As the world’s leading trade fair for the glass industry, glasstec in Düsseldorf offered a unique variety of products, finishing technologies and services associated with the material that is glass. No other professional event mirrors the entire value chains in the sectors machine construction, industry and skilled trades as comprehensively, presenting so many different facets of pioneering glass solutions and applications. glasstec 2012, once again, gave glass processors and finishers, as well as architects, construction engineers and façade planners from throughout the world, a far-reaching insight into the future of glass from 23 to 26 October.
Held concurrently and enclosed within the exhibition premises of glasstec is solarpeq – the International Trade Fair for Solar Production Equipment – which took place for the second time in 2012 since its inception in 2010. It covers the area of manufacturing technology for crystalline and thin-film photovoltaics, thereby serving as a highly attractive complement for the solar products and applications exhibited at glasstec.

“glass technology live”
“glass technology live” was organized in 2012 by Prof. Stefan Behling and his team at the Institute of Building Construction of the Stuttgart University once again. Covering over 2,500 square metres of exhibition space, this Special Show is now recognized as a “state-of-the-art” forum, and showcased pioneering developments revolving around glass and its versatile applications as ...

As the world’s leading trade fair for the glass industry, glasstec in Düsseldorf offered a unique variety of products, finishing technologies and services associated with the material that is glass. No other professional event mirrors the entire value chains in the sectors machine construction, industry and skilled trades as comprehensively, presenting so many different facets of pioneering glass solutions and applications. glasstec 2012, once again, gave glass processors and finishers, as well as architects, construction engineers and façade planners from throughout the world, a far-reaching insight into the future of glass from 23 to 26 October.
Held concurrently and enclosed within the exhibition premises of glasstec is solarpeq – the International Trade Fair for Solar Production Equipment – which took place for the second time in 2012 since its inception in 2010. It covers the area of manufacturing technology for crystalline and thin-film photovoltaics, thereby serving as a highly attractive complement for the solar products and applications exhibited at glasstec.

“glass technology live”
“glass technology live” was organized in 2012 by Prof. Stefan Behling and his team at the Institute of Building Construction of the Stuttgart University once again. Covering over 2,500 square metres of exhibition space, this Special Show is now recognized as a “state-of-the-art” forum, and showcased pioneering developments revolving around glass and its versatile applications as a high-tech material under the heading “Integrative Glass Functions”. One of these focal points was BIPV - Building-Integrated Photovoltaics. On display in this themed area there were thin-film modules for overhead applications and façades, to name but two. Organic Solar Cells consisting of hydrocarbon compounds (plastics) were also on show. The manufacturing costs of these OPV are markedly lower than those of conventional silicon cells, and the flexibility of this material opens up new possibilities for applications. Both factors make this technology also very attractive for architecture.
The solar sector also rates Concentrated Photovoltaics (CPV) as a forward-looking technology. Here an optical system is used to concentrate a large amount of sunlight onto the solar cell, thereby increasing its efficiency to over 40 per cent. This theme was rounded off by exhibits that illustrate the use of photovoltaics in design applications.

Forward-looking façade designs
Another focus of “glass technology live” was the theme “Façade and Design”. In this part of the exhibition Prof. Behling and his team presented hot- and cold-bent glass sheets of large dimensions. Corresponding products were already on display at the Special Show two years ago. The developments in this sector were documented with innovative exhibits where the combination of trend-setting materials and sophisticated technologies has led to steadily increased performance, resulting in applications that are energetically highly efficient and have a positive effect on the indoor climate.
Unique façade designs can be created by combining laminated sheet glass with a wide variety of interlayers. The Special Show proved what is feasible even today. The range of interlayers is suitable for laminating ranges from coloured films and wood veneers to metal meshes. A true eye-catcher in the “Façade and Design” area was a window integrated into glazing without a visible frame structure.

