Decorating with Glass

When the task is to decorate a room, most people focus on colors, furnishings, textures and flooring. One important element of decorating is light, and the source of most natural light is the window. Glass is an integral part of a decorating scheme, so it’s important to remember it when making a decorating plan.

Windows have two primary purposes – light and ventilation. In some cases, a window is non-operable, so letting in light is its only gig. Light’s visible components are definitely desirable, but light has invisible components that bring in unwanted (or much wanted) heat.

Light and the accompanying heat raise the temperature of a room. That might be desirable in some settings, and highly undesirable in others. With an operable window, you have the option of ventilating with natural air. With inoperable glass, your only option is to turn up the air conditioning.

Letting in light means letting others have a view of your interior space. In most cases, that’s not what you want, so a decorating plan that includes glass will need to take into account the need for privacy.

You can “privatize” your window glass with a wide range of window treatments – including blinds, shades, drapes and shutters. You can also use frosted or coated glass to limit the ability to see out of the window without completely restricting the light that gets in.

Glassprimer™ glass paint offers a frosted effect paint that enables you to “frost” ordinary glass at a fraction of the cost of true frosted glass. Glassprimer™ glass paint creates a permanent bond with the glass surface, so once the paint has cured, it won’t come off.

Iconic Glass Structures – Palm House, Kew Gardens

The Palm House is one of three major buildings on the grounds. It is a breathtaking glass structure made of wrought iron and glass. The building houses the Garden’s collection of palms. A second structure, twice the size of the Palm House, known as the Temperate House, is the largest glasshouse in the world. The third major structure in the Kew Gardens is the Princess of Wales Conservatory, which was opened in 1987. It houses plants from the dry and wet tropics.

Kew, which is an area that has been absorbed by London, has been the site of a royal residence since about 1300. The Kew Gardens were originally created in the late 1700’s by combining several royal residences. At that time, the Garden’s first curator was also appointed. The Gardens became a national botanical garden in 1840, shortly before the Palm House was built. The Palm House was constructed between 1844-1848 of wrought iron and glass. It is the largest surviving Victorian-era iron-and-glass structure in the world. The glass panes in the Palm House are all hand-blown. The original glass in the Palm House was tinted green to reduce the heat buildup in the building.

The Kew Gardens is one of London’s top tourist attractions. Annually, it welcomes more than 1.3 million visitors, and occupies about 300 acres.

Humber Bridge Could Get Glass Elevator

The Humber Bridge traverses the junction of the Trent and Ouse rivers. It connects North Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire, and was opened in 1981. It has a height of about 510 feet and spans about 1.4 miles. At that time, it was the longest single span suspension bridge in the world. Today, it is the eighth-longest bridge of its kind, and carries about 120,000 vehicles per week.

The bridge was originally planned in the 1930’s but wasn’t built. The bridge plans were revised again in the mid-1950’s, but again, construction was delayed. Construction of the span began in 1972 with a goal of opening the bridge to traffic in 1976. Construction delays prevented the timely completion of the project, and the bridge was finally opened in 1981.

The proposed elevator would take visitors nearly to the top of one of the bridge’s two towers. Once at the top, visitors will be able to enter a glass observation platform, giving a 306° view of the rivers and the Humber region.

According to Hill, the project would create as many as 400 jobs and generate more than £16,000,000 annually in tourist-related revenue. Currently, the plan calls for a 15-month construction schedule. If the plans are approved and construction begins immediately, the elevator could be ready for its first visitors near the end of 2017.

Philly Office Building To Use Photochromic Glass

A new office building planned in Philadelphia will use photochromic glass. The windows will tint automatically to reduce glare and solar heat gain. The building, known as 3.0 University Place, will open in early 2018. The 189,000 square foot building’s windows will have sensors that detect the level of ambient light and tint to reduce glare and heat buildup.

The windows, made by SageGlass, can also tint via remote control, to better suit the preferences of building occupants. Photochromic glass won’t be the building’s only energy-saving trick. The structure will feature solar panels on the roof and a rainwater collection and purification system for water use inside the building. The building will be the third in a planned development of six buildings that all feature energy-conserving, environmentally friendly operational techniques.

The Steward Partnership, the buildings’ developer, is seeking LEED Platinum certification for 3.0 University Place. Platinum LEED certification According to the developer, the building does not yet have an anchor tenant, but several Fortune 500 companies are in talks to occupy the space when it is complete.

Energy conservation is driving building design. Glass plays a major role in reducing energy consumption and energy costs. Whether by using photochromic glass, window treatments, energy efficient windows or glass coatings like Glassprimer™ glass paint, in most cases, light control equals heat control, and heat control equals a reduction in energy consumption.

Glassprimer™ glass paint is specially formulated to make a permanent bond with glass. Unlike ordinary paints, Glassprimer™ glass paint will not chip, peel or fade, even in direct sunlight or high humidity. Glassprimer™ bonds with the glass surface by modifying it, so the paint performs year after year, even in demanding conditions.

New glass could improve solar cell efficiency

Researchers at ITMO University in St. Petersburg, Russia have developed a new glass that emits visible light when in the presence of ultraviolet radiation. UV radiation normally counteracts the performance of solar cells, and diminishes the practical lifetime of the cell.

This glass could intercept UV radiation and convert it to visible frequencies. The converted UV radiation could then actually improve the efficiency of the collector. Currently, solar collectors have variable efficiency ratings, but some collectors are only about 20% efficient. This glass could increase the efficiency of lower performing collectors by one-third.

According to the researchers, the glass is easy to produce. In addition to improving the performance of solar collectors, the glass could also extend the life of both solar cells and white LEDs.

White LEDs are currently made by coating blue LEDs with yellow phosphor. The yellow phosphor doesn’t age well, and often causes the LED to overheat. The significant rise in temperature destroys the phosphor layer and causes the LED to fail. This is particularly apparent in large LEDs – those used for public lighting on streets, airports and in stadiums.

Using the technology developed at ITMO University, photoluminescent particles can be embedded directly into glass. This improves both the durability and performance of large LED lights. Typically, large LED lights must be replaced every 6 months. This glass technology, which eliminates the LED’s main failure mode, could extend the life of LEDs to as much as 5 years.

Technological advances in glass and glass production can significantly enhance energy efficiency. Glassprimer™ glass paint is a specially engineered glass coating that bonds permanently to glass surfaces. Glassprimer™ glass paint can be tinted to match virtually any major paint manufacturer’s paint palette. In addition, the paintprovides superior UV resistance without sacrificing performance.