Sarah Hall:  Stained Glass & Solar Projects

The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto conducts bus tours and walking tours of nearby art and architecture. One of these easily outsells all the others, a bus adventure dedicated to stained glass windows and architecture. You might expect the tour’s destinations to be traditional stained glass in churches and cathedrals. In fact, the bus just as often stops at contemporary new buildings with stained glass designs by Sarah Hall. Sometimes the special guest tour narrator on the bus is also Sarah Hall. You may ask what’s new in stained glass? The answer is that there is plenty that’s new, especially if it involves Sarah Hall.

Hall became interested in stained glass at a young age and discovered that it is a very small world, especially in Canada. In order to find in-depth training in the field she journeyed to Swansea College of Art in Wales. She returned and established a studio on Dupont Street in Toronto in 1980, where she and her craftspeople worked for two decades, introducing new ideas in a conservative field. She was interested in combining new building technologies with stained glass.

German Engineering

Around the turn of the century she became involved in projects that required her to relocate her fabrication studio to Paderborn near Hanover, Germany. In Germany she could access a larger pool of glass artisans and large size kilns for the ideas she was hatching. In addition, the stained glass industry in Germany has connections with the broader glass industry, allowing for ambitious product development. New ideas include stained glass windows that could be sent to Austria and tempered, as in safety glass; new kinds of glass that could combine art with heat mirror technology, as in R20 insulated office tower windows; and last but not least, stained glass projects that incorporate solar photovoltaics.

Christof Erban is a renowned German engineer who pioneered the concept of placing a solar PV cell between two layers of glass. Many years ago he visited glass painting studios in Germany looking for artists who were interested in working with photovoltaics. While others focused on the challenges, Hall jumped at the chance. The rest is history. Hall’s studio is now at the forefront of contemporary stained glass architecture.  Since moving the studio abroad, her Canadian/German team has been involved in more than 200 projects.

Harbourfront Waterglass Project

Sarah has recently completed a project called Waterglass at Harbourfront Centre’s Enwave Theatre, which is expected to open to the public in Spring. The glass is highly artistic, incorporates heat mirror technology, employs NASA’s dichroic glass technique (sandblasted on its back side and laminated so that it is transparent but also highly reflective of UV rays) and on the western exposure, as directed by engineers, includes photovoltaics to capture solar energy.

Her team of six technicians created 1700 square feet of a handmade art glass in just three months. It was crafted in the German studio, sent to Austria for heat mirror and photovoltaic laminations and arrived in Toronto ready to install in thermo-panel units.

In addition to being a technical marvel, the installation is an artistic and historic gem.

“The client wanted to symbolically reclaim the lake for Torontonians,” says Hall. “We are cut off in a lot of ways and have not built the lake into our thinking as a city.” At first glance visitors will see water, waves, and the silhouette of a ship. On closer inspection they will find much more.

Hall researched and photographed the lake’s north shore for months and then began researching images of people, locations and events. The windows contain hundreds of silk-screened archival illustrations of personalities such as swimmer Marilyn Bell, rower Ned Hanlan, structures like the art deco Sunnyside Swimming Pool Pavilion, and R.C. Harris Water Filtration Plant; events including the war of 1812, pandemics, celebrations, political events and families simply enjoying the lake. “The research experience was very instructive,” says Hall. “Much of our waterfront is privatized or otherwise inaccessible. We need to open up the lake to our consciousness, in order to care more about it.”

Wind Tower at UBC

Hall’s team also created beautiful glass for a wind tower or wind catcher at the University of British Columbia. Wind catchers are traditional Persian architectural elements used to generate natural ventilation in buildings. Hall’s stained glass is the central element of a wind tower that completed an underground library at the university’s Regent College. The forty-foot tall wind tower provides ventilation for the library and is a functional symbol of Regent’s commitment to renewable energy. Hall created a luminous column of light, flowing like a waterfall in silvery blue, violet and white. Included in this column is an array of solar cells that collect energy during the day and use it for nighttime illumination – acting as a beacon for the surrounding park.

A similar concept was used for the Grass Valley School in Washington. The architect was interested in a sustainable initiative and felt that not enough educational value would result from simply adding solar panels to the roof. Hall created a beautiful artistic glass window for the main stairwell that included PV cells. These were connected directly without inverter or batteries, to a large LED lighting fixture in the main hall. Students soon saw that the fixture was powered only by the sun, glowing brighter and longer on the sunniest days.

