Commercial Building Fenestration Market Study

High-Performance Glazing for Enhancing Sustainable Environment in Arid Region’s Healthcare Projects

“…The committee made a practical comparison on site in order to select the suitable alternative based on achieving the degree of sustainability requirements within compatibility matrix between glazing elements and LEED sustainability credits. Figure 6 illustrates real alternative samples erected on site in the outpatient building façade to facilitate physical and realistic comparison with the international standard recommended by the international manufacturer, such as Guardian, Obeikan, and Pilkington, to support the authors and KFU-authorized committee in choosing applicable high-ranking sample and achieve the following advantages: compatibility between capabilities of glazing elements with new technology manufactured from internationally experienced glass manufacturers such as Onyx, AGC Obeikan, and Guardian, and LEED for Healthcare 2009 guide as sustainability requirements standard mentioned in Table 2, which focuses on: (A) energy and atmosphere (EA) regarding optimizing performance of energy and renewable energy onsite; (B) indoor environmental quality (IEQ) in the acoustic environment, concerning indoor chemical and pollutant source control, low-emitting materials, daylight and views, and thermal comfort systems; (C) materials and resources (MRs) regarding sustainably sourced materials and products, all considering the international standard, codes, and requirements in glazing elements and green hospitals such as European Norm EN 410 and EN 673, as well as American standards such as NFRC 100/200/300 [55][56][57]. The results from using HAB software program to calculate energy saving in cooling load provide decision maker with quantitative applicable alternatives approach to enhance the glazing windows' tender specifications and save energy for cooling system in outpatient building regarding the project life cycle.…”