STRUCTURAL GLASS FACADES - USC School of Architecture

institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Illinois, the
University of Texas-Austin, and many others are offering coursework and programs in
façade design and technology. It is vital that USC integrate priority aspects of the building
skin into the architecture program. Beyond that, there is the opportunity for USC to lead the
way in this most important area of building design and technology. The School of
Architecture is optimally positioned to develop such a program, already having a building
science department where such technology oriented programs can reside.
The opportunity is to research what other schools are doing, evaluate the educational needs
and opportunities with respect to building skins, and to further gage student interest if
required. A program could then be developed for consideration by the administration of the
USC School of Architecture. An approach might be to develop a single 2 to 4 unit semester
course that could be adopted on a trial basis to determine interest and effectiveness.
10.3.2 Performance Issues: Strategies for Sustainability
This is a very significant opportunity. Although structural glass façade technology has been
used since the early days of its development in innovative façade applications with energy
performance as a predominant consideration, such applications have been rare until
relatively recently. The unfortunate reality is that most applications of this technology as
used to enclose large, sun drenched public spaces, have ignored the realities of climate,
thermal and energy performance of the facades, dealing with the environmental control
issues through the sizing of the HVAC equipment. This has finally started to change in
recent years.
Structural glass façade technology is being used for example, in long-span dual-skin
applications where an outer cable net supported glass membrane is separated from a more
conventional interior glazing system creating a thermally treated cavity between the systems,
similar to some of the dual-skin curtain wall systems that have emerged in recent years. The
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