Saint Paul RiverCentre is the city’s premier convention center and part of a complex that includes Xcel Energy Center arena and The Legendary Roy Wilkins Auditorium. In addition to its Grand Ballroom, Saint Paul RiverCentre offers numerous meeting rooms, many with beautiful views of downtown Saint Paul.The organization installed SageGlass® electronically tintable glass on the east side of its boardroom to solve solar glare and heat gain problems without compromising the view that attracts customers.
The SageGlass installation is part of Saint Paul RiverCentre’s unique sustainability initiative called “80-20 in 3.” The initiative, which began in April 2010, aimed to reduce the facility’s carbon footprint by 80 percent and improve energy efficiency by 20 percent in three years. Saint Paul RiverCentre previously had challenges managing the heat buildup in the boardroom when it was unoccupied, causing the HVAC system to waste energy. Managing the daylight and shading for presentations, videos and meetings was also a major concern. The organization used mechanized shades to temper the sun with unsatisfactory results, according to Patrick Reeves, Director of Sustainability Programming at Progressive Associates, who manages sustainability programs for Saint Paul RiverCentre, Xcel Energy Center and Roy Wilkins Auditorium.
“Saint Paul RiverCentre is known for being passionate about creating the best experiences imaginable for its guests, and that includes providing a setting that is a model of sustainable practices,” Reeves said. “Previously, two types of mechanical shades were used to block out the sun or provide filtered sunlight that never really worked well and blocked the view to historic Rice Park. In addition to energy efficiency, we selected SageGlass to create a better experience for the people indoors by maintaining that connection to the outdoors even when the sun’s rays are harshest.”
SageGlass contributes to Saint Paul RiverCentre’s sustainability goal by modulating light, heat gain and glare while maximizing daylight. Using light sensors, the dynamic glazing automatically tints or clears within minutes, significantly reducing energy consumed for air conditioning, heating and lighting.
“We are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to improve our sustainable practices,” said Jim Ibister, Vice President and General Manager of Saint Paul RiverCentre. “Finding partners with cutting-edge solutions like SageGlass helps us continue to progress on our journey to serve as regional leaders in sustainability.”
Saint Paul RiverCentre is one of the first commercial deployments of larger-sized SageGlass, made possible by SAGE’s new 324,000-square-foot high-volume manufacturing facility. It is the world’s largest and most advanced dynamic glass manufacturing plant, able to produce SageGlass in high volumes and in larger commercial architectural sizes at an affordable cost.
About SAGE Electrochromics, Inc.
SAGE Electrochromics is the world’s leading manufacturer of advanced dynamic glass that can be tinted or cleared to optimize daylight and improve the human experience in buildings. SageGlass controls the sunlight and heat that enter a building, significantly reducing energy consumption while improving people’s comfort and well-being. SageGlass can reduce a building’s cooling load by 20% and HVAC requirements up to 30%. It is a smarter, more elegant solution than conventional sun controls such as mechanical window shades, blinds and louvers. Now celebrating its 10th year anniversary shipping commercial SageGlass, the company was founded in 1989 and is headquartered near Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., in the heart of “the Silicon Valley of the window industry.” SAGE is a wholly owned subsidiary of Saint-Gobain of Paris, the world’s largest building materials company.
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