File photo
The Kaiser Permanente Tower on Cooke Street keeps cool.
Buildings covered with glass aren't new, but in the '90s there has been a boom in brightly colored buildings that look like gigantic mirrors. "Glass technology has improved dramatically in the last 10 years, and architecture is -- reflecting -- that," said Honolulu architect Glenn Mason.
According to industrial-glass expert Eric Carson, president of Reflections, it's due to "pyrolytic coatings," which is easy for him to say.
"Most of what you see on large buildings is hard-coat pyrolytics, in which a chemical coating is pseudo-baked onto a glass substrate that is already tinted, such as the color bronze," said Carson. "In soft-coat pyrolytics, the coating isn't baked, and it's more fragile. It's typically on the inside of dead-air insulated windows, which uses two pieces of glass around a sealed air space. The advantage there is that you have four layers of tinting, and each can have a different property."
The advantage of reflective glass is that it not only provides privacy, it reflects heat. Such glass-fronted buildings aren't hothouses -- in fact, they may be cooler than comparable solid structures. This translates to energy savings. Plus, they look cool. "Aesthetics are a major factor," said Carson. "It's one of the primary reasons architects use it."
Reflective glass can be used in homes as well, and is manufactured by outfits such as Libby Owens Ford, Guardian and AFG. Expect to pay at least twice as much as clear glass.
While motoring through Aloha, Ore., Bryce Yamamoto of Kaneohe thought for a second they had switched states. Nope. The van at right is obscuring the word "school." But we're wondering about the giant Easter Bunny in the foreground.
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