High-Transparency Glazing Drives Design of LEED Gold Engineering Building at UT Dallas

GlassBase

Aug 20, 2026 3 - 4 min. read

A Closer Look at the Facade Glass on UT Dallas's ECSW Building

Photography: Bill Timmerman

Vitro Architectural Glass reports that its Solarban 70 glass serves as the primary glazing product on the new Engineering and Computer Science West (ECSW) building at the University of Texas at Dallas, a 200,000-square-foot, LEED Gold-certified facility designed by SmithGroup. The project illustrates how architects are pairing high-transparency glazing with layered shading systems to meet both daylighting and thermal-performance goals on large academic buildings.

SmithGroup designed the ECSW building around a U-shaped floor plan that wraps a shaded outdoor courtyard. The firm used Solarban 70, a triple-silver-coated low-emissivity glass, across the building's varied elevations. The product carries a visible light transmittance (VLT) of 64% and a solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) of 0.27. VLT measures how much visible light passes through the glass, while SHGC measures how much solar heat the glass admits; a lower SHGC indicates better blocking of unwanted solar heat.

Randall Daniel, senior principal and science and technology studio design leader at SmithGroup's Dallas office, said the design team needed glazing that balanced high daylight transmission with solar control and neutral color rendering. He said Solarban 70 provided that combination for the project.

The facade treatment varies by orientation. On the east elevation, large overhangs and a calibrated brise-soleil — a fixed sun-shading structure made of horizontal or vertical fins — filter morning light while allowing extensive glazing over the building's main commons, instructional labs and student collaboration spaces. The west facade uses less glazing to limit afternoon heat gain, with limestone cladding shielding research lab equipment behind it. Strips of electrochromic glass on the west side automatically adjust their tint in response to sun intensity.

On the north and south elevations, SmithGroup specified fully glazed faculty offices paired with projecting shade portals of varying depths. Daniel described the shading elements as providing solar protection while preserving daylight and outward views.

The design team treated the facade as a layered system rather than a single glazing plane. Brise-soleil and fins reduce direct solar gain while admitting diffuse daylight. Metal screens act as a secondary layer of solar filtering. Fritted glass and coatings manage glare and heat gain at the glass surface itself, while cladding and spandrel panels — opaque glass or metal panels used to conceal structural elements between floors — provide additional thermal control.

SmithGroup used SketchUp and Revit modeling software to run iterative studies of solar exposure, shading performance and daylight levels before finalizing glazing placement and shading depths, according to Daniel.

The building's transparency extends to its mechanical systems. Full glazing at the main exhaust shafts and elevators exposes structural and mechanical elements to view, and color-coded ductwork, piping and electrical systems are visible throughout the interior. Daniel said the approach turns the building's infrastructure into a teaching tool for students in the building's engineering and robotics programs.

The project underscores continued demand in the institutional and higher-education construction sector for glazing systems that combine high visible light transmittance with low solar heat gain, a specification pattern architects are applying to facilities where daylighting, occupant comfort and energy performance are competing priorities. Tristar Glass Inc. fabricated the glass, Kovach served as glazing contractor, and The Beck Group was general contractor on the project.