Glass 101

Low-emission glass (Low-E) is a clear glass, it has a microscopically-thin coating of metal oxide. There are two types of Low’E glass. One allows the sun’s solar heat and light to pass trough the glass into the building. At the same time it blocks radiant heat from leaving the room, reducing heat loss considerably. This is an excellent choice for east facing elevations, where some heat gain is desired in the morning hours. The other Low’E blocks both the solar and radiant heat. This is a desirable choice on South and West elevations, where summer heat gain can be excessive, and winter heat loss undesirable. Available PPG Low-E and Cardinal Low-E.Argon gas and/or krypton gas is also available to further enhance the R Value

Two panes of glass enclosing a hermetically-sealed air space. Dual Glazed glass create great energy performance comparing with single glazed glass. The air space provides superior insulation.

Laminated glass is made of two or more layers of glass with one or more “inter-layers” of polymeric material bonded between the glass layers.Laminated glass is produced using one of two methods:

1. Poly Vinyl Butyral (PVB) laminated glass is produced using heat and pressure to sandwich a thin layer of PVB between layers of glass. On occasion, other polymers such as Ethyl Vinyl Acetate (EVA) or Polyurethane (PU) are used. This is the most common method.
2. For special applications, Cast in Place (CIP) laminated glass is made by pouring a resin into the space between two sheets of glass that are held parallel and very close to each other.

Laminated glass offers many advantages. Safety and security are the best-known of these — rather than shattering on impact, laminated glass is held together by the inter-layer  reducing the safety hazard associated with shattered glass fragments, as well as, to some degree, the security risks associated with easy penetration. But the inter-layer also provides a way to apply several other technologies and benefits, such as coloring  sound dampening, resistance to fire, ultraviolet filtering, and other technologies that can be embedded in or with the inter-layer.

Laminated glass is used extensively in building and housing products and in the automotive and transport industries. Most building facades and most car windscreens, for example, are made with laminated glass, usually with other technologies also incorporated.

Annealed glass is the basic flat glass product that is the first result of the float process. It is the common glass that tends to break into large, jagged shards. It is used in some end products — often in double-glazed windows, for example. It is also the starting material that is turned into more advanced products through further processing such as laminating, toughening, coating, etc.

Toughened (or tempered) glass is a type of safety glass that has increased strength and will usually shatter in small, square pieces when broken. It is used when strength, thermal resistance and safety are important considerations. Using toughened glass on automobile windshields would be a problem when a small stone hits the windshield at speed, as it would shatter into small squares endangering the driver and passengers. In commercial structures it is used in unframed assemblies such as frame less doors, structurally loaded applications and door lites and vision lites adjacent to doors. Toughened glass is typically four to six times the strength of annealed glass .

It has excellent fire resistant ability. The wire mess used in wired glass is made of steel wires 0.46 to 0.56 mm in diameter. The wire mess holds broken glass pieces from fall.  It is used in openings susceptible to fire spreading.

This glass is made by sandwiching an inter layer of tough elastic film between two sheets of glass and bonding them together using heat and pressure. These glasses are commonly used as wind screen in automobiles, railway coaches, in multi story buildings where safety is prerequisite, aquariums, built proof glass etc.

 It allows the light but gives limited vision.

It is heat absorbing glass, which can reduce heat load by 12% and results in energy saving in a building. The tinted glass absorbs 30 to 40 % of solar radiation while clear float glass absorbs 15%. It reduces the quantity of heat flowing into the building and results into energy saving.