OMG. WSJ: People Who Live in Glass Houses, Pitfalls of living with wall-to-wall windows

[PfcHammer]

http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB121997078093581911.html">http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB121997078093581911.html
People Who Live in Glass Houses
It's Not All Sunshine; Faded Furniture, Nosy Neighbors and Baking Heat Among Gripes
By SARA LIN
August 29, 2008; Page W1

Seeking views, Sara Antani bought a 17th-floor condo last August in a new Manhattan high-rise with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Hudson River. The sun faded Sara Antani's sofas and made it tough to read her laptop until she installed shades in her Manhattan high-rise.

She got her vistas. But she got other things she didn't bargain for. The strong and relentless western light forced her to don sunglasses while reading. It made watching television and using her laptop computer almost impossible. The air conditioning could barely keep the temperature tolerable as sun baked the $1.5 million apartment on summer afternoons. And the sun bleached her pair of brightly colored European sectional sofas, which cost $20,000.

In June, Ms. Antani gave in, spending $12,000 on motorized shades that she keeps lowered during the day. "I love being able to see everything," says Ms. Antani, a 23-year-old graduate student. But "the sun's just in your eyes; you can't focus. Everything is so bright."

Wall-to-wall windows have become a signature of chic urban living, from Minneapolis to Miami. Home magazines and real-estate ads depict fashionable people in glass-walled towers lounging in front of endless views. But some residents say the reality can be less glamorous. Their windows often are streaked or spotty, even when washed regularly. The sun fades not just furniture but also kitchen cabinets, wood floors, artwork and even books. While urbanites are used to nearby neighbors, a glass-walled apartment without shades can be akin to being on display in a terrarium, especially at night. And temperatures near the glass can be chilly in the winter and roasting in the summer.

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This article is ridiculous. I'm not sure what kind of grad student Miss Antani is. I get the impression some of these people wouldn't have sense to come in out of the rain, either.:puke:

[aquart]

1. Poor dears.

[boobooday]

2. A grad student with a 1.5 million dollar apartment

And a 20k sofa?

Is that McCain's daughter?

[hobbit709]

3. I don't know ANY grad students with that kind of money.

"Motorized shades"? WTF. I guess these people are too important to pull the cord on the old fashioned kind.

[Ikonoklast]

7. Trust fund baby, for certain.

Grad school students are lucky to eat regularly.

[Neshanic]

9. That's almost a given in this situation.

[gristy]

4. Too many windows on the south or west side of your house make your house too bright?

Who knew? :D

[Turbineguy]

11. Never underestimate the neat stuff

you can learn by visiting DU.

[Cassandra]

5. Well, duh!

This is the main reason that, if I could afford to buy an apartment, I would buy in an old building. Privacy and better insulation. Insulation matters, particularly, in a time of rising energy costs. Two of the three buildings going up in my neighborhood are glass towers, without even much of a view to compensate.

[Neshanic]

6. This is a big problem. She's a grad student. Not up to par on the star that we orbit around.

[aikoaiko]

8. Unless I'm missing something the author doesn understand the concept of wall-to-wall.

Is her ceiling and/or floor made of glass windows?

[Neshanic]

10. Yes, that's the facts, they just report em'.

[SheilaT]

12. Anyone who doesn't understand

that west-facing windows will give you a lot of heat gain just doesn't pay attention to anything, least of all what the sun does -- rising in the east and setting in the west. I have long paid close attention to how a place is oriented before I move in. If you live where it snows, you want to have a driveway that faces south. The snow will melt more readily, and a loooong time before the snow on a north-facing driveway.

Actually, the windows in the above building should have been coated with the stuff that reduces the heat gain, but lets the light in. That's an architectural thing, and proves that the architect and builders were idiots.

[magellan]

14. Was going to mention the UV film too

I think there's glass that's pretreated with the stuff.

There's also insulated glass -- two sheets of glass with an air pocket in between. This helps reduce heat gain in summer and loss in winter.

Good thing she's got lots of money to throw away.

[endless october]

13. wow

can't imagine having that kind of green when i was in grad school.

just goes to show you that money doesn't necessarily make you happy, though.

[XOKCowboy]

15. or smart...