THE WATER-FILLED GLASS
HOPING TO REVOLUTIONISE BUILDING DESIGN Water-filled glass could ‘revolutionise building design’ when used as part of a wider heating system, according to Hungarian engineer Dr Matyas Gutai, who has been studying the concept for over a decade. Japan-inspired model Water house
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he research was performed at Loughborough University and in collaboration with Dr Albofazl Kheybari from the University of Kaiserslautern in Germany. The process involves a sheet of water being trapped between a panel of glass, acting as an effective insulator. Research suggests that the system performs well in any inhabited climate – keeping buildings hot in cooler climates and cooler in warmer climates – without the assistance of any additional energy supplies. Dr Gutai conceptualised the idea during his PhD studies in Tokyo after being inspired
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by rotenburo, which are Japanese hot spring baths. He developed the idea into a working design then created two prototype buildings in Hungary and Taiwan that use water-filled glass as part of a larger mechanical system. In warmer climates, the water absorbs external and internal heat, with the warm water later being filtered into a storage tank. This helps keep the room cool. According to the research, the heat is stored in the tank and, if the temperature
drops, can be brought back into the walls to reheat the building using a temperature monitoring system in a similar vein to central heating. Alternatively, the stored heat can be used for hot water supply. The system is supposed to be able to conserve energy as the water absorption and pumping consumes far less energy than HVAC systems. The technology is also claimed to have other benefits, including acoustics, less need of ‘shading’ (methods used to avoid overheating and the green-
