Light & Engineering Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 66-72, 2016 Svetotekhnika No. 2, 2015, pp. 51-56 NEW SOLUTIONS FOR TRANSLUCENT STRUCTURES Tagir A. Akhmyarov, Alexander V. Spiridonov, and Igor L. Shubin, Scientific Research Institute of the Building Physics, Moscow E-mail: spiridonov@aprok.org ABSTRACT The authors propose new design principles for translucent elements of a building’s shell, based on which it is possible to obtain energy efficiency and recover heat previously lost to the atmosphere, whilst aerating rooms through windows and facades without entailing power losses. <...> Keywords: energy effective construction, protective constructions, ventilated constructions, translucent structures, energy saving active system, heat recovery Translucent structures are the weakest element of the protective shell of a building in terms of heat insulation characteristics. <...> Therefore, required minimum values for the reduced heat transmission resistance of walls, windows and balcony doors regulated by Moscow standards of 1995 [1], differ 2.94 times (1.0 and 0.34 m2 •°C/W), and according to the most recent Russian national standard document of 2012 [2] they differ 5.80 times (3.13 and 0.54 m2 •°C/W). <...> The use of natural illumination, however, is still necessary according to wellbeing standards both in residential and public, as well as in most industrial buildings [4]. <...> It is clear that the main real heat losses from rooms occur through translucent structures: between 30% and 60% of general heat is lost, depending on the structure of windows and facades, the environmental conditions, evaluation methods and on some other indicators. <...> In recent years, translucent structures and facades have developed significantly: both in terms of increases functionality and operational indicators, and by using advanced modern technologies. <...> In Figs. 1 and 2, the improvement of light-transmission in filling and of wooden windows is shown using the reduced heat transmission resistance indicator. <...> So far, the biggest companies producing translucent structures, are able to manufacture windows and facades with reduced heat transmission resistance of 0.8–0.9 m2 •°C/W [9] on a massive scale without considerable problems. <...> However, to achieve values for this indicator which can be characterised <...>