Clearview National June 2016 - Issue 175 | Page 65

GLASS&SEALEDUNITS

Keep Your Cool
Clearview speaks to SageGlass
CEO, Dr. Alan McLenaghan, to find
out about the coolest thing to
happen to glass this summer…
»»WITH A SIX HOUR
time difference, the working day
was coming to an end in the UK
as it was only just beginning for
SageGlass at its headquarters in
Minnesota, USA. Alan, however,
is originally from the town of
Bellshill, between Glasgow and
Edinburgh.
“My mother quickly realised
that a good education was
what I needed to succeed,” he
explains. In an area that suffered
as a result of pit closures and
the decline of steel, Alan’s
mother was right to encourage
her son to seek opportunities
further afield and set him on
a path that would lead him to
work for Saint-Gobain, which
made a 50% investment in
SageGlass in 2010 and took full
ownership in 2012. As the two
companies integrated, a new
CEO was required and Alan
moved to Minnesota to work
alongside the original founder of
the company, John Van Dine.
With a background in
polymer physics, Alan completed
his PhD in France, sponsored
by ICI and worked for the
company in the Netherlands, UK
and the USA. He then worked
for Dupont for 4 yea rs before
moving to Saint-Gobain, based
at its Eggborough plant in the
UK. Over his career Alan has
moved around the world and
experienced different cultures.
His new remit is to introduce
SageGlass to a global audience,
something he is very enthusiastic
about.

‘the tint level of the glass can be altered
to suit the conditions and can even be
fully automated to measure temperature,
light levels and even occupancy and
whether the TV is on or not’
“I love the opportunity to be
leading a company with a product
that I believe is the coolest thing
to happen to glass in recent years
and will become commonplace
in buildings of the future. I have
already seen our manufacturing
capabilities grow and it is really
becoming something to be proud
of.
“When entering a market in a
new country we like to address
a problem they have. In the UK
conservatory market the big
issue is in creating a usable space
all year round and the key to
this is maintaining a comfortable
temperature. It is a common
problem for homeowners of
glass or polycarbonate roofs that
their conservatory gets too hot.
The solid roof option has looked
to address this but, in many
ways, the appeal of a traditional
conservatory with open sightlines
is then lost.
“Electrochromic technology
gives SageGlass the power to
tint on demand, from a darkened
state that absorbs and reradiates
away the sun’s unwanted heat
and glare, to a clear state that

maximizes daylight and solar
energy. Only SageGlass provides
the ability to create up to three
tint zones within a single pane of
glass, so you can let in exactly the
right amount of light and block
the sun only where it needs to be
blocked,” Alan explains.
As an industry we are very
familiar with U-values, or the
amount of energy that glass
allows to escape, but this does
nothing to prevent the energy
that enters a building through
the glazing. This relates to the
G-value of a product. Blinds can
be used to provide shade but
as Alan points out, “The energy
has already entered the building
at this point and the glass will
be warm. SageGlass, however,
prevents the light and heat
entering as soon as it comes into
contact with the surface of the
glass.
“The tint level of the glass can
be altered to suit the conditions
and can even be fully automated
to measure temperature, light
levels and even occupancy and
whether the TV is on or not.
Sensors can be linked to an app

that can be controlled through
a mobile phone, which is a huge
selling point as the market goes
increasingly towards smart living
systems.
“It is very impressive and
really needs to be experienced
to be fully appreciated,” says Alan.
And visitors to the recent FIT
Show at the Telford International
Centre got an opportunity to
do just that in the exhibition’s
Innovation centre, where 300m2
of SageGlass has been installed in
the Ludlow Suite.
“Thanks to the flexibility
offered by SageGlass, we were
able to tint specific panels to
spell out words, such as FIT Show
and Sage. Although that was just
a bit of fun, it did demonstrate
the capabilities of the product
and visitors were able to feel the
difference in temperature just by
walking past the glass of varied
tint levels.”
SageGlass is now working
with Clayton Glass to bring the
product to the UK residential
market.
www.sageglass.com

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