The End Of Window Cleaning

A scanning electron miscroscope photograph shows the pyramid-like nanostructures engraved onto glass: at 200nm they are 100 times smaller than a human hair. Controlling the surface morphology at the nanoscale allows scientists to tailor how the glass interacts with liquids and light with high precision.

Nature inspired nano-structures mean no more cleaning windows: A revolutionary new type of smart window could cut window-cleaning costs in tall buildings while reducing heating bills and boosting worker productivity. Developed by UCL (University College London) with support from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), prototype samples confirm that the glass can deliver three key benefits:

Self-cleaning: The window is ultra-resistant to water, so rain hitting the outside forms spherical droplets that roll easily over the surface – picking up dirt, dust and other contaminants and carrying them away. This is due to the pencil-like, conical design of nanostructures engraved onto the glass, trapping air and ensuring only a tiny amount of water comes into contact with the surface. This is different from normal glass, where raindrops cling to the surface, slide down more slowly and leave marks behind.

Energy-saving: The glass is coated with a very thin (5-10 nanometre) film of vanadium dioxide which during cold periods stops thermal radiation escaping and so prevents heat loss; during hot periods it prevents infrared radiation from the sun entering the building. Vanadium dioxide is a cheap and abundant material, combining with the thinness of the coating to offer real cost and sustainability advantages over silver/gold-based and other coatings used by current energy-saving windows.

Anti-glare: The design of the nanostructures also gives the windows the same anti-reflective properties found in the eyes of moths and other creatures that have evolved to hide from predators. It cuts the amount of light reflected internally in a room to less than 5 per cent – compared with the 20-30 per cent achieved by other prototype vanadium dioxide coated, energy-saving windows – with this reduction in 'glare' providing a big boost to occupant comfort.

"This is the first time that a nanostructure has been combined with a thermochromic coating. The bio-inspired nanostructure amplifies the thermochromics properties of the coating and the net result is a self-cleaning, highly performing smart window," said Dr Ioannis Papakonstantinou of UCL.

A smart glass prototype developed by the UCL team. The dark areas are decorated with the nanostructures, which significantly suppress reflections. They also repel water forcing it to form nearly spherical droplets and preventing it from wetting the surface of the glass. The UCL logo is made of untreated glass and appears significantly more reflective compared with its surrounding region.

The UCL team calculate that the windows could result in a reduction in heating bills of up to 40 per cent, with the precise amount in any particular case depending on the exact latitude of the building where they are incorporated. Windows made of the ground-breaking glass could be especially well-suited to use in high-rise office buildings.

Dr Ioannis Papakonstantinou of UCL, project leader, explains: "It's currently estimated that, because of the obvious difficulties involved, the cost of cleaning a skyscraper's windows in its first 5 years is the same as the original cost of installing them. Our glass could drastically cut this expenditure, quite apart from the appeal of lower energy bills and improved occupant productivity thanks to less glare. As the trend in architecture continues towards the inclusion of more glass, it's vital that windows are as low-maintenance as possible."

In only five years, the cost of cleaning skyscraper windows reaches the amount it cost to install them.

Discussions are now under way with UK glass manufacturers with a view to driving this new window concept towards commercialisation. The key is to develop ways of scaling up the nano manufacturing methods that the UCL team have specially developed to produce the glass, as well as scaling up the vanadium dioxide coating process. Smart windows could begin to reach the market within around 3-5 years, depending on the team's success in securing industrial interest.

Dr Papakonstantinou says: "We also hope to develop a 'smart' film that incorporates our nanostructures and can easily be added to conventional domestic, office, factory and other windows on a DIY basis to deliver the triple benefit of lower energy use, less light reflection and self-cleaning, without significantly affecting aesthetics." Professor Philip Nelson, Chief Executive of EPSRC said: "This project is an example of how investing in excellent research drives innovation to produce tangible benefits. In this case the new technique could deliver both energy savings and cost reductions."

New Feel Good Glass

Fraunhofer researchers have developed a window coating (not pictured) that lets in more light in the wavelengths that have a beneficial effect on our sense of well-being.

Window coating improves mood by letting more light in: With many of us spending more and more time indoors, it can be a struggle to get the amount of sunlight our bodies crave. Modern heat-insulating, sun-protection glazing doesn’t help, as it reflects a noticeable percentage of the incident sunlight in the part of the spectrum that governs our hormonal balance. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research (ISC) have developed a coating for windows that lets in more light, in particular those wavelengths of light that have a beneficial effect on our sense of well-being.

While the human retina is most sensitive to light at the peak emission wavelength of sunlight, which brightens a room the most, Walther Glaubitt, a researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC in Würzburg, says our biorhythms aren’t affected by these wavelengths. Rather, it is blue light that has an impact on our sense of well-being.

According to Glaubitt’s team colleague Dr. Jörn Probst, this is because there are special receptors at the end of the nerve connection that connect the human retina to the hypothalamus – the control center for the autonomic control system – that are sensitive to blue light. These receptors convert the blue light into light-and-dark signals that are sent to the part of the brain that functions as our biological clock, where, amongst other things, the nerve impulses regulate melatonin levels.

Melatonin levels help regulate the sleep-wake cycle, with high levels of melatonin caused by a lack of light leading to problems sleeping and concentrating, as well as depression and other psychological impairments. Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, can be one potential outcome from high melatonin levels.

