“Glass towers" consume too much energy

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33514, 20 April 1974, Page 18

“Glass towers" consume too much energy

'By a special correspondent)

NEW YORK. The energy crisis may ispell the end of the [architectural style that ihas given the modern city its omnipresent glass boxes. ' That is the newest addition tG the long list of changes the oil shortage i> ■expected to bring to the [style and environment of Americans. according to “The New York Times." Many New York architects [have condemned the in-, I efficiency of the archi-' jtectural concept that has transformed the face of cities these past decade-. The hermetically sealed environment of these glass shafts of buildings requires constant artificial ventilation and lighting. “One of the premises of that kind of building was that we have unlimited resources to build and unlimited energy to operate the \ buildings — neither of these lis true today.” Richard •Stein, an architect, told the [“New York Times.” j He called the glass tower •concept "fantastically in•efficient.” i A New York consulting iengineer, Fred Dublin, said [office buildings could be [built to use 75 per cent less ; energy if different designs,! materials and mechanical systems were used. New aesthetic Another engineer predicted [that the energy crisis might [generate a “whole new aesthetic” in urban building. The sealed windows of the [glass towers are only the more obvious parts of the problem. Others include the need, for centrally controlled sys-; terns which makes it impos-, sible to leave lights on on floors or in areas which receive adequate natural lighting. 1 Some systems cannot be /turned off at all and the vol-1 jume of lighting is often! more than is needed. Central thermostats are another problem. They make- ■ it impossible to heat or cool small sections of a building. Poor insulator

Glass is a poor insulator, and adds to the heating and cooling costs. The poor siting of buildings often does not take into account the position of the sun, and architects have made the costly mistake of using the same materials for the sunny and shady sides of the building.

It is the. sealed windows, long the butt of criticism on aesthetic grounds, that have come to symbolise the wastefulness of this architectural mode. If office workers could open their windows on the days when the outside temperature range is pleasant

they would reduce energy consumption for air cooling by 19 per cent. " While the shaft design has won hordes of architects

■ with its simplicity and .. . ty. it has been re-pon- b’e for a higher em rgy sumption than most older . designs. Masonrx conMruction I “The newer building- • almost alwav s con-urn more." said one engineer a t tive in the energy line. Masonry construct ion. rareiv used in modern buildings, was a better insulator. Richard Stein estimates . States is used by buildings The problem is made worse by the inefficiency of mo-: ; that 40 per cent of al . n ■ gy consumed in the United energy systems. The recently-opened World i Trade Centre, for example, • requires as much electrical power as the city of Schenectady — 80,000 kilowatts. [No window can be opened ••> the centre's two 110-storey : towers and most occupant's cannot turn off their lights. However, like the rest of the natfon. architect- hate been awakened to their past foolhardiness and now con stitute a veritable “energy” [lobby. A major architecture magazine, “Architecture Forum.” devoted an entire issue to the question. Two architect- at the University of Pennysylvania who are writing a book on the inter-relation of archi tecture and energy received offers from four publishers •before their manuscript was even started. Conservation mode) A United States Federal Government building, planned for Manchester. New Hampshire, is intended to be a model for energy conservation, says the “New York Times.” The sevenstorey building to be completed by next year, will ■ contain several different Hypes of heating, lighting and air-conditioning systems all of which will be tested for efficiency. There will be a solar energy collector on the roof and all mechanical areas will be along the windowless north •wall. Windows will not be seal.ed and will make up just 10 per cent of the exterior. [Many architects think that ! percentage to be an over-re- • art ion to the excessive

amounts of glass in present buildings. The building is expected to use about 40 per cent of the energy of a conventional building of the same size. Several energy-conscious architects are urging that building codes — which now .concentrate on safety and structural soundness — should include instructions

on energy use. Work is in fact under way on an energy-conserving building code which the U.S National Bureau of Standards is preparing. It is hoped that the code [will be used as a model by local authorities throughout the country.

New York city and New York state have already issued new directives for construction and the Board of Education, under a grant from the National Science Foundation, has hired Richard Stein to design an ener-gy-conserving laboratory.