Design concept for point fitting of insulation glass units. (LAC12.C)

The façade significantly influences the energy efficiency of the building. However, in addition to high insulating properties, modern architecture demands a high transparency for natural illumination and the compliance with inner comfort criteria in the building. The increasing use of glass can be seen as the architectural intention to combine those well-being and energetic principles. The highest transparency can be achieved with point-fitted glass units. Though, insufficient knowledge is present to use point fittings for insulation glass units, which are required to comply with the demand for energy-efficiency. Therefore, research has been carried out to investigate in the load bearing mechanism of different point-fitted insulating glass units in order to find an innovative point fitting connection system for insulating glass units to the steel substructures. This paper presents results of this research campaign and provides information on how to design point-fitted insulating glass units.