Smart glass can add elegance, thermal efficiency and privacy to your building. Learn why it's great for roofs.
What does a building need to be? It's a big question with many possible answers depending on what the building is used for and who it's used by.
Nevertheless, we think you'll agree that a building, whether residential or commercial, should be private, thermally efficient, soundproofed, elegant and easy to maintain.
There are many ways to tick these crucial attributes off the list. But for our money, one of the very best is
smart glass.
Smart glass is an innovative glass product that can be switched from transparent to opaque via a switch or smart home system. Think Alexa but for the transparency levels of your glass windows, doors or roof.
With smart glass, you're given the ability to say, "Alexa, increase the privacy in the room" – while the product itself provides excellent thermal efficiency, soundproofing and low maintenance.
Now, picture a smart glass roof. Not only do you get intuitive control of privacy levels, but you also get to control how much light floods in from above.
Want to gaze up at the stars? No sweat. Want to cover up the roof for the night? Again, no sweat. Want natural light but don't want glare? All these decisions can be made at the touch of a button.
Still not convinced? Here are five reasons you should seriously consider installing a smart glass roof.
1. Balance natural light and privacy
How about this for a hot take: natural light is a good thing. Obvious, right? Yet here in the UK, otherwise lovely buildings are often all too dingy. You need big windows and kilowatts of electric light to make them halfway liveable.
This, of course, is an argument for a
glass roof – but why a
smart glass
one? The answer is that smart glass lets you embrace natural light without any sacrifice of privacy.
"Yes," we hear you say, "but why not just install horizontal blinds?" The answer is that a smart glass roof gives you all the benefits of non-smart glass with benefits all its own. Take, for instance, the question of thermal efficiency.
2. Increase your building's thermal efficiency
For both residential and commercial building owners, "thermal efficiency" means two things. First, it means spending less on central heating, air conditioning and other ways of controlling the temperature. At a time when energy bills are high, this is a top priority.
Secondly, it means producing fewer carbon emissions. At a time when sustainability is fast turning from a "good-to-have" into a "need-to-have", this means your choice of glass products is more important than ever.
Smart glass roofs are thermally efficient because, well, smart glass is thermally efficient. It has a low U-value, meaning it keeps the warm air in and cold air out.
On top of this, it offers light control (sometimes known as "solar control"). By giving you graduated control over the amount of light entering the building, you rely less and less on electric lighting.
All of this combines to simultaneously slash your energy budget
and your emissions. Win-win!
3. Improve soundproofing
Solar control is one thing – but how about acoustic control? This is something a smart glass roof gives you in spades.
Smart glass, you see, is often made out of toughened glass – and toughened glass is around twice as quiet as standard glass.
This isn't a key reason to invest in a smart glass roof. After all, you could invest instead in a toughened laminated roof without the smart capabilities.
Nevertheless, the soundproofing properties of smart glass are an extra benefit, increasing the overall comfort of a building.
4. Low maintenance
Whether you're a homeowner or a business owner, chances are you're busy. Typically, this means one of two things. Either you spend your hard-earned pay on a cleaner or you do it yourself.
This is another reason why you should consider getting a smart glass roof. Smart glass (like all toughened and laminated products) is a breeze to clean. All you need is some glass-friendly detergent and something soft to apply it with – and, in the case of a smart glass roof, some kind of pole.
And if you don't have time to do your own cleaning, it means you'll spend less on cleaning services. Either way, smart glass gives you a high-end product that doesn't cost the Earth to clean.
5. Add a touch of class
At the end of the day, smart glass roofs are about more than just functionality. Sure, their thermal efficiency, privacy-on-demand, low maintenance and advanced soundproofing are all big selling points. But these would count for little if a smart glass roof wasn't
classy.
It's not just the fact that smart glass roofs let you show off and harness light from the sky – both when the sun is flooding down and when the stars are sparkling on high. It's also the high-end touch that this smart addition to a building can bring.
Perhaps you're a homeowner wanting a conversational centrepiece in one of your rooms. Perhaps you run a restaurant or casino and want to give customers an experience to remember. Or perhaps you own an office and want to impress both staff and visitors.
If this sounds like you, a smart glass roof is the way to go. But before you commit to an installation, you need to be sure you're working with the right materials.
Aside from anything else, smart glass roofs need to be super-safe. This means you should always get your materials from a processor that follows the relevant BS EN safety standards.
It also means that you shouldn't cut corners when it comes to quality. As one of the UK's leading
smart glass suppliers, we never cut corners – only glass. So, if you're in the market for some high-quality smart glass for a roof,
get in touch with ToughGlaze today. We'd love to help you out.
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