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High Potential New Solar Cladding

Perhaps the most exciting concept that Hall’s team is working on is a brand new type of solar glass cladding for retail stores and office buildings. Her other projects involving solar have been primarily symbolic or educational, rather than highly efficient in terms of electricity generation. The new product, being developed in partnership with a prominent Toronto architect, aims to change that and collect significant amounts of energy. At the same time it will create artistic canvasses of larger expanses, or entire exteriors of shops or towers, according to client preferences.

Subject matter will range from highly artistic to commercial in nature, all rendered beautifully in contemporary glass by a very leading edge artist named Sarah Hall.

See more solar projects at  www.SarahHallStudio.com

Condominiums meet the needs of today’s bottom-line customer

For Barbara Lawlor, President of Toronto’s Baker Real Estate, the concept of embracing “green” has seen a boom to her business. In fact, the entire condominium industry has developed a consciousness about energy efficiency and green sustainability.

The industry has created an environment that is environmentally responsible, and it has become a key design element in condominiums buildings. Condo ownership has never seen better days.

“In the last three years condominium sales have outpaced low-rise and have taken over 50% of the market – so as a lifestyle choice, it continues to grow, and part of that is the government mandate for vertical growth,” explains Lawlor.  “Let’s face it, there just isn’t enough land within the GTA to meet the low-rise demand, so the best use of space is vertical, and condominiums are becoming more popular. Even young families are venturing into condos because of their convenience, location, transit etc.  And let’s not forget those in transition, like empty nesters and young professionals, who don’t want to deal with upkeep. People lead very busy lives, so the more they can have their needs catered to, the better. In fact, most condo buildings today are like coming home to a luxury hotel, with all the amenities offered under your roof.”

However, the driving force at the end of the day is the bottom line. Educated homeowners have demanded the building industry include energy efficiencies.

“People are afraid of costs escalating. So energy efficiency is part of their checklist.  For example, they really appreciate something like individual metering systems. Whatever will make the buildings more efficient and help defray costs, that’s the key for everybody – what’s it going to cost me?”

Ten years ago, energy efficiency and sustainable living may have been a part of the conversation but the uptake was slow. It wasn’t something that translated across the industry as a whole. “But the industry has stood up and deserves a round of applause in my mind for the tremendous efforts and strides it has made,”says Lawlor. “For instance, we represent the residences of the Ritz Carlton, and they have the Enwave deep water cooling system, which is very innovative and taps into the deep waters of Lake Ontario to heat and cool the building. So there are some very exciting things happening in the city including car sharing, bicycle storage — all of this to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions. In fact we’re selling fewer and fewer parking spaces.”

In Lawlor’s mind, it’s not about green-washing today’s consumer. There has to be a solid green story regardless of where you’re building or what you’re building.

“Buyers are sophisticated, and they want to know that their building is going to be sustainable and function efficiently 10-20 years from now- not just today.”

Baker Real Estate Incorporated

www.bakersales.info

“Swifter, higher, stronger” is the English translation for the original Olympic motto “Citius, Altius, Fortius,” which celebrates the relentless pursuit for improvement in human endeavours, particularly on the athletic field. Rating systems such as LEED recognize achievements in sustainable building. For 72 years the world’s fastest sprinters strove to break the 10-second barrier until 1968, when Jim Hines finally did so; but by 2012 in London seven men ran the final race in under 10 seconds.

“All building projects require passion and commitment from those involved to be successful, but with a sustainable building, these attributes are required in spades,” said Dewson.  “Each and every one who participated in 27 Farnham Avenue held fast to their enthusiasm from the beginning to the end.”

The team included Kyle England, who was Dewson’s Team Leader, Eric Adelman and Matt Brooks of South Park Design Build, Philip Drader of Mindscape Innovations who was the Provider QAD, and Kyle Anders of Greenscape Building Consultants who was the Green Technology & Energy Rater.

The project was a 4500 square foot, six bedroom detached home and scored 96.5 LEED Canada for Homes points for Innovation and Design Process (10/11), Location & Linkages (10/10), Sustainable Sites (17/22), Water Efficiency (6/15), Energy & Atmosphere (25/38), Materials & Resources (14.5/16), Indoor Environment Quality

(12/21) and Awareness & Education (2/3).

