PPG Low-E Glass Doubles Savings

by | Dec 22, 2011

This article is included in these additional categories:

Triple-silver-coated, low-emissivity glass can save a building twice as much in annual energy savings than its double-silver-coated equivalent, according to research by manufacturer PPG Industries.

Speaking at a conference at the University of Southern California, Chuck McMullen, national architectural manager for PPG Industries used the example of a prototype window-walled, eight-story office building in Los Angeles to show that its building owners could achieve energy savings of more than $37,000 per year when using double-silver-coated, low-e glass instead of spectrally selective tinted glass. When triple-silver-coated, low-e glass was substituted for spectrally selective tinted glass, the annual energy savings for the same building more than doubled to $75,728, McMullen said.

McMullen also showed that building owners benefit from low-e glass installations through lower heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment costs, because the glass blocks the sun’s heat and reduces the need for cooling.

Furthermore, specifying triple-silver-coated, low-e glass instead of spectrally selective tinted glass reduced annual heating- and cooling-related electricity use in the window-walled office building by as much as 500 kwh. Natural gas consumption in the same building was reduced 27 percent with triple-silver-coated, low-e glass, McMullen said.

Three PPG facilities appeared on a secret EPA “watch list” on potential Clean Air Act violators published in November by NPR and the Center for Public Integrity. The PPG facilities were in Westlake, La., Circleville, Ohio, and Oak Creek, Wis.

Additional articles you will be interested in.

Stay Informed

Get E+E Leader Articles delivered via Newsletter right to your inbox!

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Share This