The Dallas City Council is expected to vote soon on a proposed code amendment that would limit a building’s exterior reflectivity of “visible light” to 15%.
The purpose of this rule is to cut down on “undesirable glare for pedestrians and potentially hazardous glare for motorists.” This marks the first time the city has tried to regulate glass and glare on new construction.
Kirk Teske, AIA Dallas’ president, says that the amendment would cut the number of glass options available to developer by some 60%.
“Even more alarming is that most of the remaining options are dark or tinted glass types that greatly limit the amount of natural daylight transmitted to the interior of the building,” he says.
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