Vitro Architectural Glass (formerly PPG Glass) announced that 181 Fremont, a new skyscraper in San Francisco featuring Solarban 70XL solar control, low-emissivity (low-e) glass, has won a USGlass Green Design Award.
 
The exterior façade of 181 Fremont, a unitized curtainwall system designed by Heller Manus Architects, features a distinctive sawtooth pattern that extends through the entire height of the 55-story building. Acting as a passive solar design system, the sawtooth pattern dictates that window mullions in the curtainwall angle slightly in against one another and function as shading devices as the sun passes over the building each day.
 
The energy performance of 181 Fremont is enhanced by Solarban 70XL glass, an advanced triple-silver-coated low-e glass that blocks 70 percent of the sun’s heat energy while enabling 65 percent of the ambient daylight to pass through.
 
Richard Green, principal of Front, Inc., and one of three judges for the USGlass Green Design awards, said that the “innovative façade geometry adds to the efficiency and enjoyment of the space and creates a distinctive aesthetic. The tuning of the building demonstrates that we do not need to be constrained to the plot orientation to optimize the façade for daylight and efficiency,” he explained.
 
LEED-certified at the platinum level, 181 Fremont is glazed with 240,000 square-feet of Solarban 70XL glass. Benson Industries was the glazing contractor. Hartung Glass, a member of the Vitro Certified Network, was the glass fabricator.
 
To learn more about Solarban 70XL glass, visit www.vitroglazings.com.