Going Green
The right choice of glass in your home makes all the difference in the brighter, warmer summer months
If you’re at the planning stages of a new build or renovation, it’s worth considering how your home will stand up to the changing seasons while ticking all the right ‘green’ boxes. And it can be as simple as ensuring that you have made a thoughtfully considered choice when it comes to the glass selected for windows and doors.
The fact that PG Smartglass reflects a large portion of the heat from the sun while letting in natural light means you can have big windows and light-filled rooms without having to worry about turning your home into a sweltering greenhouse come South Africa’s summer months.
PG Smartglass is designed to help create living spaces that are cooler in summer (while also being warmer in winter), as well as brighter, safer, quieter and more energy efficient. In fact, the glass you choose is likely to be the most important factor affecting the overall energy efficiency and comfort of your home.
Providing the greatest green benefits are PG Smartglassx1™ and Smartglassx2™, the singleand double-glazed options, respectively. Both have a range of specialised coatings that are spectrally selective, allowing natural light to flow into the room while reflecting the heat out. This means they will make interiors brighter without them becoming hotter. The X2 range can eliminate as much as 86 percent of the sun’s heat, reducing the need to use expensive cooling systems.
There are additional benefits to be enjoyed with the introduction of PVB laminated glass. This includes not only enhanced safety and security options but also the absorption of up to 99 percent of harmful UV rays. This will significantly retard the fading of investment furniture pieces, carpets and paintings – and make for happier house plants.
It does all this while assisting in compliance with SANS 10400 part XA energy-efficiency legislation. The legislation controls how much glass can be used in your home, dependent on the performance of the glass. This means that with PG Smartglass you can use more glass in your home, maximising views and giving your architect or builder the freedom and flexibility to design the home you really want.
The better the quality of light in your home, the better your home looks, while improving your sense of wellbeing. The spectrally selective coatings allow in over 70 percent of natural light, while rejecting more than half of the solar heat that would normally come in through the window with it. That means light and clarity without the heat and discomfort. It also means you save energy on artificial lighting because you won’t have to light gloomy rooms.