The new coating, which Fraunhofer researchers developed with the help of industry partners, is particularly transmissive to light in the blue part of the spectrum - at wavelengths between 450 and 500 nanometers, but its transmissivity is increased across the entire range from 380 to 580 nanometers, which the researchers say is the portion of the spectrum responsible for promoting well-being. When applied to a window, the inorganic coating is barely perceptible as it is only 0.1 micrometers thick. It also has no effect on the heat-insulating properties of the window.

Currently, the ISC researchers have only applied the coating to the side of the glass that faces into the cavity between panes. They believe that coating both the inside and outside of the window will up the light transmissivity at 460 nanometers from the current 79 percent to around 98 percent.

UNIGLAS GmbH & Co. KG, which worked with Fraunhofer to bring the coating to market maturity, is set to launch a triple-glazing product featuring the coating, which is marketed under the name UNIGLAS | VITAL feel-good glass. This product boasts light transmissivity at 460 nanometers of 79 percent. However, this is with the coating only applied to the side of the glass facing into the cavity between panels. The ISC researchers believe that applying the coating to both the inside and outside of the windows, as they plan to do in the future, will result in windows with around 95 percent light transmissivity at 460 nanometers.

More news on this glass coating:

Science Blog

New glass coating makes you feel as if window is permanently open.

Feel-good glass for windows.

VITAL feel-good glass replaces pain with happy pane. 

Advancement In Scratch Resistance

Advancement In Scratch Resistance! Be it your mobile phone screen, or your car’s window pane, the glass develops some scratches in the long run. Various studies and researches have been conducted to minimize these scratches, or if possible, eradicate them. A new way to consider in detail and subject to an analysis in order to discover essential features of  how coatings of tiny particles modify the properties of transparent plastic will help researchers develop lightweight windows with almost the same strength as glass. A similar method could also cause high-strength, scratch-resistant coatings that could be employed to variousy different materials, according to the MIT researchers who formulated the analysis.

The analysis employed a polymer named poly methyl methacrylate  (PMMA), which is greatly used as a substitute for glass. Generically called acrylic, and traded under trademarks like Lucite and Plexiglas, this material can be brittle and is far less resistant to scratching as compared to glass.

Former researchers added silica particles quantifying just nanometers across to PMMA, developing a polymer-particle nano-composite having much greater strength. But for the first time, this team has discovered a way to analyze the particle-polymer interactions of similar coatings at the nanoscale, which could help in finding improved coatings. Meng Qu, a postdoc in MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, along with Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering Krystyn Van Vliet and various researchers at DuPont Nanocomposite Technologies in Delaware executed this analysis. The work was partially financed by the DuPont-MIT Alliance.

Silica particles were employed for the coating as they are transparent, so the finished material maintains its transparency. To overcome the problem of incompatibility between silica and acrylic, the silica was treated with other “functional groups” of molecules, altering its surface chemistry so that it spreads evenly on the polymer surface. Afterwards, the researchers heated the polymer to soften it a little, and employed an atomic force microscope to observe the particles as they gradually sank into the surface, permitting the MIT team to see how fast the particles sink in and learn exactly how they interact with the polymer. The ensuing data enabled the team to work out the optimal coating materials and particle densities for toning up the polymer surface, forming possible stronger window substitutes. The work could also result in spray-on scratch-resistant coating for all things from cars to cellphones, Qu says. “Any surface that needs coating is potentially a candidate for such a treatments. We demonstrated that putting a small amount of particles on the surface increases the stiffness.”

The work could revolutionize many current uses of PMMA, such as the windows in aquarium tanks. Currently, these windows are made very thick to defy the enormous water pressure in large tanks. But if the material is tougher, the windows could be built thinner and lighter, and thus less expensive.

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Window Cleaners Smile - Glass Walls Trending In New & Old Homes

Growing Panes: Homeowners Go Big on Glass Walls - Anita and Bob Dethlefs wanted the new Portland, Ore. home they were building to really let the sunshine in. So, the couple installed 2,700 square feet of Marvin windows—about $300,000 worth—on nearly every wall of the property. And then they put up 12 security cameras. "We're getting about as much light as you can in the Northwest but with so many windows, safety was the No. 1 concern for me as a mommy with kids running around the house," says 43-year-old Ms. Dethlefs, who has five children. Her husband started a leadership conference business, Evanta Inc., in 2003 and later sold it. Their 13,000-square-foot, $5 million Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired home even has a glass front door, letting visitors on the front stoop see through the family's living room out to Mount Hood.

Forget about a room with a view. Today, homeowners want views from every room. As large expanses of glass have become architecturally acceptable for modern and traditional homes, new technology is making living in a fishbowl more practical—albeit sometimes challenging. Homeowners' desire for more open floor plans with combined kitchen and living-room spaces has paved the way structurally for bigger spreads of glass. A growing appetite for more energy-efficient windows and associated tax incentives and rebates have also supported the trend.  "The open floor plan is predominant in almost everyone's design now," says builder Tim Wilkinson of Great Falls, Mont. "They want more light and bigger windows to take advantage of views."

Today, thanks to technological advances, nearly all windows installed in new homes have special, invisible coatings that block heat and keep ultraviolet rays from fading furniture. Many also use double or triple-panes with argon or krypton gas sandwiched in between, which helps insulate in cold climates. Now standard on Andersen Windows glass: a titanium dioxide coating the company says sheds dirt and virtually eliminates water spots. Some glass makers are even marketing windows for residences that can tint and untint with the push of a button.