In other words LED strip lighting; lots of skylights and big Loewen triple glazed operable windows, a reductive cooling system and six ton geothermal ground source system; 25 bifacial solar panels; a white roof; an energy recovery ventilator; HEPA air filtration, an ultra-insulated envelope with exterior walls and structural framing wrapped with polyisocyanurate foil panels to eliminate thermal bridges; window shim and joist cavities filled with spray foam from soy/vegetable oils and polyethylene from recycled plastic bottles; PIC joints, seams, fixture wells, filter housings, electrical and communication boxes and vent ducts all carefully taped and caulked; Energy Star appliances; no or low VOC paints and flooring; low flow plumbing and dual flush toilets; drip edges, sealing and extra membrane to control moisture and water flow; drought-tolerant native landscaping with no invasive species; a dry well and a permeable parking pad; 80% recycling of demolition waste; reclaimed brick, struts and joists; and more.

Congratulations to Bill Dewson and his team for their Olympian achievement with the first LEED Platinum residence in Toronto. A new benchmark has been set. Now let’s smash beyond it!

Do you think that your website has the ‘sticking power’ necessary to keep visitors engaged?

According to Jacob Nielsen¹, whom the New York Times called “the guru of Website usability” provides this summary: ‘Users often leave web pages in 10–20 seconds, however, pages with a clear value proposition can hold people’s attention for much longer’.

There are many factors that drive visitors away, and plenty of reasons why they linger on and return to a given page.  Let’s agree that the first 10 seconds of the page visit are critical for users’ decision to stay or leave. The question remains: what can and should you be doing with such limited time?

#1 Tip: Communicate your Value Proposition

What does Value Proposition mean? 

“Why should I buy this product, service or idea?” asks your customer. Your value proposition must answer this, in a compelling way. It’s a short statement that clearly communicates the benefits that your potential client gets by using your product, service or idea. It “boils down” all the complexity of your sales pitch into something that your prospect can easily grasp and remember.

Here’s an example of what a real estate firm may sound like: “We at Home Corp Real Estate help homeowners sell and buy property. We guarantee that your home will be sold in 30 days or less, or we’ll buy it ourselves.”

What do I do with it?
Think of your value proposition as the foundation of your online marketing plan. It will forever help you stay on course, as it serves as a reminder of what separates your brand from your competitors. Everything that you do online, from messaging, content, offers, ebooks, case studies, white papers, video should be delivered in a way that it supports your value proposition.

It’s not about you; it’s about your customer.
David Meerman Scott², author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR defines it this way: “the most important thing to remember, is to put your products and services to the side for just a little while and focus your complete attention on the buyers of your products. You must put your entire focus on helping your customers succeed.”

Creating customer value, that’s the proposition.
Every page on your website is an opportunity to market your brand and the value you bring to the visitor. Think about what makes your business or service distinctive. Why is your offering preferable to other options for solving the need? Do you have something special that’s worthwhile to share? Is there some way to highlight how you’re distinct from others?

Keep these thoughts in mind as you develop your own unique value proposition:

1. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes to find the answers.
Who is your potential customer? What do they do and what do they need? What problems do they need solved? What does the customer value most?

2. Know your competitors.
Think again from your customer’s perspective and ask how your product or ideas create more value than your competition. What can you do with your idea, knowledge of your market to really improve their lives, health, financial situation, status, prestige, etc… over and above your competition.

3. Know how your product solves a need.
Identify what the rational and emotional benefits of solving the need are? How does the product, service or idea solve the problem or offer improvement? What value and results does it offer the customer?

4. Proof of concept.
How can you demonstrate that your approach has worked to solve similar problems for others? How do you substantiate your claims? How do they know that what you say will happen, will actually happen?

5. Uniqueness.
Why is your offering preferable to other options for solving the need? Do you have something special about you that are worthwhile to share? Is there some way to highlight how you’re distinct from others?

Producing winning results is greatly dependent on the inclusion of a solid, well-defined value proposition that’s incorporated into your business Inbound marketing plan.

Does your company have a UVP (unique value proposition)? If not, will you be developing one for your business. Let us know if you found this article helpful.

1. How Long Do Users Stay on Web Pages? Jacob Nielsen,­ Alertbox, September 12, 2011
2. The New Rules of Marketing and PR. David Meerman Scott, John Wiley & Sons‬, 2007‬
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About Murray Sye – Murray is a marketing professional with over twenty-five years worth of experience, the last ten of which he has spent working as an online marketing specialist, helping independent businesses grow and thrive by leveraging the power of the Internet.
To learn more about his firm WhiteSpace, and the latest trends affecting Inbound Marketing and Social Media, visit WhiteSpace.on.ca or call Murray directly in Toronto at 416 449-9559.
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