)

I like the removable idea! its is after all what 5 days a year your spending this money on?

http://www.permasteelisa.com/

large selection of twin wall systems – pricey though

go into the Blue Technology section under research and engineering

thanks for that hats,

I reckon the twin wall thing would look out of place in domestic setting and am focusing more on a single, fixed glaze panel. I’ve used Carey Glass 8mm Solar GN 60/33 – 16 mm Argon – 10.8mm Clear Lam system on a commercial job before but am considering a Pilkington sytem this time, its called Activ Suncool 70/35 – and it seems to tick all the boxes (insulation, shading and self cleaning) Hopefully its not crazy expensive…

@bitasean wrote:

natural passive guard bedamned, it’s architecure I’m after!!

a removable brise soleil?? yuk!

so the function suffers for the sake of the aesthetic….. disgraceful…

@henno wrote:

so the function suffers for the sake of the aesthetic….. disgraceful…

what exactly is that supposed to mean?? are you suggesting that the form of a building should be dictated by a notional idea of how to meet the part L requirements?

contrary to popular belief it is possible to design a passive building without sticking any amount of crap all over it just to gain another BREEAM point.

bitasean’s attitude is not disgraceful, it is aspirational.

@wearnicehats wrote:

what exactly is that supposed to mean?? are you suggesting that the form of a building should be dictated by a notional idea of how to meet the part L requirements?

contrary to popular belief it is possible to design a passive building without sticking any amount of crap all over it just to gain another BREEAM point.

bitasean’s attitude is not disgraceful, it is aspirational.

absolutely not… im talking about the basic principles being compromised for the sake of an aesthetic. Its possible to design a passive building without incorporating all the bells and whistles ‘technological’ features. Using activ suncool glazing will aid in summer cooling but will detract in winter solar gain. Fair enough, the glazing has an ok u value, but a u value is directly related to the heating demand. Passive heating and passive cooling are basic principles that should be the starting point of all buildings. It simply i snot good enough any more for architects to simply throw a piece of technology at a building in order to ‘get a look’. Its not as if glass boxes havent been done before….. what about our dail shop that melts chocolate bars at the hint of sunshine….

@henno wrote:

Its not as if glass boxes havent been done before….. what about our dail shop that melts chocolate bars at the hint of sunshine….

They invested in a fridge 😉

@parka wrote:

They invested in a fridge 😉

… probably over paid for that as well…. 😉 😀

I think we are onto something here…

What about instead of trying to reduce the solar gain we try and increase it in winter…
With mirror sculptures in the garden!

_____/

having said that I know a product that works like camera filters and drops the exposure…
But I think it would be a waste of time…

@henno wrote:

… probably over paid for that as well…. 😉 😀

They sure did! It had to be custom made to fit the shop fit out 😎