And for those put off by the prospect of raising and lowering so many blinds, companies such as Lutron Electronics sell window shades that can be controlled with an iPhone app. "Across the board, people want more light," says Mike Rogers, senior vice president of GreenHomes America Inc., a company specializing in energy-efficient home renovations, which has been incorporating more glass in its projects. Beyond privacy and safety—Ms. Dethlefs's chief worries—there are maintenance issues, such as how to keep so much glass spotless. (The couple pay $850 to $950 for professional cleaning at least three times a year.) And despite technological improvements, glass still doesn't typically insulate as well as a wall packed with insulation.

Then there is the bird problem: Anywhere from 100 million to 1 billion are killed in window collisions every year, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. While manufacturers such as Andersen Corp. and Marvin Windows and Doors say overall window sales have slowed amid a sluggish new-house market, the companies say they are seeing more and larger windows going into new homes. In modern homes, "they are filling space between floor and ceiling with as much glass as they can," says Jay Sandgren, an architectural representative for Andersen. He says builders are being "a lot smarter" about positioning a home and the roof overhang to capture the most sunlight in winter and to block much of the heat from the sun in summer.

Building with glass isn't cheap. Mr. Wilkinson the Montana builder estimates the price is about double the cost of installing regular walls packed with insulation. His own 4,800-square-foot home that he completed last year has $85,000 worth of Andersen glass, giving him a 240-degree view of three mountain ranges and the Missouri River. Even the deck railings are glass panels.

Tempered safety glass is installed according to local building codes in areas of homes where breakage might be of particular concern, such as windows and doors close to the floor or near a stairway or landing. Glass can sometimes attract vandals in the construction phase, a headache for builders, Mr. Wilkinson says. But breakage for homeowners "is rarely a problem," he says, although he cautions that people mowing the lawn should look out for rocks that the mower can kick out to crack a pane.

Architect Thomas Roszak took the fishbowl aesthetic to the extreme in his own Northfield, Ill. home, which features commercial curtain-wall glass around the entire building.The walls are constructed from two argon-filled glass panes covered with what's called low-emissivity, or "low-e," metallic coating to block heat flow through the window, keeping the home cooler in the summer and warmer in winter.

With little traditional wall space, art is suspended in front of windows from a floor-to-ceiling, museum-type wire hanging system, Mr. Roszak says. For privacy, he planted trees around his one-acre property and installed $60,000 worth of electronically operated blinds. One low point of glass-house design: The day his 8-year-old son spied a dead bird that had hit home's glass siding, likely mistaking the trees' reflection for safe habitat. "He said, 'Daddy, I don't think that bird is sleeping, I think it's broken,'" Mr. Roszak says.

Glass homeowners must be mindful of clutter, since the view goes both ways. When Beata and Brad Peters built their 3,900-square-foot brick home in Hawthorn Woods, Ill., they incorporated large panels of glass symmetrically throughout. While most windows have wood blinds, the family tends to leave them open for aesthetics. "I don't put a lot of stuff in front of the windows," Ms. Peters says. In the kitchen, appliances like toasters get packed along a wall with no glass.

Window-treatment companies are pushing to make shade operation less of a chore. Rotterdam-based Hunter Douglas this spring added a "Solar Energy Sensor" that raises and lowers blinds based on the amount of sun detected. Despite the slump in the housing market, the company's North American sales rose almost 5% last year. An electronically controlled Lutron shade sells for about $900 more than manual ones and can be controlled via remote control or an app for Apple Inc. or Android devices.

Some glass companies now make windows that reduce the need for blinds altogether. One is Sage Electrochromics Inc. of Faribault, Minn., whose product consists of clear panes that morph to a grayish-blue tint when a user flips a switch to send a low-voltage current across the window. The tint reduces glare and heat but not visibility. Sage began selling the glass for residential applications around 2005, though they are typically found in high-end homes due to cost. An installed window costs between one-and-a-half to two times as much as one with typical low-e glass. "If you're on the West Coast facing the ocean when the sun is beating on the glass, what people do is pull their blinds and shades to block the glare," says Helen Sanders, Sage's vice president of technical business development. "What that means is you've just lost your view you paid a huge amount of money for."

Modern architect’s glass is half full: In 1921, German architect Mies van der Rohe designed an all-glass skyscraper which, while never built, foreshadowed the countless glass-clad skyscrapers that would rise in cities around the world during the 20th century. As demonstrated by KGP’s Bikestation, iconic architecture in glass doesn’t have to be high or huge in scale. One of architect Philip Johnson’s most notable works is his one-story, modestly-sized but very elegant all-glass house built in 1949 in New Canaan, Conn. A simple rectangle in plan and elevation, Johnson’s transparent, minimalist house is enclosed entirely with large glass panels. Only the interior bathroom is opaquely clad. On a large landscaped parcel with no close neighbors, Johnson’s house needed no curtains or shades.

Of course, Johnson was not averse to grandiosity. Perhaps inspired by Paxton’s Crystal Palace, Johnson designed the daylight-filled Crystal Cathedral in Orange County, Calif., completed in 1980. An enormous religious sanctuary seating more than 2,700 worshipers, the Crystal Cathedral’s skin was constructed using 10,000 rectangular panes of glass. Today the building is for sale. A few years ago, the city of Seattle built a new library with a faceted skin composed only of diamond-shaped glass panels, some clear and some opaque. Designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, the 11-story library is an abstractly shaped, dramatically angular form covering an entire downtown block. Equally dramatic interior spaces are brightly suffused with daylight, even when it rains, a benefit much appreciated in Seattle.

