MATR – Materials in Transition Lab | EPFL participated in the biannual Challenging Glass Conference on 15-17 June 2026. The conference provided several insightful days covering research on: structural glass design and real-world projects, adhesives and glass connections, testing, fire performance, occupant interactions, new forms in curved and cast glass, and innovative methods to understand the technical reuse potential of glass products. Highlights of the conference included three inspiring keynote presentations by speakers from TH Köln, TU Eindhoven & NASA.
Rebecca Hartwell presented the latest research findings from a collaborative research project with Saint-Gobain. “There is a lack of a standardised assessment approach to support decisions in environmentally efficient and financially viable renovation pathways across the building life-cycle while accounting for variations in glazing product types, geographical locations, and service-life dynamics. We present a dynamic valuation approach that accounts for upfront embodied carbon; temporal changes in operational performance; and uncertain future material recovery scenarios. The proposed approach was implemented as a computational framework and applied to six reference glazing products in residential and commercial case studies located in France. Future work will investigate the complex interplay between building envelope condition, trade-offs and adaptation strategies related to occupant comfort and well-being, and implications for legislation.”
https://proceedings.challengingglass.com/index.php/cgc/article/view/800
Access to the full research paper and github respository will follow later this year.
Project team:
Emily Lenarduzzi, Simos Maniatis, Alessandra Luna Navarro, Michael Peeters, Hadrien Heuclin, François Guillemot, Rebecca Hartwell
With thanks to the organisers of CGC 2026 Christian Louter, Freek Bos, Jan Belis, fellow participants, and all who took the time to engage with the study.