Design and interiors
The trend towards glass interior design continues unabated and “glass technology live” had on show the indoor design options opening up for architects and interior designers in future. In the themed area “Design and Interior” the focus was not only on the technical- but also the aesthetic aspects of glass. Artful approaches translated into products by experienced glass finishers prove how versatile glass is. One highlight of the Special Show was a back-lit interior wall made using glass tubes, which is ideally suited for building organically shaped walls and producing targeted effects. 
A long-established technology in glass finishing is digital printing. Its comparatively user-friendly application, attainable high print quality and almost unlimited freedom in the choice of motifs have triggered a real boom for this finishing technique in the glass sector. “glass technology live” marked the next stage in development by presenting new printing processes and new abrasion-resistant prints.
LED technology has been enjoying a similarly high acceptance for some time now. Interactive glass and media façades are gaining increasing importance in architecture.  Energy-saving LEDs are used both as design elements with a classic illumination function and as design tools for media façades with a 3D effect. The Special Show of glasstec 2012 showcased the latest trends and developments here, too.
“glass technology live” is not only a mirror image of current developments on the market, it traditionally also allows visitors to look far ahead into the future of glass. Leading research institutes such as the Institute for Building Construction of the Stuttgart University, the Technical University of Dresden and the Technical University RWTH Aachen play an important part in the further development of products and technologies. In Düsseldorf, these universities provided an insight into their current research under the heading “Research and Teaching”.

High-calibre technical symposium
The Special Show “glass technology live” was accompanied by a technical symposium with over 60 high-calibre lectures and presentations from research and practice.
Representatives from leading research institutes, associations, companies and architects’ offices expertly addressed various issues with their sights on the future.
Like the Special Show, the Symposium also focused on the future of the glass sector both with regards to technical and aesthetic terms. The focal themes for 2012 were:

• Energy efficiency in the glass melting process, (Hüttentechnische Vereinigung der dt. Glasindustrie e.V. and Deutsche Glastechnische Gesellschaft e.V.),
• Energy and resource-efficient technologies in glass machinery construction (German Engineering Federation/ VDMA e.V.),
• Integrative building skins (University of Stuttgart)
• Innovative manufacturing technologies for solar products and applications (VDMA).

Façades Centre – pooled information
The Façades Centre of glasstec 2012 was organized for the second time with themed ranges related to energy-efficient and/or functional building skins target façade planners, construction engineers and architects as well as the craftsmen installing them. The Centre was made up of exhibitor presentations, innovative façade mock-ups in the neighbouring Special Show “glass technology live” and the new “Centre of Expertise Glass, Window, Façade”, where institutes and associations pooled their information ranges. EuroWindow, the German Flat Glass Manufacturers’ Association and the Window Engineering Institute (ift) were represented at the Centre of Expertise.

International architectural congress
As part of glasstec’s programme of side events, an international architectural congress was held for the fourth time. Organized by the North Rhine-Westphalian Chamber of Architects, the Technical University of Delft as well as the Ostwestfalen-Lippe University, the Congress provided a high-calibre setting for architects, structural engineers, construction engineers and façade planners. Under the heading “Views + Perspectives” leading international architects’ offices presented their projects. Speakers included Enrique Sobejano, co-owner of the Spanish architects’ office Nieto Sobejano, Kai-Uwe Bergmann, member of the architects’ team at the BIG Bjarke Ingels Group, Copenhagen, as well as Thomas Auer of the Stuttgart KlimaEngineering-Büro Transsolar, to name but a few.

Engineered transparency – from development to practice
On 25 and 26 October the programme accompanying glasstec 2012 included another top-notch information event with the technical-scientific conference “engineered transparency”. It particularly addressed the research and development community as a target group as well as experts for civil engineering, construction engineers, planners/architects and building authority representatives. After the extremely successful kick-off event at glasstec 2010, Messe Düsseldorf cooperated again with the Technical University of Dresden and the Technical University of Darmstadt to put together a highly topical agenda for the 2012 event with the latest developments and research results in structural engineering with glass (stress/strain and stability, laminates and composites, uni-axially and bi-axially bent glass), the building physics behaviour of façades (building skin and texture, energy and sustainability, projects and case studies) as well as the use of solar systems in architecture (building integration and design, construction supervision requirements for solar module design). Keynote speakers included Miachel Bell, Columbia University New York City, Till Schneider, Schneider+Schumacher Architekten, and Wolfgang Schiel, Schlaich Bergermann and Partner.