State-of-the-art curtain wall technology allows architects to wrap buildings with increasingly large sheets of glass, to support glass with ever-thinner framing elements and hardware and to construct ever more complex glass skins. Glass can be manufactured using permanent coatings, surface etching and laminations to create artistic patterns, modulate light transmission, block solar radiation or sustain high impact forces. Energy-efficient glass, resisting conduction and radiation of heat, has made all-glass facades increasingly feasible. And by optimizing the amount of daylight reaching building interiors, a glass skin significantly reduces electric lighting needs and energy consumption. Now viewed as a relatively “green” building material, today’s glass is indeed not your father’s glass.

Roger K. Lewis is a practicing architect and a professor emeritus of architecture at the University of Maryland.

Glass, Technology, Coatings & Solar News For Window Cleaners

Aston Martin glass phone concept oozes class, just like the cars: Aston Martin makes some of the most drool-worthy cars on the planet, so any phone that's going to carry the Aston Martin logo had better look pretty sleek. This transparent phone concept from Mobiado should do the trick, with a wow factor that will get tongues wagging even if you aren't standing next to the car itself. Far from being just a cool phone with a fancy logo slapped onto it, the CPT002 can control many of the car's functions. Just having it in your pocket operates the keyless entry system, and once you're moving the phone can do things like automatically upload pictures from onboard cameras in the car to your social networks, so your friends can see where you're traveling, It will even use its accelerometer to measure your movement in an accident, then adjust the airbag deployment speed and seat belt tensioner to fit the situation. While it is a concept, this isn't just some pie-in-the-sky phone that will never exist in the real world. Aston Martin is working with Mobiado to create something real for their customers.

At ground zero, the future finally appears: The noise at ground zero is a steady roar. Engines hum. Cement mixers churn. Air horns blast. Cranes, including one that looks like a giant crab leg, soar and crawl over every corner of the 16-acre site. For years, the future has been slow to appear at the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. But with six months remaining until the national 9/11 memorial opens, the work to turn a mountain of rubble into some of the inspiring moments envisioned nearly a decade ago is thundering forward. One World Trade Center, otherwise known as the Freedom Tower, has joined the Manhattan skyline. Its steel frame, already clad in glass on lower floors, now stands 58 stories tall and is starting to inch above many of the skyscrapers that ring the site. A new floor is being added every week. On the 29th floor, men preparing to install window glass last week were tethered to the building by safety cables as they worked near the ledge. Even their hard hats were attached by a safety line, in case they were knocked over the side. A yellow line, painted on the concrete deck, marked how close workers are allowed to stand without wearing a safety harness.

Canada's first cathedral in 50 years will use solar cells: The first Roman Catholic Cathedral to be built in Canada in 50 years will become the first in the world to integrate solar energy collection and stained glass. In May, windows laced with solar cells will be installed into the $28.5 million Cathedral of the Holy Family in Saskatoon, Sask. The windows are the creation of Toronto artist Sarah Hall. Divided into 18 painted glass panels each, the three finished windows will contain a total of 1,113 solar cells and will produce as much energy as five Canadian households use in a year. The largest of the three will measure 37 feet high by 12 feet wide. To create a solar stained glass window, the glass is painted and fired with metallic oxides, which fuse onto the base glass. The painted glass is then tempered and silver polycrystalline solar cells are soldered and embedded into the painted surface. A layer of ultra-white tempered glass is then laminated on top and the window is made into a thermopane.

Canada adopts lower window-to-wall ratio proposal: Like the attempt at ASHRAE to reduce window-to-wall ratio in the prescriptive commercial building codes, similar moves to reduce glass have been proposed and passed in Canada, reported Margaret Webb, executive director, Insulating Glass Manufacturers Alliance, Ottawa, Ontario, at the association's Annual Meeting in Las Vegas. Canada's Standing Committee of Energy Efficiency in Buildings fast -tracked a proposal to reduce the ratio, called the fenestration/door to wall area ratio, for prescriptive requirements. In the ASHRAE 90.1 proposal, the WWR would have been reduced to a blanket 30 percent. Under the SCEEB proposal, the FDWR would be set to a declining value based on heating degree days, using the quadratic equation.

"Instead of just setting a value, they used a creation based on heating degree days," Webb said. "While it wasn't going to have as significant of an impact as that of the ASHRAE proposal, it was serious enough to warrant attention." IGMA submitted a negative, as did the Canadian Home Builders' Association, proposing a compromise solution that would provide a lesser reduction in the FDWR. "The amount of the ratio improved by about 5 percent across [most parts] of Canada," Webb said. The proposal, with the compromise ratio, was passed and the code is published.

Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia: A local glass manufacturing company is banking on the growing awareness among people in Sabah for safer products in promoting its safety glass products. This is apart from the emergence of new and less costly technology to produce tempered glass, one of the two kinds of safety glass regularly used in applications where standard glass could pose a potential danger, by China which makes it more affordable for people now, unlike before when it was costly. We just recently expanded our business to making tempered glass because most people need safety glass, that is tempered glass," said its Managing Director, Victor Su. Tempered glass is four times stronger than the standard glass and a person can stand on it without breaking it, he said after the official launching of his companies' Tempered Glassline. Su said the demand for tempered glass in Sabah is picking up because nowadays "we are going more into tourism, where safety aspects are of paramount importance people think about safety more now." Manufactured through a process of extreme heating and rapid cooling that make it harder than normal glass, tempered glass is four to five times stronger than standard glass and does not break into sharp shards when it fails. The thermal process that curves tempered glass also makes it heat resistant.

