Low-E Coatings
When heat or light energy is absorbed by glass, it is either convected away by moving air or reradiated by the glass surface. The ability of a material to radiate energy is called its emissivity. All materials,including windows, emit (or radiate) heat in the form of long-wave,far-infrared energy de -ending on their temperature.This emission of radiant heat is one of the important components of heat transfer for a window.Thus reducing the window's emittance can greatly improve its insulating properties.
Standard clear glass has an emittance of 0.84 over the long-wave portion of the spectrum,meaning that it emits 84% of the energy possible for an object at its temperature.It also means that 84% of the long-wave radiation striking the surface of the glass is absorbed and only 16% is reflected.By compari -son,low-E glass coatings can have an emittance as low as 0.04.Such glazing would emit only 4% of the energy possible at its temperature,and thus reflect 96% of the incident long-wave,infrared radiati
-on.Window manufacturers' product information may not list emittance ratings.Rather,the effect of the low-E coating is incorporated into the U-factor for the unit or glazing assembly.
The solar reflectance of low-E coatings can be manipulated to include specific parts of the visible and infrared spectrum.This is the origin of the term spectrally selective coatings,which selects specific portions of the energy spectrum,so that desirable wavelengths of energy are transmitted and others specifically reflected.A glazing material can then be designed to optimize energy flows for solar heat --ing, daylighting,and cooling.