solar meets glass – interface between glass and solar
With the Conference “Solar meets Glass – 3rd Industry Summit for Markets, Costs and Technology” Solarpraxis AG, one of the leading conference organizers in the field of renewable energies, and Messe Düsseldorf brought the solar systems and glass industries together for the third time. The multi-disciplinary technical event on 22 and 23 October discussed the current topics of both sectors jointly and harmonized their different needs. “Solar meets Glass” provided not only an overview of PV and glass markets and technologies but also focused on topics as future-proof markets, cost cutting and technology development. The overlap between glass and solar resulting from the combination of glasstec and solarpeq only exists in this dovetailed format as part of glasstec, the world’s leading trade fair for the glass industry in Düsseldorf.


Clear Impulses generated by glasstec 2012
Trade visitors look to the future with optimism
glasstec 2012 sent out clear signals in an ambivalent economic climate. This was the general tone expressed by the large majority of the about 43,000 trade visitors. Far more than half these specialists assess the future economic climate in the sector as positive. The response from the 1,162 exhibitors at the world’s most important trade fair in the glass sector also underline this good mood.
Visitors from the fields of mechanical engineering, industry, skilled trades, architects/(façade) planners as well as the solar sector all gave glasstec 2012 a ‘good report’. Alongside the positive mood for the future their ratings in terms of achieving visiting goals and the quality of the trade fair range were excellent. Both these areas scored significantly over 90%. With that result glasstec underlines its status as the world’s leading trade fair with a constantly high number of international visitors accounting for well over half of the audience. Also continuing at the highest level is the proportion of visitors from mid to top management who account for over two-thirds of glasstec attendees. What is particularly striking is the significantly higher willingness to invest amongst German management.
“glasstec 2012 sent out a clear positive signal for the sector in economic times that are difficult to predict, and proved its quality as a fair of innovations and the key meeting point for the sector,” said Prof. Dr.-Ing. Udo Ungeheuer, President of glasstec 2012 and Chairman of the Management Board of Schott AG.
“Exhibitors reported good order activity amongst their customers.
This shows that glasstec came exactly at the right time. This news does the sector good and underlines the international importance of the fair, commented Hans Werner Reinhard, Deputy Managing Director at Messe Düsseldorf.

Successful Special Shows
The comprehensive supporting programme at glasstec went down well with visitors. More specifically the special show “glass technology live” once again attracted a great deal of interest. Under the heading “Innovative Glass Functions” Prof. Stefan Behling and his team from Stuttgart University’s Institute of Construction Design (Institut für Baukonstruktion) caused a stir with numerous exciting exhibits – the practical products of the near and distant future. These for instance included a window incorporated into glazing without any visible frame construction, bent but still stable glass, organic, building-integrated photovoltaics as well as large-format façade elements. In combination with the neighbouring “Competence Center Glass, Window, Facade”, which bundled know-how from various associations, these façade mock-ups formed the “Facade Center”. The “glass technology live” show was accompanied on all days of the fair by a free symposium on a variety of topics attended by numerous visitors.
The range of special shows was complemented by the Skilled Trades Center “Zentrum Handwerk” – impressively demonstrating at its glass house the glass solutions available from the skilled trades for and in the house – and by the “glass art” exhibition. Specially designed for auto glass specialists was the “Autoglass Arena” with its international auto glass contest and the German championship plus its comprehensive, specialist plenary meeting.

Top-Flight Conferences
Aimed at architects, civil engineers and related professions were the “engineered transparency” conference with its technical focus on glass construction technology and the architects’ congress featuring internationally renowned speakers.
Already a day ahead of the fair top-flight experts from the glass and solar industry discussed their interfacing markets at the conference “Solar meets Glass – 3rd Industry Summit for Markets, Costs and Technology”.
As early as 2013 Düsseldorf will already provide them with further opportunity to discuss these issues at the next edition of the conference. “With this platform we wish to offer our customers the opportunity to benefit from targeted specialist exchange also in the ‘glasstec-free’ year. This means despite the current economic climate new sales opportunities can be opened up for the glass industry in the medium term while the solar industry can use the know-how of the glass industry on its path to achieving greater efficiency levels and lower production costs,” explained Hans Werner Reinhard.

The next glasstec/solarpeq will be held in October 2014.