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Across the development industry, the impetus to create buildings that operate at the highest efficiency is growing as developers strive to meet the evolving standards for sustainable buildings. In this transitional period, building features that are energy intensive or wasteful are being reevaluated to determine if they are worth incorporating in new developments, and one of the features finding itself under the microscope more often lately is the balcony.
Some developers have already taken the bold step of removing balconies from their residential building designs altogether, but others — aiming to please purchasers who treasure their connection to the outdoors — are looking for more middle-ground approaches that allow the balcony to retain its place in the era of green buildings. One of the companies leading the way with solutions for this issue is The Lumon Group, who specialize in retractable glazing systems, effectively transforming balconies into hybrid outdoor spaces.
Established in Europe in 1978, the company has been focusing on expanding their presence in North America and deploying their unique product to help the development industry breathe new life into the balcony in a way that is sustainable — and quite stylish as well. The system creates a ventilated enclosure that can be custom fitted to any balcony, with a number of options also available for larger spaces like decks, porches, solariums, and even restaurant patios. Across all variations of the enclosure system, the key aspect is the retractability, allowing the space to open up fully to the elements or seal them out, depending on the wishes of the user.
The forces driving this shift away from balconies stem from how balconies impact energy efficiency in a building overall. While many consider the provision of a personal outdoor space a fundamental aspect of living in a vertical community, balconies present a number of challenges for buildings hoping to meet the rising standards of energy efficiency. Not only do they require frequent maintenance or outright replacement due to extended exposure to the elements, they also create a break in the building envelope that can be costly in terms of the increased energy consumption over time, acting something like radiators that leak heat into the atmosphere.
So how do balcony glazing systems like Lumon’s address these issues? In August 2022, an extensive study was conducted on Lumon’s behalf by Ted Kesik, Ph.D., P.Eng., and Professor of Building Science at the University of Toronto, assessing the performance enhancements of their balcony enclosures. Kesik's report found that, based on the key Toronto Green Standards performance metrics, the energy consumption of the building was reduced by a margin of 19 - 30%, leading to a 14.9% decrease in energy costs and extending the lifespan of the balcony structure by about 25 years.
In this way, balcony enclosures represent an opportunity for developers to achieve better energy efficiency without sacrificing the private outdoor space that balconies afford residents… but there’s still the question of how viable these systems are at the larger multi-unit scale. Looking over the work Lumon has been doing in Canada in the last few years, the company has completed a number of projects with developers across the country, demonstrating how these balcony enclosure systems fit into higher density projects to improve livability and increase balcony use.
In Langley, British Columbia, for example, Lumon worked with developer Quadra Homes to deliver balcony enclosures for a total of 620 different units at a multi-building residential development known as Yorkson Park. The project featured a mixed typology, with 9 mid-rise buildings and 13 townhouses, and represents Lumon’s largest project to date in Canada. Quadra uses the retractable glass as a major selling feature.
Meanwhile, closer to home, Lumon has completed three different projects with developers Mattamy Homes, including The Union in Brampton (pictured above), and is now finalizing their glazing system for a Barrie project from AALTO Development, known as Lākhouse. With sustainability high on the priority list in the development of the 10-storey residential project that faces Kempenfelt Bay, balcony enclosures provide an additional thermal barrier that helps the building envelope retain heat and energy while delivering stunning spaces for the enjoyment of residents.
With the company gaining a stronger footing in the North American development industry, Lumon is well positioned to get involved in the future of balconies in an active market like Toronto. Offering systems that improve building efficiency as well as balcony use, enclosures could become an increasingly viable solution in tower development moving forward.
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| Related Companies: | Live Patrol Inc., Lumon Canada Inc., Tarra Engineering & Structural Consultants Inc, U31 |
