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Glass doesn't need to be poorly insulating. Double and triple paned glass are great at insulation. Some even use vacuum, at which point you're basically build
by retrac 2y ago
Glass doesn't need to be poorly insulating. Double and triple paned glass are great at insulation. Some even use vacuum, at which point you're basically building a giant Thermos. Getting a good seal is still tricky. Unwanted solar heat or unwanted heat escape via infrared can be modulated with windows that have adjustable reflectivity in the infrared. Unfortunately, it's expensive to build that way! But there have been a few attempts at this approach in the last decade, mostly in places like Norway or Quebec.
- cenamus 2y agoVacuum insulation isn't made from glass plates and is wayyy more expensive, it only makes sense when you need good performance at low thicknesses
- hoherd 2y agoI'm certainly no insulation or window expert, but AFAIK argon filled gaps between windows are more common than vacuum. https://vistaza.com/gas-filled-windows-guide/ https://vistaza.com/gas-filled-windows-guide/
- szundi 2y agoVacuum with big glass doean’t work. They use argon mostly because the noble gases have only 3 degrees of freedom, not 9, thus transferring heat less
- pfdietz 2y agoAlso the higher molecular weight helps. Krypton is better than argon; xenon would be better still but is very expensive. Thermal conductivity of gases: https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=907540 https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=90754... Notice how good CFCs are (even though they have plenty of internal degrees of freedom).
- askvictor 2y agoThere are vacuum glass products: https://news.panasonic.com/global/press/en191212-2 https://news.panasonic.com/global/press/en191212-2