(Press-News.org)
A new review article published in Engineering offers a comprehensive look at vacuum glazing, a technology that shows great potential in enhancing energy efficiency in buildings. As buildings account for around 40% of society’s total energy consumption, improving the thermal performance of glazing is crucial for achieving low-carbon building goals.
Vacuum glazing has gained attention for its heat preservation, sound insulation, lightweight features, and anti-condensation properties. The concept dates back to 1913, but it was not until 1989 that researchers in Australia successfully produced vacuum glazing with excellent thermal insulation performance. Since then, significant progress has been made in its development.
The review covers various aspects of vacuum glazing, including fabrication methods, support pillar arrangements, composite structures, research methods, and energy-saving potential. There are three main fabrication methods: the solder glass edge sealing method, the vacuum chamber edge sealing method, and the pump-out edge sealing method. Each has its pros and cons, but the modified pump-out method seems to be the most promising as it can overcome the drawbacks of high-temperature degradation in the glass powder sealing method and insufficient outgassing in the vacuum chamber method.
Support pillars play a vital role in maintaining the vacuum gap and withstanding external pressure. Their arrangement needs to balance mechanical and thermal considerations. Composite vacuum glazing, such as hybrid, triple, and PV vacuum glazing, has also been developed. Triple vacuum glazing can achieve a very low U-value, indicating excellent insulation performance, while PV vacuum glazing can generate clean electricity by harnessing solar radiation.
To assess the thermal performance of vacuum glazing, researchers use analytical, numerical, and experimental methods. These methods help in understanding the heat transfer processes and evaluating the impact of different factors on the U-value, such as the type of glass, vacuum level, and low-E coating emissivity.
The energy-saving potential of vacuum glazing varies depending on building types, climates, and other factors. In severely cold and cold climates, triple vacuum glazing is highly effective in reducing heat loss. In regions with abundant solar radiation, PV vacuum glazing can significantly enhance building energy efficiency. Tinted vacuum glazing is suitable for areas with significant seasonal variations in heating and cooling demands.
However, there are still challenges to overcome. Further studies are needed on the stability and industrialization of vacuum glazing with aerogel support pillar arrays. Also, determining the appropriate control strategy for tinted vacuum glazing and understanding the aging process of vacuum glazing and its composite structures are important for maximizing their energy-saving benefits. Overall, vacuum glazing holds great promise in contributing to the development of sustainable low-carbon buildings.
The paper “Excellent Insulation Vacuum Glazing for Low-Carbon Buildings: Fabrication, Modeling, and Evaluation,” authored by Jinqing Peng, Yutong Tan, Yueping Fang, Hongxing Yang, Aotian Song, Charlie Curcija, Stephen Selkowitz. Full text of the open access paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2024.11.027. For more information about the Engineering, follow us on X (https://twitter.com/EngineeringJrnl) & like us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/EngineeringJrnl).
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About The Study: In this study, differences in out-of-pocket maternity spending among the commercially insured were associated with differences in coinsurance rates. These costs could lead people to forgo needed health care or other basic needs that support health (e.g., food or housing). Changes to health plan benefit design could improve equity in out-of-pocket maternity spending and its consequences.
Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Anna D. Sinaiko, PhD, MPP, email asinaiko@hsph.harvard.edu.
To access the embargoed study: ...
COLLEGE PARK, MD – A new study out today in JAMA Health Forum is the first to show that Black, Hispanic and Asian people with private insurance tend to pay more out-of-pocket for maternity care than white people.
“The average additional spending on medical care from pregnancy through postpartum paid by people who are Black, Hispanic and Asian is significantly more than white people,” said Dr. Rebecca Gourevitch, the study’s lead author and an assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of Maryland School of Public Health (UMD SPH).
“We found that out-of-pocket costs were highest ...
About The Study: During the COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity decreased among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants in most racial and ethnic groups but did not decrease among non-SNAP participants in any group. These results suggest that during the pandemic, increased SNAP benefit amounts were associated with ameliorating food insecurity for many U.S. adults who were able to access SNAP but did not reduce racial and ethnic disparities in food insecurity.
Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Yingfei Wu, MD, MPH, email yingfeiwu322@gmail.com.
To ...
On February 7, 2025, the U.S. National Institutes of Health announced a decision to cap indirect cost reimbursement—which supports the critical infrastructure and staff that make biomedical research possible—at 15%. In a commentary published February 28 in the Cell Press journal Cell, molecular biologist Tom Maniatis of the New York Genome Center (NYGC) and Columbia University's Zuckerman Institute reflects on the impact NIH funding has had on his own career and science, explores the value indirect investment has brought to U.S. science over the last five decades, and calls for urgent, unified action from the scientific community ...
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Hepatic steatosis, often triggered by non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), is a leading cause of liver dysfunction globally, affecting approximately 30% of the population. The progression from steatosis to hepatic fibrosis, which may ultimately lead to cirrhosis, is a significant concern in liver disease management. This review highlights the critical role of solute carrier (SLC) family transporters in both hepatic steatosis and fibrosis. SLC transporters are membrane-bound proteins responsible for transporting a variety of molecules, including fatty acids, ...
Scientists have a new target to prevent cold sores after University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers discovered an unexpected way the herpes virus re-activates in the body. The finding could also have important implications for genital herpes caused by the same virus.
The discovery from UVA’s Anna Cliffe, PhD, and colleagues seems to defy common sense. She and her team found that the slumbering herpes virus will make a protein to trigger the body’s immune response as part of its escape from dormancy. You’d think this would be bad for the virus – that activating the body’s ...
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The study, which examined 121 babies aged three to twelve months in Accra, the capital of Ghana, demonstrates a remarkable variety of language input in the early months of life. The children are regularly exposed to two to six languages. Strikingly, the number of caregivers the children have also ranges between two and six, and babies who have more adults in their daily lives who regularly take care of them also hear more different languages. In Ghana, families often live in so-called “compound buildings”, where many ...
Virginia Tech is spearheading a research coalition to reveal the untapped potential of the greater Appalachian Mountains region.
This coalition aims to accelerate the identification and characterization of unconventional critical mineral resources throughout the area. It brings together academic institutions, research laboratories, federal and state natural resource offices, and consultancies, all collaborating with the end goal of boosting regional economic growth and creating new jobs.
The research team, led by Richard Bishop, professor of practice in ...
