Glazing for Light and Energy: Daylight and Solar Gain in Façade Design
One Pane, Three Dials — A Complete Framework for Daylight, Solar Gain, and Heat Loss Through Glass
Course Description
Every pane of glass in a façade is carrying three separate flows of energy at once: daylight entering the room, solar heat entering with it, and the room's own warmth trying to escape through that same sheet. Specify glass for only one of these properties, and the other two are routinely got wrong — a room that stays bright and warm in winter but overheats badly in summer, or a heavily shaded façade that leaves the interior dim all year. This course gives you the framework to steer all three properties deliberately, rather than by chance.
This course shows that every pane of glass carries three separate flows at once — daylight coming in, the sun's heat coming in with it, and the room's warmth leaking out through the very same sheet — and that an engineer can steer all three largely independently, once the physics behind each one is understood.
You will learn the three headline numbers that describe any piece of glass — light transmittance, solar factor, and U-value — and how a double or triple glazed unit, a low-emissivity coating, and a solar-control coating each pull on a different one of those dials.
The course shows why solar gain is a gift in winter and a curse in summer through the very same glass, and gives you the four practical levers an engineer actually has to balance daylight, solar heat, and heat loss for a real building, in a real climate, facing a real direction.
It also covers the ways glass genuinely fails on real projects — a fogged sealed unit, a bowed pane at altitude, spontaneous breakage from a nickel sulphide inclusion, and thermal stress cracking from an unlucky shadow — and the standards and practical measures that manage each risk.
Presented by Eugene Korch (façade engineer and IAST Programme Director, this course completes the fundamentals of façade building physics, and gives you the vocabulary and physical intuition that every later, calculation-based course in this series builds on.
Included in Facade Intelligence Professional Membership (FI PRO)
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
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Explain why a single pane of glass carries three separate flows at once — daylight in, solar heat in, and room heat out — and why they can be steered largely independently
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Distinguish visible light, infrared, and ultraviolet as different parts of the sun's output, and explain why a coating can be tuned to treat them differently
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Explain why daylight quality — even, deep, glare-free light — matters more than daylight quantity
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Define the three headline numbers that describe any piece of glass — light transmittance, solar factor (g-value), and U-value — and explain why they are three independent dials
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Identify the "quiet" performance figures on a glass specification sheet — safety, self-cleaning, colour neutrality, condensation resistance, weight — and know when each one drives a decision
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Explain why a window is almost always the weakest part of a building's envelope for heat loss, and identify its three weak points: the glass, the frame, and the sealed edge
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Explain how a double or triple glazed unit reduces heat loss, and describe the role of the gas fill, the gap width, and the warm-edge spacer
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Explain how a low-emissivity coating reduces heat loss by reflecting radiant heat, and how a solar-control coating reduces solar gain, and why the two are not the same coating
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Explain why solar gain is a benefit in winter and a liability in summer through the very same glass, and why the right answer depends on climate and orientation
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Identify the four levers an engineer can adjust to balance daylight, solar gain, and heat loss — glazed area, glass selection, shading, and the frame and edge — and explain why they work together
What's Covered
Part 1 — Glass: One Pane, Several Jobs
Why the same window is loved on a winter morning and cursed at summer midday.
The three-flow idea that runs through the whole lecture: daylight in, solar heat in, room heat out.
What light actually is — visible, infrared, and ultraviolet — and why glass can be tuned to treat them differently.
Why daylight quality, not just quantity, is the real design goal.
The three headline numbers on any piece of glass, and the quieter numbers that matter when a project demands them.
Part 2 — Heat Through Glass
Why a window is almost always the weakest link in a building's envelope, and its three weak points.
How a double or triple glazed unit works: the gap, the gas fill, and the warm-edge spacer.
The low-emissivity coating that reflects radiant heat back into the room, and when a third pane earns its place.
Part 3 — Solar Gain: Friend in Winter, Enemy in Summer
What solar gain is, and why it is measured on its own dial, the solar factor (g-value).
Why the same solar gain is a benefit in winter and a liability in summer through the very same glass.
The solar-control coating that manages the sun's heat without darkening the room, and how modern coatings are built.
Why orientation and the sun's path are design tools in their own right.
Part 4 — The Conflict, and How Engineers Steer It
Why daylight, solar gain, and heat loss pull against each other, and why there is no setting that wins on all three.
The four levers an engineer actually has: glazed area, glass selection, shading, and the frame and edge.
Why shading works better outside the glass than inside it, and the trade-off between fixed and moveable shading.
Why climate and orientation decide which lever matters most, and how to read a real glass performance sheet.
Part 5 — When Glass Goes Wrong, and Wrap-Up
Sealed-unit failure: fogging from a failed edge seal, and pressure changes at altitude.
Spontaneous breakage from nickel sulphide inclusion, heat-soak testing, and lamination as the safest choice for overhead glazing.
Thermal (shadow) stress cracking, and the site conditions that make it more likely.
The one idea to carry forward: one pane, three dials, steered on purpose — and where the course goes next.
Your Instructor
Programme Director, IAST Eugene Korch
Eugene is a façade engineer and educator with extensive experience in building envelope design and technical specification. Through the Institute for Architectural Science and Technology (IAST) and Facade Intelligence, he delivers CPD training to architects and construction professionals across the UK. His teaching approach emphasizes practical application and accessibility, making complex technical subjects understandable for design professionals.
Course Schedule
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Course Overview
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Course Objectives
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How to Navigate the Learning Materials
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Introduction Video
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Lecture
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Post-Lecture Reading List
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Certificate: Download & Share
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About this course
- £120.00
- Practice test questions
- CPD Certificate: 2 hrs
Who Should Enrol
This course is designed for:
Anyone completing a foundational, practical understanding of façade building physics.
Architects and Architectural Technologists specifying glazing systems.
Junior Façade Engineers building a structured, practical education in the field.
Envelope Designers and Façade Specialist Contractors.
Building Envelope Consultants.
Project Managers and Design Managers who want to understand what their glazing packages are actually delivering.
Course Details
Format: Self-paced online course with video lectures.
Duration: Approximately 35 minutes.
CPD Points: 2 hours structured CPD / 2 Learning Units.
Access: 12 months from enrolment.
Certificate: CPD certificate issued upon completion.
Prerequisites: Recommended — our course on energy conservation and moisture control (helpful context, not required).
What Makes This Course Different
Built around one everyday image: a single window that is loved in winter, cursed in summer, and cold at night, from the very first minute.
Plain-language definitions of every term you will need later: light transmittance, solar factor (g-value), U-value, low-emissivity coating, and solar-control coating.
Covers glass failure honestly: real faults like nickel sulphide breakage and thermal stress cracking, not just performance theory.
International scope: built around the European, US, and Australian standards for glazing performance and safety glass.
Completes the fundamentals: the second half of the physical intuition every later, calculation-based course in this series depends on.
Join the Facade Intelligence Professional Membership (FI PRO)
Membership fees start from £320 per year
Gain access to all upcoming seminars and a wide range of the most sought-after short courses.
Corporate discounts are available for teams of 10 or more.
For a bespoke quote, please contact our team at [email protected].
