For the Forum Wissen museum, the architects and the planning team decided against conventional sun protection for reasons of monument concervation. Blinds or external shading would not offer a suitable solution, especially for a historic building. In order to meet the diverse and complex requirements of a museum window, the use of switchable glazing was planned. With the eyrise® glass installed in the Knowledge Forum, 33% of the incoming daylight enters the room in the lowest shading state and only 3% in the highest shading state. The shading status of the glass reacts in less than a second and can therefore react flexibly to the outside conditions. This makes it easier to comply with conservation requirements for the climate. In the balancing act between reducing the use of artificial light and the necessary sun protection to preserve the valuable, sensitive documents and materials, it is in particular the view from the museum that distinguishes the solution from conventional sun protection.
At the Forum Wissen, an innovative shading system was used to reduce artificial light and the need for cooling, while at the same time allowing as much daylight as possible into the rooms. Here, light protection and color rendering (< 90%) are challenges for a museum. Compared to electrochromic glasses, the glasses used have a high level of color neutrality, both in the interior and in the external reflection, which makes the optical integration into the historical appearance of the building succeeds better.
Prof. Volker Huckemann
Lehrstuhl für Bauphysik und energieeffizientes Bauen, Hochschule Bochum
