Your backstage pass
Colorado State University Gets Smart Windows
Colorado State University’s campus just got smarter with a nearly 3,000-square-foot installation of View Dynamic Glass at its newly renovated Lory Student Center. Located in a picturesque alpine setting in Fort Collins, Colorado, CSU built the Lory Student Center in 1962. With more than 20,000 students passing through it daily, the 160,000-square-feet Lory Student Center […]
Brett Murray - Vice President, Marketing
Introducing View Intelligence 2.0
Colorado State University’s campus just got smarter with a nearly 3,000-square-foot installation of View Smart Windows at its newly renovated Lory Student Center.
Located in a picturesque alpine setting in Fort Collins, Colorado, CSU built the Lory Student Center in 1962. With more than 20,000 students passing through it daily, the 160,000-square-feet Lory Student Center forms the campus hub, but more than five decades later its infrastructure and aging HVAC were in need of an update.
University officials greenlit a $65 million renovation project and charged architecture firm Perkins + Will to add an additional 40,000 square feet and design a flexible, multi-purpose building that maintained a connection to outdoor space.
With more than 10 solar arrays powering its campus, CSU makes a conscientious effort to invest in technology that improves campus life and sustainability. The decision to outfit the Lory Student Center with View Smart Windows is the latest example of that commitment.
View Smart Windows are particularly suitable for Northern Colorado, one of the sunniest places in the country. View’s predictive intelligence technology tracks the movement of the sun and tint the windows in response, helping CSU moderate the solar load coming into the Center’s ballroom. View Smart Windows also eliminate the need for curtains, enabling students and other occupants to enjoy unobstructed views of the Rocky Mountains.
Check out a video showcasing the new and improved Lory Student Center with View Smart Windows.
CSU also benefits from greater versatility with intelligent glass. With moveable walls, CSU can accommodate up to four programmatic events simultaneously in its ballroom, and adjust the tint of the glass to suit their needs. With no glare or thermal discomfort, every presentation goes smoothly. In fact, because of View Smart Windows, CSU has been able to charge a premium for this space.
CSU’s assistant director of event services had a great experience installing dynamic glass: “I can’t say enough about the operations team. They did a great job helping us design and understand the system. I would definitely recommend View Smart Windows for future projects.”
CSU sets the standard when it comes to campus sustainability efforts (it even has its own composter). It recently became the first and only university in the world to achieve a Platinum STARS rating, the sustainability assessment for colleges and universities. The renovated Lory Student Center continues the university’s tradition of sustainability, and we’re proud to be a part of it.
Find out more about this project here.
#BuildGreenChat on Earth Day
Together with AIA COTE, we’re opening the discussion around sustainable innovation, ecological architecture and opportunities to go green in how we build and live with a Twitter chat this Earth Day. Join @AIA_COTE and @viewglass for the #BuildGreenChat to share your questions, insights and excitement for a green future! When: 2 – 3 p.m. EDT […]
Brett Murray - Vice President, Marketing
#BuildGreenChat on Earth Day
Together with AIA COTE, we’re opening the discussion around sustainable innovation, ecological architecture and opportunities to go green in how we build and live with a Twitter chat this Earth Day. Join @AIA_COTE and @viewglass for the #BuildGreenChat to share your questions, insights and excitement for a green future!
When: 2 – 3 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, April 22Where: On Twitter via @AIA_COTE. Follow the hashtag #BuildGreenChat to join us!
During the live chat, @viewglass will ask 10 questions and @AIA_COTE will tweet their answers. But we want to hear from you, too! Share your questions before or during the chat, and follow the hashtag #BuildGreenChat for answers!
Worlds largest electrochromic glass installation opens in Monroe, Louisiana
Congratulations are in order for our friends at CenturyLink, who celebrated the grand opening of their Technology Center of Excellence in Monroe, Louisiana this past week. The ribbon-cutting ceremony not only ushered in a new era of innovation for the telecommunications giant, but also marked the completion of the world’s largest electrochromic glass installation to […]
Jeff Platón - VP, Marketing
Worlds largest electrochromic glass installation opens in Monroe, Louisiana
Congratulations are in order for our friends at CenturyLink, who celebrated the grand opening of their Technology Center of Excellence in Monroe, Louisiana this past week. The ribbon-cutting ceremony not only ushered in a new era of innovation for the telecommunications giant, but also marked the completion of the world’s largest electrochromic glass installation to date.
With a record-breaking 37,000 square feet of View Dynamic Glass installed at this new research center, we feel that we’re at a tipping point for electrochromic glass to gain mainstream traction and enter the public consciousness. The magnitude of this installation underscores the readiness of this technology for prime time. We’re partnering with owners, architects and general contractors to bring View Dynamic Glass to virtually any type of project, from corporate headquarters and schools/colleges to hospitals and hotels.
CenturyLink designed its new three-story, 250,000-square-foot facility, with the goal of encouraging employees to develop the next generation of innovative telecommunications products and services for its customers. By providing unobstructed views to the outdoors and allowing natural daylight to permeate the space, View Dynamic Glass fosters an ideal environment for these trailblazing ideas and creations to take shape. With scorching summers and warm temperatures year-round, Monroe is no stranger to sunlight, which posed a significant thermal load challenge. Dynamic glass reduced the loads significantly, creating a comfortable and productive environment.
