The new SolarAdapt glass range from Glassworks has faced the ultimate test for energy saving products of its kind—an Australian summer heat wave.
As temperatures soared above 40 degrees in Melbourne this summer, the Glassworks head office commissioned an engineer to measure the actual performance of their building, including their new SolarAdapt glass range.
"The SolarAdapt Solar Responsive Thermochromic (SRT) technology uses the sun’s own energy to cause the tinting of the window,’ says Michael Gleeson from Glassworks. ‘As the sun strikes the window it absorbs and adapts the tint level based solely on the amount of direct sunlight, thereby reducing heat gain."
The results from the commissioned experiment were encouraging for the Glassworks team, and the engineer’s performance report suggest the same.
The reports found that when the outside ambient temperature of 42.5 degrees Celsius hit at 3:30pm, the external glass temperature rose to 77.3 with the internal glass temperature being 33.5. This enabled the building to be air conditioned at around 24 degrees C as normal.
"A Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) of a mere 0.07 was also reported at this time, compared with a SHGC of 0.58 for commonly installed 6mm Grey tinted glass," Gleeson reports.
The following graph shows the performance of SolarAdapt throughout the day: 
Another positive from the experiment came from the response of employees who claimed they were not uncomfortable throughout the duration of the heat wave. This included those whose office space was next to the SolarAdapt window.
For more information and product details see: www.glassworksaust.com
