Apogee has provided energy-efficient products for several years, but today there is a greater interest in "green," given new energy codes and concerns for sustainable design. The selling point of green building is that the benefits over the long term far surpass the short-term costs.

The advantages of green building include reduced operating costs, lower utility costs, increased building valuations, decreased vacancies and improved retention of occupants. In addition, studies have found a 15 percent increase in productivity of workers in green buildings.

Multiple Apogee Solutions

Apogee companies address energy efficiency with high-performance glass that admits high levels of daylight, while limiting transmission of solar heat to reduce building energy consumption and peak demand. Patterns or art silk-screened on glass also decrease solar heat gain. Further energy-efficiency is achieved by Apogee when this glass is fabricated in insulating units incorporated in frames with thermal barriers and installed with exterior sunshades.

Another energy-efficiency option is to interconnect operable windows with building HVAC systems, as Apogee did at the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science & Management's laboratory building, University of California, Santa Barbara. Facing the ocean, the office wing has no air conditioning, but relies on flow-through ventilation with our operable windows. The windows also have a sensor so that when the units are open, the heat turns off.

Our companies are also incorporating energy-generating solar systems in glass windows or walls. For example, we engineered a Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) curtainwall to power the $25 million Tiger Woods Learning Center, an educational facility in Anaheim, CA. The BIPV system is expected to produce 3,800 kilowatts of energy per year.

Apogee also incorporates green paint finishes in its window and curtainwall framing. Unlike many paint applicators, we have invested in a system that captures and destroys all the harmful volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) inherent in a liquid-painting process. We've also invested in VOC-free powder coating capability.

Green certification

Since 2000, there has been a formal green building certification process in the United States. More than 3,000 new buildings have been registered or certified under the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. LEED encourages design and construction practices that reduce or eliminate the negative impact of buildings on the environment and occupants through sustainable site planning safeguarding water and water efficiency; energy efficiency and renewable energy; conservation of materials and resources; and indoor environmental quality.

Apogee LEED green projects include:

• The 52-story Seven World Trade Center, completed in 2006 with Apogee silk-screened, energy-efficient glass, was the first building in New York City to achieve the LEED Gold rating in part by maximizing natural light transmission and reducing energy consumption.
• New York's One Bryant Park, scheduled to be completed in 2008, is incorporating our glass with a graduated silkscreen pattern to reduce solar heat radiation while still allowing optimal views. It is striving to be the first high-rise building to be Platinum-certified under LEED.
• Alfred A. Arraj U.S. District Courthouse Annex in Denver has an engineered high-performance curtainwall system from Apogee that helped the building earn a LEED certification.
• The President Clinton Library in Little Rock, AR features silk-screened, energy-efficient glass laminated using an interlayer that reduces ultraviolet light penetration which can fade and damage artifacts. It achieved Silver LEED designation.