Cracks develop in glass wall at Ahmedabad airport’s international terminal (India): The swanky international terminal of the city airport is facing an unexpected problem for the last couple of months. Many of the glass tiles used in the construction of the glass wall at the terminal have developed cracks on their own, for no apparent reason. Some officials of the Airport Authority of India, however, blame the labourers working at the airport for the cracked tiles, while some others say the tiles had cracked because of the increasing summer heat. Sources at the airport said that at least a dozen glass tiles had cracked in the last couple of months. Fortunately, none of the affected tiles had splintered completely. They looked like frosted glass with cracks but had held together. This had prevented mishaps that might have been caused by shards of glass detached from completely broken tiles. Another senior official, however, said that the glass tiles had developed cracks because of the growing summer heat. There was no other explanation for the rapidity with which the tiles were cracking, he said. A third group of officials believes that the quality of the glass used in the construction of the glass wall was not upto the mark.

Crisis in Japan Sparks Conversations About Security Film: While natural disasters are, for the most part, unavoidable there are some things that can help better protect those in nature’s way. The recent earthquakes and tsunami in Japan have led to discussions about the role window film can play in mitigating such disasters. A product like security film can assist in protecting victims during a hurricane or earthquake from shards of glass or the danger of objects entering through broken windows. In the case of Japan, film may not have made any difference during the tsunami’s push, but it may have provided extra protection during the earthquake. “With Japan’s tsunami, film wouldn’t have been able to do a whole lot because of the force of the water. However, seismic activity is something film has been used for to help mitigate damage,” says Lewis Pitzer, special projects coordinator for American Standard Window Film in Las Vegas, Nev. “We can put the film on and in the event of racking or seismic activity it can help make the glass break safely.” Breaking safely means that the film will hold the glass shards in place as opposed to becoming possibly lethal projectiles. With the addition of attachment systems film can keep these shards or tempered pieces intact in the window frame and allow for a more secure building envelope.

“There is a benefit to adding film to tempered glass because you might not want to lose that opening. When thinking of contingency planning, if it‘s an area where you need to stay open like an emergency response center or a business corporate headquarters on the trading floor, you still might not want to have a situation where the tempered glass breaks and exits the frame and you are sitting there with open windows,” says Pitzer. “With film and the proper use of an attachment system on two vertical sides it will hold the whole broken piece in place. You will have a membrane that keeps the building envelope contained. That can be very important for a building like a hospital.” In Japan’s case a variety of buildings could have benefited from the use of film. Film used on school windows can protect children inside. Hospitals and clinics need the ability to remain open and manageable and film can assist with that goal. “What we found in the Bay Area after the 1989 earthquake was a lot of glass breakage. As widespread as the glass breakage was, there was no way to get everything boarded up,” says Scott Haddock, president and CEO of Glasslock Inc. in Easton, Md. “There was lousy weather for a week after the earthquake and it was really difficult to close up the envelope of all of these buildings. The good thing about film is that, as long as you can keep it in the frames, you can protect the envelope of your facilities.”

“In one case, there was a school system in California where there was a seismic event and they have annealed glass on the building and the glass broke and pieces broke off and went into the desk of the children. The kids weren’t there thankfully, but they realized the hazard and put film up,” says Pitzer. It’s important for dealers to remember that window film is not a hurricane-proof product. The product can help protect, but there is no guarantee of protection. “It’s like a bomb blast scenario—typically the target building doesn’t have a lot you can do for it, but the collateral affects. Buildings in the outer-lying areas that weren’t so close to the epicenter. It can minimize the collateral affects of things like broken glass,” says Haddock. “As long as it’s not over-sold it’s an excellent way to mitigate glass fragments in an event whether natural or man-made.”

Workers Use 'Liquid Glass' In Bid To Stop Toxic Leak At Japanese Plant - -Efforts to end the release of highly radioactive water into the ocean at Japan's stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant finally met with some success Tuesday with the injection of "liquid glass" gel around a damaged pipe managing to reduce the toxic flow in half, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said. Workers have tried a variety of methods to reduce the flow, put at several tons of water an hour. More info' here.

Metallic glass is stronger and tougher than steel: Ritchie has created metallic glass, a material he believes is the strongest and toughest to date. During our visit, Ritchie brought us to the bottom basement of the old engineering building to show us how he and his students try to break the new material to see if it’s resistant to fracture. In the future, Ritchie hopes metallic glass could one day be used for airplane engines and large structures such as bridges. Ritchie said “trying to get high strength and high toughness is very difficult. One of the holy grails is to get both high strength and high toughness [in materials]. We call that damage tolerance.” To make this metallic glass, the researchers used five elements to confuse the material. That way, the material couldn’t flex into automatic memory and form its normal, crystal structure. This is unusual, considering all metals have crystalline structures. Window panes are amorphous and aren’t crystalline in structure.

Like glass, the fabricated material was not crystalline. “We learned to make metals in this amorphous state,” Ritchie said. “There are stronger materials and there may be tougher materials, we know of no other material with the combination [we've made]. Strength and toughness are mutually exclusive, and we’ve achieved it in a material that you wouldn’t expect - in glass. Glass is usually brittle,” Ritchie said. The group from Cal Tech made the material from five or more elements. They melted it and it cooled quickly. The material wasn’t able to crystallize, so it formed an amorphous material. The Cal Tech team cut the material into little rods and sent them to Ritchie’s team at Berkeley to basically destroy the metallic glass. The experiments didn’t involve throwing the metallic glass against the floor though. Instead, Ritchie ran the metallic glass through mechanical testing machines. The machines could barely make the material crack. In the future, the new material could be used in nuclear pressure vessels because it has the same toughness as the material used today. A better material could help nuclear reactors avoid a catastrophic failure.