We like how Dan Picket, principal architect at Moody Nolan, the firm that lead planning, development and design of the project, described our contributions to this collaborative effort. “Dynamically adjusting window glass has been known to be the game-changer in building design, but remained the ‘technology of the future’ for a long time. We are pleased that View has executed on their product and operations to make this remarkable product the ‘technology of the present.’”
This was one of the most rewarding projects our team has had the pleasure of working on, and knowing we helped create a comfortable and creative work environment is something we’re enormously proud of.
If you want to learn more about this project, check out our case study.
View Smart Windows - Project Highlights
To celebrate the tireless work of our team and our fast-growing portfolio, we want to highlight a couple of recently completed projects and survey the impact of View Smart Windows in the wild. The Hilton Universal City Thousands of tourists and international visitors descend on The Hilton Universal City every year to visit Universal Studios […]
Brett Murray - Vice President, Marketing
View Smart Windows - Project Highlights
To celebrate the tireless work of our team and our fast-growing portfolio, we want to highlight a couple of recently completed projects and survey the impact of View Smart Windows in the wild.
The Hilton Universal City
Thousands of tourists and international visitors descend on The Hilton Universal City every year to visit Universal Studios Hollywood, located just a block from the hotel, and explore all that has Los Angeles has to offer.
With temperatures regularly exceeding 100 degrees in the summertime, hotel management was experiencing a first impression problem — as guests entered the hotel, they were hit with uncomfortable heat and glare coming through the main lobby windows.
To alleviate this tremendous thermal load, View Smart Windows were included as part of the hotel’s $7 million energy retrofit project — the largest commercial project in the U.S. funded by Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE). PACE offers commercial property owners a new financing method for energy efficiency upgrades and water conservation measures.
“What we were trying to do with the Hilton was reduce their energy usage, increase guest comfort and then — because it’s still a Hilton — have some wow factor,” explained Michael Page, project developer at LA County Commercial PACE. “View Smart Windows were one of those solutions that actually met all three.”
View Smart Windows replaced the lobby windows, providing a solution without disrupting the hotel operations. Thanks to the eliminations of the thermal load in the lobby and other building improvements, the hotel reports it has reduced energy operating costs by a remarkable $27,000–$30,000 each month.
The hotel now not only enjoys a vastly improved guest experience, but also a better experience for staff as well. Mark Davis, the hotel general manager, noted, “We used to dread working during hot weekends with the A/C not working…outside at the entrance is over 100 degrees but our lobby area is nice and cool with no glare.”
Olive Branch Methodist Hospital
Methodist Healthcare, a not-for-profit healthcare system, recently constructed a five-story hospital in the booming northern Mississippi town of Olive Branch, which Bloomberg reported was the fastest growing city in the U.S. from 1990–2010.
The signature architectural component of the hospital is a striking south- and west-facing glass atrium that spans the full height of the building. During the design phase, the hospital weighed a number of options for the space, including accepting the heat gain or implementing a motorized shading system that would obstruct views. View’s solution allowed the hospital to block heat and glare, but not views.
More than 2,100 square feet of 9-foot-tall View Smart Windows didn’t have to travel far since View’s manufacturing facility is situated in Olive Branch. The atrium is now able to foster a controlled, comfortable environment for patients. Methodist Olive Branch Hospital CEO David Baytos observed that natural light plays a huge role for interactions between patients and their families and the hospital’s staff and physicians.
The installation also contributed to the hospital’s mission to build an environmentally friendly facility by reducing HVAC capacity by 35 percent. With annual savings of $2,000 in energy costs and an immediate $22,000 in savings, the hospital will be able to pay back its smart windows investment in just five years. View Smart Windows also played an instrumental role in helping the hospital achieve LEED HC Gold certification.
“Historically, one thing that architects have struggled with is how to control the sun,” said David Zegley, architect at Gresham, Smith & Partners, the firm responsible for the hospital’s architecture. “View Smart Windows now give us the opportunity to control that automatically so we can enjoy what nature has given us.”
View Sponsors AIA Student Design Competition
At View, we want to change the way the world thinks about architectural design. Through View Dynamic Glass, we have been able to provide architects with unprecedented architectural design freedom, opening a world of possibilities where buildings can have greater glass areas, delight occupants and harmonize with the environment. Because sustainability is a core value […]
Brett Murray - Vice President, Marketing
View Sponsors AIA Student Design Competition
At View, we want to change the way the world thinks about architectural design.
Through View Dynamic Glass, we have been able to provide architects with unprecedented architectural design freedom, opening a world of possibilities where buildings can have greater glass areas, delight occupants and harmonize with the environment.
Because sustainability is a core value to many young people today, we have already seen our vision for living buildings resonate with the brightest young architects in the country — the visionaries who will play an instrumental role in shaping the future of building design.
To help this young talent bring about this dramatic shift in building design, we are delighted to sponsor the American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment’s (AIA COTE) first annual 10 Student Design Competition.
The jury is now evaluating students’ submitted studio projects of a building that incorporates a holistic definition of design excellence, integrating design tactics, sustainable materials and green technology. The top 10 winners will be announced on Earth Day (April 22) and invited to attend the 2015 AIA National Convention from May 14-16 in Atlanta, featuring a keynote address given by President Bill Clinton.
We’re excited to see the many innovations that spring up from these creative minds. The competition couldn’t come at a better time, given that students pursuing careers in architecture are inheriting a highly competitive and diverse world of design.
We are thrilled to work alongside AIA COTE to help accelerate professional architectural development at the student level, and believe this is only the first of many student design competitions to come.
Here’s to the next generation of architects!