Boulder Community Health Center West Medical Building in Lafayette, Colorado is home to an eye clinic and ambulatory surgery center. The surgery center consists of two operating rooms and an area for retinal laser procedures. The building has accommodations for 4-5 medical practices.
Guardian Glass' involvement
Guardian Glass’ collaboration with Boulder Associates led the architecture firm to specify 318 Guardian Hybrid Vacuum IGTM windows for the nearly 30,000 sf facility. Completed in 2019, this building was the first new construction project to install Guardian Hybrid Vacuum IG windows, which combine the performance of Vacuum IG and the additional benefits of a traditional insulating glass unit (IGU).
This area of Colorado is known for significant temperature fluctuations and abundant sunshine. That combined with the architect’s commitment to environmental stewardship meant Boulder Associates had a unique challenge to balance the two, making this project an ideal test site for an innovative, energy-efficient design.
To align with the client's goals of stable interior temperatures and year-round energy efficiency, the architect collaborated closely with the Guardian Glass team during this pilot project for the energy-efficient glazing prototype.
Hybrid Improves Healthcare Built Environment
The architect specified Guardian Hybrid Vacuum IG windows for the building because of the product’s thermal insulation performance. Reducing the transfer of heat or cold through the glass helps deliver stable room temperatures and better energy efficiency to the building when comparing with standard double IGU configurations. Guardian Hybrid Vacuum IG units also deliver sound insulation to help contribute to a quiet indoor environment not polluted by external noise.
The Guardian Hybrid Vacuum IG units for the Boulder Community Health Center West Medical Building feature Guardian SunGuard SNX 62/27 low-E coating on surface 4. SunGuard SNX 62/27 low-E coated glass helps the building achieve energy-saving performance while balancing light transmission and reflectivity. The south, west and east elevation units also have SunGuard SNX 62/27 coating on surface 2 to further support the building’s energy efficiency.
Analyzing results 5 years in
Five years after installation, each window was evaluated with thermal imaging equipment. The Guardian Hybrid Vacuum IG surface temperature was 5⁰F warmer than the traditional IG (interior temperature of the building was 64⁰F).
Analysis of all the windows in the building revealed that one of the Guardian Hybrid Vacuum IGTM units failed, giving the installation a 99.7% success rate (314/315), which is consistent with traditional IG installations. When analyzed, the failed Vacuum IG had a diminished insulative performance comparable to the traditional IG but did not completely lose its vacuum.
Property manager and occupant interviews revealed the employees were pleased with their comfort levels regarding temperature and acoustics.
“This building really showcases the combination of Guardian Low-E coatings to minimize thermal radiation and Vacuum IG for insulation performance in a high desert climate like Denver,” says Jason Blush, Guardian Advanced IG Product Manager, Americas.
"Having been available for over two decades, vacuum insulated glass has established its presence in the market; however, the advent of tempered VIG marks a revolutionary shift,” says Blush. “The thermal performance of tempered VIG, offering R-values twice that of its non-tempered counterpart, coupled with its enhanced strength, paves the way for its application in the commercial sector. This technology is poised to help reduce energy consumption and concurrently diminish the operational and embodied carbon footprint of the built environment."3
