In order to improve the sustainability of buildings one of the challenges is to address the role of the building envelope as the key climate moderator between the internal and external environments. The envelope is exposed to the elements and needs to control air exchange as well as sunlight and sound passing through to the occupants. Therefore, it has a major impact not only on the energy utilisation within the space it controls but also on the quality of comfort. However, inside highly glazed modern buildings, achieving good comfort is often at the cost of high-energy consumption. Therefore, in the light of ever increasing energy costs, improved facade design can contribute to a reduction of operational costs. The aim of this paper is to explore technical, economic, environmental and indoor comfort implications of emerging glazing technologies for energy control of highly glazed buildings in arid Middle Eastern climates, which is one of the harshest climates for this building type. The work includes predictions through thermal simulation of the impact of electrochromic glazing, holographic optical elements (HOE), aerogel glazing and thin film photovoltaics on two example buildings. Potential reductions in cooling demand are assessed.