Guardian Industries unveiled its new Glass Visualizer at the Facades+PERFORMANCE conference in New York City, 24-25 April. Attendees had an exclusive first-look at this industry-leading tool intended to accurately render coated glass products under varying lighting conditions. Facades+, presented by The Architect’s Newspaper in collaboration with Enclos, is the seventh in a series of conferences designed to develop and sustain a collaborative dialogue about the diverse opportunities presented by a building’s skin. The importance of glass and its benefits as a high performance material in a building’s façade is expanding. As part of the Facades+ program, Mic Patterson, Director of Strategic Development, Enclos; Bruce Milley, Architectural Design Manager, Northeast Region for Guardian Industries; and Tim Singel, Director, Technical Services at Guardian’s Science & Technology Center led a three-part workshop on 25 April at Pratt’s Manhattan Campus. The dialog workshop was developed to help architects and designers understand the importance of proper glass viewing, and the intricacies of colour and performance. Patterson’s presentation: “Reflections on Glass: The Aesthetics of Reflected Light,” focused on the visual consequences of glass as a performance material. Milley presented “Building with Light, Color and Performance: The Fundamentals of Great Glazing.” Developed specifically for Façades+ attendees, the presentation reviewed the fundamental concepts of light and colour and discussed their influence on glass appearance and performance. Finally, an exclusive for Facades+ attendees, Guardian debuted its new glass visualization tool, part of the Guardian Glass Analytics suite of online tools. Singel will demonstrate to architects and designers how to best understand and view glass when creating innovative building designs. "This powerful new tool allows the user to view virtually any glass make-up, under a range of outdoor sky conditions and indoor lighting conditions – all with the click of a mouse,” said Singel. “It will help designers make the best choices of glass to bring a building’s design together with its performance.” The Glass Visualizer is the fourth component of Guardian Glass Analytics, joining the Performance Calculator, Building Energy Calculator and BIM Generator. Together, these industry-leading tools provide comprehensive engineering and analytical modelling and custom content that demonstrate the advantages of high performance glass in building façades.