Next Princess Cruises ship to have glass-bottomed 'SeaWalk' -  Princess Cruises today announced its next ship will be called the Royal Princess -- a name the line has used twice before -- and revealed several new-to-the-industry features that will be aboard the vessel. Located on the starboard side of the 3,600-passenger vessel, the "SeaWalk," as Princess is calling the new feature, will offer dramatic views of the ocean 128 feet below. The Royal Princess also will have another cantilevered feature on the port side of the ship, the SeaView bar, which will have space for 20 people, Buckelew says.

Serious Materials Launches Window Retrofit System: Serious Materials announced the commercial launch of its glazing retrofit system that was used to update the windows of the Empire State Building for energy efficiency. iWindow is a retrofit glass system that doesn't replace the existing glass or alter the exterior appearance of the building. Serious Materials says the iWindow panel can be installed on the inside of the existing glass in as little as 20 minutes. At approximately $20 per square foot total installed cost, iWindow is 50% to 75% less costly to install compared to a typical aluminum replacement system which can dramatically impact the viability of such retrofit scenarios. Energy efficiency improvements can also return higher rents, secure greater occupancy, and generate higher resale value.

Each iWindow incorporates the SeriousGlass system. SeriousGlass units include spectrally-selective suspended film systems that create multiple air chambers, accomplishing high thermal performance of triple pane glass without the additional weight and structural concerns. Beyond super-insulating performance, SeriousGlass enables high light transmission, 99.5+% UV blockage, and reduced fading and damage to interior furnishings. iWindow is designed for any curtain wall or window wall commercial retrofit application and is ideally suited for historic and landmark projects as it allows preservation of the existing façade.

Spray-On Solar Glass Gets A Bit Bigger: We’ve seen New Energy Technologies announce a series of advances in its attempt to turn windows into solar panels, and now the company says it has a working, 1-square-foot see-through glass prototype that can generate electricity. An earlier version of this solar window was just 4 inches by 4 inches, and New Energy says the boost in size takes it a big step closer to bringing a product to market. “We continue to pursue an aggressive product development program, working to improve, among other things, solar cell efficiency, power output, durability, manufacturability and further scale-up,” says company president and CEO John Conklin.

New Energy’s process involves “spraying” electricity-generating, nano-sized solar cells directly onto glass, “eliminating expensive and often cumbersome or high-vacuum production methods typically used by current solar manufacturers,” it says. The coatings are less than 1/10th the thickness of thin films, New Energy says, taking advantage of what it calls “the world’s smallest functional solar cells.” The company claims that by generating electricity from both natural and artificial light sources, its cells “outperform today’s commercial solar and thin-film technologies by as much as tenfold.”

A manufacturer of bulletproof glass and solar panels has been sold after it went into administration in the wake of cashflow and accounting woes. Romag Holdings, which is based in County Durham and supplies security glass to banks, embassies and police stations, was sold to Ask The Genie, a subsidiary of property group Gentoo. The company identified cashflow problems and suspended its shares after an investigation into a £4 million payment ex-chairman John Kennair made to one of its divisions without informing the board. When Mr Kennair stepped down as chairman in February, Romag said it was experiencing significant demand for its products, particularly solar panels, and had a strong forward order book. But it was unable to secure further funding from its bank - Lloyds - and its trade and assets, including 160 staff, have been transferred to Ask The Genie. Romag supplies transparent material - glass and plastic - to security, renewable energy, architectural and specialist transport markets. It is one of only two solar panel manufacturers in the UK.

The John Hancock Tower is winner of the prestigious Twenty-Five Year Award. That honor is given to just one American work of architecture each year, a building that’s been around for at least a quarter century and proved its merit over time. And the Cambridge Public Library is winner of the Harleston Parker Medal. The Parker has been awarded annually since 1921 to “the most beautiful piece of architecture, building, monument or structure’’ in Greater Boston. The Twenty-Five Year is bestowed by the national American Institute of Architects. The Parker winner is chosen by the local Boston Society of Architects. The Hancock stands in Copley Square, and the library is at 449 Broadway in Mid-Cambridge. Some of the Hancock’s 10,344 glass window panels began cracking or falling out, especially in windstorms. All were removed, to be replaced for some months by sheets of black-painted plywood.

“The Cambridge Public Library is a magnificent twenty-first century building that seamlessly incorporates the original 1888 landmark. The historic stone building and the new glass building stand side by side as a study in contrast, although they are united by materials and colors.’’ The library is at its best in the evening. The new building glows like an enormous lantern. You can see the indoor activity through the transparent façade. There are two skins of glass, with a wide air space between. It’s a green technology, imported from Germany, that maintains thermal comfort, saves energy, and doesn’t interrupt the view.

