Translucent Apparel

Up-to-date megapolis is fairly unimaginable without high-rise buildings. And there are numerous reasons justifying such a presence: the specific city aesthetics, and the scarcity of constructible surface, which price is positively sky-high, desire to hub different interrelating businesses or dissipated corporate subsidiaries, which regard such structures as a part of their branding.

Never-ending technological development advancing to the brand new plane makes the contemporary skyscrapers stylistically unconfined - this is the pure flight of architectural fancy of architect embodied in glass and metal. However, such structures should not just be impressive in terms of height and uncommon looks, but also be corresponding to relevant contemporary standards and requirements. And here a developer comes across to several issues.

For example, transparent parts of facades almost embracing contemporary skyscrapers, are the integral part of the structure’s exterior allowing sunlight inside, thus saving power for artificial lighting. However, it induces the problem of building’s heating, since the heat losses through the transparent cladding exceed manifold that of the opaque surface.

For example, according to SNIP (Construction norms and regulations) 23-02-2003 “Heat protection of buildings” and MGSN 4.19-05 “Multifunctional highrise buildings and complexes” the reduced total thermal resistance of walls for Moscow must be more than 3.12 m2 ?С/W. The thermopane performance is hardly capable of achieving such results, but to minimize these losses and to consider them is quite feasible. Another concern is lack of overall standards applied to a cladding system as a whole.

Today the only structural elements of facades are subject to regulation. Is there any way to solve all these problems? Hereunder the comment of existing situation given by specialists of Aluterra SK specializing in contemporary facade technologies: “At this point in time, without regulations and nonconformity of domestic standards to that of EU, USA, China etc., testing is the only way of guaranteeing client’s expectations in terms of technical performance of facade construction…

Often the grades of glass and other associated materials do not conform to specified standards or accepted just according to producer country regulations. That’s why the design values greatly vary with the results of tests, which may entail serious consequences. Several high-rise structures in RF have proven to be a dud on completion: moisture on internal surface, leaking and frosting at low temperatures…

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Information provided by Aluterra SK