Product FAQs

SageGlass is the leading electronically tintable glass for windows, skylights and curtain walls. It tints automatically or on demand to control sunlight, without shades or blinds, maintaining your connection to the outdoors and reducing energy consumption. The technical term for this kind of glass is electrochromic.

By maximizing interior daylight, preserving views and keeping them connected to the outdoors, SageGlass makes people happier, healthier and smarter. SageGlass also saves energy by harnessing the sun’s warming rays in winter and deflects them on hot summer days.

You can use SageGlass in commercial, institutional or residential buildings—anywhere you’d like to bring in daylight, keep people comfortable, and give them an uninterrupted outdoor view. Because it conserves energy, SageGlass is ideal for sustainable buildings. It also prevents fading, making it a smart measure for protecting interiors.

Here are some particularly good matches for SageGlass:

• Green or LEED buildings
• Owner-occupied office space
• Museums and libraries
• Health care
• Religious facilities
• Schools and universities
• Atriums, skylights, and overhead glazings
• High-tech or image buildings
• Aviation facilities

Buildings with ample daylight and views of the outdoors make us happier and help us perform better. Research proves it. SageGlass enhances living, learning, healing and work by letting the daylight in – when we want it – while minimizing glare and overheating. When the sun’s light or heat gets to be too much, the window tints. Unlike what happens with shades or blinds, you still have an outdoor view.

SageGlass is an eco-friendly solution at a time when sustainable buildings are important for our planet’s health. By embracing the sun when it’s cool and controlling heat gain when it’s hot, SageGlass transforms the way buildings use energy. A National Renewable Energy Laboratory research scientist  said that widespread use of dynamic glass technologies like SageGlass could save about one-eighth of all the energy used by buildings in the US every year, equivalent to about five percent of the nation’s total energy budget. So not surprisingly, dynamic glass can contribute to a project’s LEED credits.

Yes, SageGlass can be tinted and untinted manually, controlled by our own automation system, or integrated with a building automation system.

Yes, when tinted, SageGlass blocks 98 percent of the solar radiation that causes fading.

It’s energy-inefficient, and it typically requires shading devices that can block our view of the outdoors.

Buildings are arguably our country’s greatest energy liability. They consume nearly 40 percent of our total energy and 68 percent of our electricity while emitting 38 percent of CO₂ into the atmosphere annually. Energy lost through conventional windows accounts for approximately 30 percent of heating and cooling energy, according to the US Department of Energy.

Shades, blinds, louvers, fins or other mechanized sun control devices sever our connection to the outdoors and add to a building’s environmental impact. Prior to SageGlass, there was no viable way to provide natural daylight and an outdoor view while simultaneously controlling glare, heat gain and energy use. Now there is.

When you factor in all the materials, manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance and operational energy they consume, the carbon footprint gets pretty significant. That’s a big concern if you’re striving for a sustainable building. SageGlass is a green technology choice that benefits the environment (in addition to saving money and increasing a building’s value).

It takes less electricity to operate 2,000 square feet of SageGlass than it does to power a single 60-watt light bulb.

You can dispose of SageGlass as you would any insulated glass unit or static coated glass product.

You can choose from four standard colors of SageGlass IGUs: Classic, See Green, Cool View Blue and Clear as Day Gray (the colors are a function of the inboard lite). You can also order SageGlass with a custom inboard lite (your choice of color), which can be laminated, fritted or customized in other ways. You’ll see the color differences from the building’s interior when the glass is in its clearest state.

Whether dynamic or traditional, two pieces of glass from different sources rarely match exactly. When glass from multiple sources is installed in separate areas of a building, which happens a lot, slight mismatches are often undetectable. When there is no separation on the building between the two types of glass, you can order SageGlass in a color that complements the adjacent glass.

The largest size currently is 40 inches by 60 inches (1016 mm x 1524 mm). Our new plant will manufacture glass in sizes up to 5 feet by 10 feet (1524 mm x 3048 mm).

SageGlass provides some privacy since it transmits less than 2 percent of the visible light in its darkest state. When the glass is fully tinted on a sunny day, it’s nearly impossible to see through the glass from the outside. But since SageGlass windows and skylights are intended to preserve outdoor views, they don’t provide 100 percent privacy in any state.

We offer rectangles, squares, parallelograms, trapezoids and triangles. We are continuing to expand our product line, however, so email or call our Architectural Solutions group (877.724.3321) to explore the availability of a particular shape.

Yes, SageGlass can help your project earn up to eight LEED credits in five categories.

SageGlass units have been in businesses, schools and homes since 2003. We have projects throughout the United States, Europe and elsewhere. See our portfolio for examples.

Lead time varies, but it’s typically eight to 16 weeks depending on size of the project, complexity and current order volume. Please contact us for specific lead times.

Yes, the SageGlass coating has a low-e surface so it provides all of the advantages of a spectrally selective low-e product (even in its clear, untinted state). Low-e coatings help keep heat in when it’s cold outside, and keep it out when it’s hot.

We warranty the SageGlass IGU for up to 10 years depending on the building application; the electronics, electrochromic functionality and coatings carry a five-year warranty. For full details on our product warranties, email or call our Architecture Solutions group (877.724.3321).

SageGlass IGUs are easy to replace.  If the glass gets broken, it can be deglazed just as ordinary glass would be, and simply unplugged. A new IGU can be installed and reconnected to the low-voltage wiring via a simple snap connector in the glazing pocket.

Information for Commercial sales can be found here, and for Residential sales, here. You can email or call (877.724.3321) our sales team. We will respond promptly to your inquiry.