Rising numbers of heatwaves across Europe have made summer heat protection a top priority for architects, building owners and urban planners.
With its Solar Control product, Belgian manufacturer FINEO by AGC demonstrates that its vacuum insulating glass series goes beyond controlling solar heat gain: by reducing the energy demand for mechanical cooling, it lowers CO2 emissions, and with its fully recyclable, lead-free composition and a service life of at least 60 years, it contributes to climate protection well beyond the building envelope.
The highly selective solar control coating from FINEO allows a high proportion of daylight to go through the glazing while it is effectively blocking heat gain from solar radiation. This opens entirely new design possibilities for architects, as large-scale glazing can be combined with south-facing facades.
As integral elements of the building envelope, windows play a central role in regulating light and heat, directly impacting energy efficiency and room comfort. Certification systems such as WELL, DGNB, BREEAM and LEED accordingly recognise access to natural daylight as a central building quality feature.
This is exactly where FINEO Solar Control comes in, particularly for larger south/south-west-facing window areas. With a highly selective solar control layer, it combines exceptionally high light transmission of 73 percent with an excellent g-value of 0.41 in the FINEO 8 version, which is ideal for rooms needing ample daylight without summer overheating.
This is achieved through the specific composition of the product: two thin glass panes enclose a hermetically sealed 0.1 millimetre vacuum gap, enhanced by a highly selective low-E coating. With a total thickness starting from 7.7 millimetres, FINEO Solar Control achieves thermal insulation values comparable to a modern triple glazing. Solar Control coating can be associated with the different annealed FINEO versions (Standard, Acoustic, Safety) as well as with the Tempered one to address large-format glazing up to 2,980 by 1,605 millimetres.
FINEO has the capacity to provide any free shapes in addition to the usual standard formats. This solves a problem especially in the world of restoration: provide comfort and energy efficiency in old-listed buildings while preserving the frame’s original form and thickness.