It’s heartwarming to see the changes constantly evolving in the construction industry, driven to ensure that building practices and structures become more environment friendly. The topic has become an increasingly prevalent part of the conversation in the recent past – not just in preparation for Earth Day, but consistently throughout the year.
Within our glazing specialty, there are many features of glass which benefit the environment. In construction, architects incorporate large glazed areas for not only their energy-saving properties, but also to allow for maximum amounts of natural light to stream into buildings. The trend in recent years has been to incorporate increasingly larger lites of glass. Interiors flooded with sunlight significantly enhance the living and working conditions of building occupants. Studies show that glass in buildings, through these benefits, contributes to occupants’ well-being and improved health conditions.
With the use of high-performance glazing, the importance of glass as an energy-efficient material is universally recognized. Besides enabling greater amounts of light to fill our interiors, the types of glass and glazing systems we install benefit the earth in other ways as well, including such features that have the capability to:
- reduce energy consumption by reducing and protecting us from harmful UV rays
- prevent heat or cold from entering a structure
- seal completely to better insulate and maintain desired internal temperatures
- slow and/or contain the spread of fire
- ensure safe egress if a fire should break out, by effectively compartmentalizing smoke, flames, and radiant heat
- become shaded or opaque, to prevent bright sun from heating interiors and controlling otherwise disruptive glaring light
- reduce or prevent bird injuries and deaths
The technology exists for structures to collect solar energy through glass and to power buildings without the need for other external energy sources. Glass can generate renewable energy through solar-thermal and photovoltaic applications, with the capability to turn structures into independent, self-sustainable energy systems.
In theory, glass is endlessly recyclable, another huge benefit to the environment. The amount of solid waste produced by the glass industries during manufacturing is extremely low in the glass industries, as almost all glass waste (“cullets”) are immediately recycled and put back into furnaces to serve, once again, as raw material. In practice, on actual construction job sites with installed glass and especially with renovation projects, recycling happens less frequently than we would like.
This year, as we celebrate 2022 as the International Year of Glass, it’s also the year in which the United Nations has finally recognized glass as “an essential material.” This recognition represents a great opportunity to raise global awareness about the positive role of glass in healthy living and to show the commitment of the international glass industry to build a better future.
Glass Alliance Europe is hosting an event this fall to focus specifically on how glass contributes to our healthier living and environment. For more details, check out the organization’s website here. Until then, look around you, and appreciate the ways in which our environments are enhanced by glass.