Generous glass facades guarantee optimal views

Bring the power of the sun into your home – keep the heat out!

Modern glass architecture was long associated solely with high-tech office buildings. Now it is also in demand for single-family homes.

Large glass facades are not only visually appealing, they also create a special living atmosphere. They allow natural light, so important for our well-being, to flood into the house and, moreover, create a feeling of boundless space.

Since the boundaries between inside and outside blur, you essentially bring nature into the building.

But what about thermal insulation?

“Modern windows keep out the cold almost as well as solid walls, since the glazing has been significantly improved with regard to thermal insulation,” says Prof. Gerhard Hausladen from the Chair of Building Climatology and Building Technology at the Technical University (TU) Munich.

Insulating glazing is standard today. Triple-glazed safety glass achieves thermal insulation values ​​(Uw) of up to 0.73 W/m²K. (The U-value measures heat loss from the inside to the outside. The lower it is, the better the insulation.) Thus, while plenty of light enters the room through the wide, climate-controlled glass fronts, little solar energy, and therefore little heat, enters.

Therefore, installing air conditioning is unnecessary in most cases. However, those who prefer a cooler indoor temperature in summer should still consider sun protection – for example, a roof overhang.

Tightly closing roller shutters also protect against heat loss in winter and overheating in summer.

Deciduous trees offer natural sun protection. Plant them so that their canopies shade the large glass surfaces in summer. When leafless in winter, the trees hardly obstruct the light.

Climate glass, also used for conservatories, can be installed in widths of up to six meters. The frame blends discreetly into the facade. Its installation is recommended for building facades where at least 50 percent of the surface area is glass.