What Is Gorilla Glass? The allure of Gorilla Glass is no mystery to anyone with a Droid, an iPhone 4, a Galaxy tab or a Dell Adamo. But for everyone else wondering about all the new Gorilla Glass gear at CES, here’s the rundown. Gorilla Glass is, well, glass…You’ll find it in screens, mostly. This includes smartphone screens, tablet screens, laptop screens, and as of this week, touch-table screens and TV screens.…that’s pretty tough to break or scratch… Drop it, smack it, or shoot it with an air rifle, and chances are you won’t break, or even scratch, a piece of Gorilla Glass. Our own Brian Barrett went hands-on with a panel some time ago and came away impressed:

Gorilla Glass is an unscratchable, unshatterable material used as a protective window for your mobile phone, PMP or laptop display. It’s in 65 products already, and I can assure you that the very nice man from Corning is not faking it. Your intrepid reporter also gave this several tries with all his blogger strength and couldn’t make a dent. I was, however, able to scratch the heck out of some polycarbonate. OK, so it’s not literally indestructible, and it’s still quite possible to shatter your iPhone’s screen. But it’s harder than it used to be.

…because it’s treated differently than most other gadget glass.

Speaking to SmartPlanet, Gorilla Glass engineer Dr Donnell Walton explains: When you chemically temper a glass, you immerse it in a salt bath and you stuff larger ions in all the surfaces and put them all under compression. What’s unique about Gorilla Glass is that because of its inherent composition, it can allow those larger ions to penetrate the surface more deeply to increase the compression tolerance and tolerate deeper scratches. The compression pushes a flaw back. It’s harder to break from a deeper scratch. It’s also a bit more expensive than the glass normally used for gadget screens, though given its rapid adoption – it’s used in some 300+ devices at this point – its value as a selling point and feature clearly outweighs its monetary cost.

Leybold Optics will install what it says is the world's largest thin-film coating system for glass production at SAGE Electrochromic's new high-volume manufacturing facility in Faribault, MN. The record-breaking coating line will be more than 150 meters long, contain more than 200 turbomolecular pumps, and feature a new twin sputter deposition system that operates at high substrate temperatures, among other technological breakthroughs.

SAGE will use the system for high-volume production of SageGlass, the world's most energy-efficient window glass. SageGlass is an electronically tintable "dynamic" glass for use in building windows and skylights. The glass can be switched from clear to darkly tinted at the touch of a button, or programmed to respond to changing sunlight and heat conditions. This revolutionary technology significantly reduces energy consumption and associated costs. The production start is planned for late 2012.

Leybold Optics says is proud to be selected for this pioneering project and says the company proves to be the first mover when it comes to the conversion of new technology into industrial production equipment. Leybold Optics says its unique combination of know-how in the fields of display, photovoltaic, and architectural glass coating systems provides Leybold Optics with the ideal skill for this reference installation.

Peter Kuitenbrouwer - Ryerson’s glass atrocity: Ryerson University held a news conference at 10:30 to display details of its new Student Learning Centre, corner of Gould and Yonge streets, but since they have already leaked the details to another newspaper, I feel free to express my view: the “thing” they are proposing to build, for a cool $112-million, looks shockingly suburban and derivative. Rather than try to work with the historic character of Yonge Street and fit into the province’s most storied shopping thoroughfare, Snohetta of Norway and Zeidler of Toronto propose to slam an irregular, iceberg-esque monolith of glass and concrete where Sam the Record Man once stood. Back a few years ago when Ryerson bought Sam’s, Sheldon Levy, the president of Ryerson, promised in a news release that, “we are working closely with the City of Toronto to ensure that the legacy of Sam the Record Man is honoured.” They have not done so.

Researchers develop golden window electrodes for organic solar cells: Researchers at the University of Warwick have developed a gold plated window as the transparent electrode for organic solar cells ("Ultrathin Transparent Au Electrodes for Organic Photovoltaics Fabricated Using a Mixed Mono-Molecular Nucleation Layer"). Contrary to what one might expect, these electrodes have the potential to be relatively cheap since the thickness of gold used is only 8 billionths of a metre. This ultra-low thickness means that even at the current high gold price the cost of the gold needed to fabricate one square metre of this electrode is only around £4.5. It can also be readily recouped from the organic solar cell at the end of its life and since gold is already widely used to form reliable interconnects it is no stranger to the electronics industry.

Organic solar cells have long relied on Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) coated glass as the transparent electrode, although this is largely due to the absence of a suitable alternative. ITO is a complex, unstable material with a high surface roughness and tendency to crack upon bending if supported on a plastic substrate. If that wasn't bad enough one of its key components, indium, is in short supply making it relatively expensive to use.

An ultra-thin film of air-stable metal like gold would offer a viable alternative to ITO, but until now it has not proved possible to deposit a film thin enough to be transparent without being too fragile and electrically resistive to be useful. Now research led by Dr Ross Hatton and Professor Tim Jones in the University of Warwick 's department of Chemistry has developed a rapid method for the preparation of robust, ultra-thin gold films on glass. Importantly this method can be scaled up for large area applications like solar cells and the resulting electrodes are chemically very well-defined.

Dr Hatton says "This new method of creating gold based transparent electrodes is potentially widely applicable for a variety of large area applications, particularly where stable, chemically well-defined, ultra-smooth platform electrodes are required, such as in organic optoelectronics and the emerging fields of nanoelectronics and nanophotonics" The paper documents the team's success in creating this simple, practical and effective method of depositing the films onto glass, and also reports how the optical properties can be fine tuned by perforating the film with tiny circular holes using something as simple as polystyrene balls. The University of Warwick research team has also had some early success in depositing ultra-thin gold films directly on plastic substrates, an important step towards realising the holy grail of truly flexible solar cells. This innovation is set to be exploited by Molecular Solar Ltd, a Warwick spinout company dedicated to commercialising the discoveries of its academic founders in the area of organic solar cells.

