Water-filled glass promises to ‘revolutionise building design’

This is the claim of Loughborough University’s Dr Matyas Gutai who has been researching the concept for over a decade. The latest research – published in Energy and Buildings – has been conducted in collaboration with Dr Abolfazl Kheybari from the University of Kaiserslautern.

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Water-filled glass involves a sheet of water being trapped between a panel of glass. The research reveals that WFG systems perform well in any inhabited climate – keeping buildings in hot climates cool, and buildings in cool settings warm – without requiring an additional energy supply.

Dr Gutai developed the concept while studying for a PhD at the University of Tokyo after being inspired by rotenburo, which are Japanese outdoor hot spring baths. He developed the idea into a working design and then created two prototype buildings in Hungary and Taiwan that use WFG as part of a larger mechanical system.