Thermal Comfort

Today's increased use of glass in cars means that, without the right technologies, more solar energy will penetrate the interior of the car, causing high temperatures. For example, when the outside temperature is 27°C, a car interior can heat up to 58°C in few minutes without anti-heat technologies. Combating this air-conditioning alone would be an environmentally unfriendly approach, leading as it would to higher fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

The solution is a choice between heat-absorbing glass and heat-reflecting glass. Heat-absorbing glass is manufactured to have a particular chemical composition that soaks up solar energy before it gets inside the car. This raises the temperature of the glass, but leaves the air inside the vehicle that much cooler. Heat-reflecting glass uses an invisible silver oxide coating to direct solar energy away from the vehicle, dramatically reducing heat build-up both in the glass itself and in the air inside the car. Even in extreme conditions, heat reflecting glass allows a parked car to return to a normal temperature 25% faster than standard glass.