Investment in US clean technology highest since 2008: Rising oil prices and increasing investor confidence have encouraged US clean technology market, says report by Cleantech Group. Global investment in US clean technology has reached its highest level since 2008, while investment in UK companies has dropped sharply, quarterly figures show. Increasing investor confidence and rising oil prices have helped investment in North American companies more than double compared with the previous quarter, according to a report by Cleantech Group, an international firm that works to accelerate the development and market adoption of clean technologies.

Sheera Haji, CEO of Cleantech Group, said: "I absolutely think rising oil prices have had some important impacts. We've seen decent uptake in transportation." He added: "We're seeing a good rebound as public markets are doing well, companies are doing well, and investors are raising funds and investing them. We're also seeing a real skew towards bigger deals." While North America flourishes, investment in companies in Europe and Israel dropped by 60% compared with the previous quarter. Investment in British companies has plummeted to its lowest level since 2003, with only nine deals secured all year.

Haji described the period as a "very weak" quarter for the UK. He said: "I have not been following the UK closely, but there's been some uncertainty around what's happening in the UK – around the economic recovery and growth – and that has impacted on the vibrancy of the start-up economy." The news comes a week after a report from the US Pew Environment Group showed that Britain's private investments in green energy projects fell by 70% last year, causing it to fall from third to 13th place in the league of countries developing clean technology.

Haji said Japan's nuclear crisis could have a "pretty significant impact" on the next set of quarterly figures, and that it may boost investment in clean technology and coal. He added: "We think it's a setback for the building of new reactors."

Privacy Glass & Film - What Window Cleaners Should know

Get ready for more window films & coatings as marketing is bombarded at you from every angle. DigiGlass is one of many companies that coat glass & even walls (bottom picture) with other quality cleanable coverings. Although this isn't a new idea, it seems that more & more will appear now that DigiGlass at least has developed a film that meets with UK legislation with it's fire rating. The Class “O” fire rating ensures that the safety, security and branding potential of printed window film is now available for use in applications where fire safety is of particular importance. DigiGlass sought the rating following an enquiry into the potential installation of printed window film on passenger trains. In order to utilise the marketing and branding opportunities DigiGlass offers the client required certification that the product complied with relevant safety legislation.

What does this mean for the average window cleaner? Since the product is usually installed on the inside surface, it shouldn't bother many "outside only window cleaners." I have however come across exterior lamination & this does pose a problem. Water fed pole users in public areas will have to think about the slip factor & the public at large as many of the films will be added in high public concentration areas. Some of the poorer film quality from other companies will scratch with a water fed pole brush head & by the time you know it the damage is already done. I talk from experience.



For those of us that maintain interiors as well - it poses more work. For one, the drag from a squeegee is typically worse & overlapping in an "S" technique should be kept to a minimum. Even straight pulling becomes harder & drys out faster. Experience on this type of covering is crucial to keep your speed up. I recommend the Wagtail Whirlwind for this particular type of work for its wet & squeegee capabilities with minimal changeover work.



Detailing will also become more work, as we have to detail intricate cut-outs (pictured) in the coverings - this will leave more streaks. Going slower over these areas will help enormously with detailing afterwards. Don't think you can just take your scraper out either to remove those stubborn marks - you'll pass through the film like butter! A scrim will remove most hard to move marks, even making it wetter for more power without effecting the luster of the film. Because film is more phobic to dirt, this often helps in high dirt build up areas. Finally be careful with some of the scrubber covers you choose, these can often lead to damage on the poorer quality films.



Personally speaking my biggest problem with window coverings is the lack of attention to cleaning the glass before these films are applied as they are often cleaned by the installers themselves. Often I find spots & marks that are under films due to the fact the installers only use a chemical containing isopropanol or similar that shines the surface making it easier for the installation & not the longevity of the appearance. This is noticeable as time goes on. Removing the film? This is another topic entirely, the longer the film is on the harder it is to remove. Sun adds to the bonding of the film to the glass & old film comes off in shards, not in sheets. More often than not - the film is placed on defective tempered glass where the window was in bad shape in the first place & was used to disguise the fact. So uncovering the film for the new shop owner only leads to another being applied or a whole new window.



On the plus side for the business shop owner -PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) window film has a range of benefits and applications, which can all be enhanced by the utilising the marketing and branding opportunities. DigiGlass offers the client required certification that the product complied with relevant safety legislation. Dave Macdonald, Managing Director of DigiGlass commented, “The Class “O” Fire Rating was an important achievement for DigiGlass and came about as a direct result of client demand. “ He added, “The rating has broadened the appeal of printed window film far beyond its traditional market and will ensure that we will see some really innovative applications of the product in the near future. It is especially pleasing that DigiGlass is at the forefront of the developments in what is an exciting and growing industry.”



One of the key benefits of 100micron PET film is its shatterproof protection, which complies with The approved code of practice for Reg. 14. The fire rating compliments the existing benefits to provide a robust and cost effective solution for businesses seeking to bolster the security and safety of glazed areas. Of course this decision is often not only a business wish but also a legal requirement. DigiGlass printed window film is already finding application with Architects, Interior Designers and Corporate Clients who are exploiting the opportunity to produce bespoke graphics for internal and external glass areas. Often through marketing or design agencies, corporate clients are using DigiGlass to enhance the appearance of glass areas and maximise the opportunities for branding. The unique DigiGlass print process incorporates white into the design process to provide seamless high impact graphics that give the appearance of being printed direct to the glass.