Preliminary Evaluation of the Heating and Cooling Capability of an Insulating Glass Unit

In order to achieve maximum transparency of the buildings, architects plan large facades and large window areas. These glass surfaces have the disadvantage that they form a cold surface in winter and the sun heats the room in summer. It is desirable to use the potential of the huge surfaces of the glass for controlled heating and cooling. To be able to use an insulating glass unit as a heater, the temperature must be distributed uniformly over the glass. Existing solutions rely on heating wires between the panes of a laminated glass, but these are visible for the user. To create an invisible system, the cavity of the insulating glass can be used. The idea is to fill the cavity with helium instead of argon or krypton. Due to the good thermal conductivity of helium, temperatures in the cavity can be distributed over the whole glass. Content of this paper is the basics research, experimental research of the gas tightness with helium in the cavity and the first functional tests for heating and cooling with helium. The results give a first look at the heating and cooling capability of and insulating glass unit and include the basics for further researches on this topic. These are the first results of a current research project of the Institute of Building Construction at the TU Dresden.