Office Upgrade With Pilkington Activ™ Blue
13 June 2007The seven storey office building owned by Redbridge Council in Clements Road was built around 1955 and is currently used by the Council for office accommodation. This includes housing, main computer rooms and benefits offices. Close examination of the windows decreed that they were badly in need of replacement as the existing Crittal metal windows were beyond economic repair. It was decided to replace them as part of the council’s maintenance programme with aluminium frames and double-glazed units. As part of the specification process, Pilkington Activ™ Blue Glass was suggested as a possibility and when all the advantages of the product were assessed, the decision was made to include the technologically advanced glass.
“We decided to include the Pilkington Activ™ Blue glass in the double glazed window design for a number of reasons,” comments George Ives at the council. “Predominant was the need to save on window cleaning costs, which, for a building of such a large size, amounted to a considerable amount of money. There is no roof cradle for this purpose and window access for cleaning is difficult therefore the permanent self-cleaning properties of the Activ™ Blue were a major reason for choosing it.”
Solar control was also a significant element in the final choice. As the building is predominantly used by office workers, controlling the heat and light into the building was a challenge but the Activ™ Blue provided the ideal solution being tinted, which significantly reduces glare on sunny days.
“The glass also enabled good light transmission for the office areas,” continues Mr Ives. “As an environmentally conscious local authority, this fits in with our corporate policy of saving energy through both heating and lighting.”
The revolutionary Pilkington Activ™ Blue is normally used for conservatories, possessing all the qualities of the Activ™ product but with the blue tint that helps with light and heat control. Pilkington Activ™ glass breaks down organic dirt particles on the surface of the glass; the coating causes rain and any water for that matter, to sheet rather than form beads, thus ‘washing’ the surface of the glass and reduce streaking. The coating breaks down and loosens dirt that has settled on the glass, ensuring that rainwater covers the surface evenly, reducing unsightly streaks. Pilkington Activ™ continues to work even on cloudy days and at night.