Complete the42 | 23 m | 6 fl

[garthdanlor]

Nothing wrong with West Harbour City. I was responding to the blanket criticism by garthdanlor of green glassed buildings.

I'm actually fond of green. It's the use of this same tint of green glass over and over again, often (but not always) in very bland boxy buildings that I object too. It gives the skyline a very monotonous look.

[Urbanomicon]

Glass is the best insulator there is. You build an outer exterior glass shell, leave ten feet of air gap and then build the second glass enclosed building inside it and only heat the inner structure.

That's not the insulative properties of glass, that's the insulative properties of air. Air is a great insulator. That's why our best insulating materials (fibreglass, foam, cellulose, etc.) are designed to contain large air voids. Glass by itself is a relatively poor insulator. You could sandwich 10 feet of air between any substance and obtain similar performance, it's not very practical though and it's an incredible waste of space.

As far as multiple pain glass system go (typical residential windows), even the most efficient are only about R-5 or so. A typical 4" exterior wall is about R-15. Windows are where the vast majority of energy is lost in the winter time, followed by walls and then the roof (due to the roof having a large amount of insulation present (R-30 or more)).

As a Mechanical Engineer, I have performed many heating and cooling calculations.

The numbers if you would like:

Thermal conductivity of glass...1.1 W/(mK)
Thermal conductivity of air...0.025 W/(mK)

For reference, the thermal conductivity of wood ranges from about 0.04-0.4 W/(mK).

The higher the number, the more efficiently the substance can transfer thermal energy.

So glass conducts heat 44 times better than air.

[BuildingScout]

You could sandwich 10 feet of air between any substance and obtain similar performance,

No, you could not. It would make for a very dark and gloomy building if you tried that. Glass and glass alone allows you to create a ten foot gap while leting light through.

it's not very practical though and it's an incredible waste of space.

This is as much a waste of space as plumbing closets are a waste of space. It's all subjective.

Also if Europe, which is a lot more densely populated that North America (last I checked) can afford to do it, why can't we? Say building flat parking lots is an efficient use of space, but creating nice and airy atria that substantially reduce energy consumption isn't?

[Urbanomicon]

No, you could not. It would make for a very dark and ready building if you tried that. Glass and glass alone allows you to create a ten foot gap while leting light through.

I made no mention of glass's light transmitting properties, I was referring only to its thermal conductivity. Lexan or Polycarbonate (Plexiglass) would do the same job and both have a lower thermal conductivity than glass.

This is as much a waste of space as plumbing closets are a waste of space. It's all subjective.

Plumbing closets are comparatively very small relative to all glass towers or atria with 10 foot air buffers. They are also a functional requirement of the structure. Having glass on all walls is not. It is aesthetic only.

Also if Europe, which is a lot more densely populated that North America (last I checked) can afford to do it, why can't we? Say building flat parking lots is an efficient use of space, but creating nice and airy atria that substantially reduce energy consumption isn't?

These all glass atria would have tremendous cooling loads due to the sun shining directly in them all summer, and cooling is far less efficient and more expensive than heating. An air conditioner runs on electricity and is only about 30% efficient. Heating is generally done through very cheap natural gas and is 90%-95% efficient.

As for the costs involved, no one said it was overly expensive to do, I said it was not very practical for space reasons.

[jay]

We should bring the conversation back to the42. This is getting off topic.

We can make another thread to discuss building architecture and the pro's and con's of different building materials.

[Urbanomicon]

We should bring the conversation back to the42. This is getting off topic.

We can make another thread to discuss building architecture and the pro's and con's of different building materials.

I think the off topic discussion is done now. But if it continues I'll move the posts into a new thread.

[Sampson]

Have any Wonderful Waterloo members bought in this project?

I have. Looking forward to it. Living with the inlaws atm, so I can't wait! I recently sold my house near margaret/guelph after a 4 year stay. We wanted to try out something in the uptown area.

[Spokes]

I have. Looking forward to it. Living with the inlaws atm, so I can't wait! I recently sold my house near margaret/guelph after a 4 year stay. We wanted to try out something in the uptown area.

You must be really excited!! And Welcome to Wonderful Waterloo!

Hopefully you'll keep us up to date on the process? As well as getting involved in the rest of the site!

[Still_Thinking]

I have. Looking forward to it. Living with the inlaws atm, so I can't wait! I recently sold my house near margaret/guelph after a 4 year stay. We wanted to try out something in the uptown area.

Nice! What type of unit did you purchase?

[Sampson]

You must be really excited!! And Welcome to Wonderful Waterloo!

Hopefully you'll keep us up to date on the process? As well as getting involved in the rest of the site!

Thanks!

I can tell you they sent out a letter a while back notifying us of a Decemeber 15th occupancy date. I will post other bits of news/infos as I get them.

[Sampson]

Nice! What type of unit did you purchase?

I purchased a 2bed + den unit. What I liked about Momentum was their flexibility. I was able to make some large change to the way the unit was design. I've looked at other places in the past and they weren't willing to budge with layout changes.

[Sampson]

This month the 42 will have window and brick work started. Been waiting for what seems like forever to see some exterior changes.

Also they are almost up to the 5th floor with the framing of the units.

[Floor2012]

I purchased a 2bed + den unit. What I liked about Momentum was their flexibility. I was able to make some large change to the way the unit was design. I've looked at other places in the past and they weren't willing to budge with layout changes.

Making changes to floorplans is rare. Did they charge you much extra?

[Sampson]

Making changes to floorplans is rare. Did they charge you much extra?

I think it was $200.

[UrbanWaterloo]

September 10, 2010





Brick Has Arrived

[Matt2727]

wow looks great so far. cant wait for the brick and glass to be installed

[Sampson]

They started installing the glass on the 2nd floor in about 4-5 units. I don't have anywhere to host images, or I would.

[UrbanWaterloo]

Here's the glass Sampson mentioned. Feel free to add images as attachments to a post.

September 20, 2010

[jay]

Have they secured any leases for the retail spots other than Sunlife?

[UrbanWaterloo]

October 5, 2010