Watch Your Glass, It’s Frying Us, Continued

I’ve had a response from Kristin Gibbins at the Nasher Sculpture Center about the new controversy over intense heat generated by Museum Tower’s curved glass windows:

CD: It’s not as if the Nasher and half the country has NOT known about Museum Tower going up for what, four years now, and that is made entirely of glass?

Kristin Gibbins: The issue is not that Museum Tower has a glass facade; the problem is caused by the type of glass used. Museum Tower could have used any number of types of glass that would not have caused the reflectivity issue. At 44% reflectivity, the glass that was chosen is at a much greater degree of reflectivity than the agreed upon covenants, and is at a greater reflectivity than indicated in Museum Tower’s reflectivity report. Any developer or architect should consider the fabric of the existing neighborhood when planning and designing new construction.

CD: The 15-page report by the owners of Museum Tower concedes the reflectivity of the glass, but says there’s really nothing you can do about it. Correction: THEY can do about it.

Kristin Gibbins: The transparent screen recommended by the Nasher Sculpture Center would eliminate the reflections while preserving the views from inside Museum Tower. This type of screen has been used many times, and in fact, could further reduce energy costs for Museum Tower.

Here is a link to Arup’s study showing the degrees of reflectivity and various screen solutions that have been used on high rises in other cities to solve similar problems.