Glass – it's everywhere: our homes, our cars, and where we work. While we see this amazing material all around us every day, in its purest form it’s virtually invisible. Wondering exactly how glass ...
Vitro Architectural Glass has established itself as the foremost glass manufacturer in the Western Hemisphere, gaining recognition for its high-performing, low-embodied carbon glass products that ...
Vitro Architectural Glass values the pivotal role that its industry-leading, low-embodied carbon glass plays in shaping contemporary architecture. The organization is dedicated to preserving nature's ...
“Specifying” glass refers to the step in the building design process in which you or your team designate your architectural glass selections, often with a specific purpose in mind. It’s important to ...
A sought-after material for interior designs, glass lends a modern, sleek aesthetic, bounces daylight deeper into spaces and offers a wide range of colors, styles and textures. Enhancing hygiene, ...
To provide architects with the assurance and documentation they need to meet and verify their sustainability goals, glass manufacturers can electively participate in a range of programs and ...
With both heat-strengthening and tempering, it is possible that glass will develop either optical image distortion or anisotropy, which refers to patterns or visual effects in glass that are not ...
What Is U-Value? When it comes to evaluating the energy performance of architectural glass, one of the most important performance measures is U-value. Also known as U-factor, this figure measures the ...
What is Embodied Carbon? While energy efficiency and operational carbon are important aspects of eco-friendly building designs, embodied carbon emissions continue to gain traction as a major focus in ...
What Is Condensation? As you may have first learned in science class, condensation is a phase in Earth’s water cycle in which water vapor in the air condenses into liquid water. Condensation occurs ...
As the interest in bird-safe windows and glazing applications grows, inquiries about tinted glass have become more frequent. Questions have emerged about the effectiveness of tinted windows for bird ...
Compared to glass alone, the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) performance ratings of window units typically vary in several ways that may not be immediately apparent. To understand why ...
What Is the Color Rendering Index? The color rendering index (CRI) is a metric that considers how accurately a color is rendered under lighting conditions as compared to its rendering under natural ...
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 includes close to $400 billion for energy and climate projects directed at reducing carbon emissions 40% by 2030.
What is LEED® Cerfitication? Run by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the LEED green building program is an environmentally oriented certification program for buildings that stands for ...
With climate change top of mind, coast to coast legislation is obligating building owners and architects to take a hard look at their building designs. In New York, the city's Local Law 97 has placed ...
Architectural glass is a durable product that can be maintained in satisfactory condition by regular cleaning using accepted good glass cleaning practices. Glass should be washed at frequent ...
Green Building Codes In the United States, green building strategies that can help reduce energy consumption are increasingly being introduced to traditional building codes. As a result, architects ...
The growing practice of biophilic design in architecture is all about maintaining a connection to nature and light through a building. Because glass is the most popular transparent building material ...
When it comes to windows, homeowners are familiar with the parts of windows they can see, like the glass, the frame and the hardware. However, there are parts of the window inside the glass that play ...
Targeting Embodied Carbon While energy efficiency and operational carbon are important aspects of eco-friendly building designs, embodied carbon emissions continue to gain traction as a major focus ...
In March 2021, Vitro Architectural Glass launched its first ever energy-generating product: Solarvolt™ building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) glass modules. Seamlessly integrated into the building ...
With 49 recorded school shootings in 2018 and 2019, according to Education Week, and another 8 in 2020, safety in schools remains a top priority issue in the U.S.
For over a decade, the Vitro Glass Insider email newsletter has provided the glass industry with engaging, educational updates on glass trends, case studies, design challenges and applications.
For over four thousand years, the lustrous, hard, and inert characteristics of glass have made it one of the world’s most desirable and frequently used building materials. Glass is used in many of ...
One of the most important glass performance measures is U-value—also known as U-factor—which measures the insulating characteristics of the glass, or how much heat flow or heat loss occurs through ...
Glass is vital to the aesthetic of nearly every modern structure—increasing natural light, curbing sound, protecting against inclement weather and offering a view to the external world. While glass ...
Clear glass is extremely common and is popular in a variety of architectural design applications. However, when specifying glass to achieve a truly transparent aesthetic, design professionals know ...
Early Birds to Bird-Friendly Requirements As the problem of bird-to-building collisions becomes more widely known, an increasing number of states, cities and municipalities are adopting legislation ...
Well-daylit interiors boast a range of benefits, such as occupant mood and productivity, a sense of connectivity between spaces, decreased use of artificial light and energy bills, stunning views to ...
In recent years, glass fabricators have made significant advances in their technologies, creating a range of decorative glass applications that are increasingly specified by architects who seek ...
The Ever-Shifting Code Despite being immovable, buildings must be incredibly versatile because the standards that influence their design are ever-changing. Continually, architects and designers are ...
The Common Uses of Clear Glass Clear glass is extremely common, and is popular in a variety of architectural design applications. From applications ranging from vision glass to spandrel glass, clear ...
As one of the most popular and versatile building materials used today, low-e emissivity (low-e) glass coatings can enable exceptional energy efficiency and aesthetics. But how do they work?
When designing commercial spaces, choosing the right type of glass is critical. In order to choose the right product, evaluating a glass’s aesthetic characteristics up close by viewing a glass sample ...
Choosing the right architectural glass is crucial to a successful project. For more informed decisions in the evaluation, selection and specification of architectural glass, Vitro Architectural Glass ...
Imagination and creativity are critical skills that enable architects to create beautiful, vibrant and sustainable buildings. However, one aspect of successful projects that often goes under the ...
Achieving optimal performance of solar control low-e glass and passive low-e glass requires proper placement of low-e coatings on the glass surfaces of an insulating glass unit (IGU). Placement ...
To make more informed decisions in the evaluation, selection and specification of architectural glass products, Vitro Architectural Glass (formerly PPG glass) recommends using an installed systems ...
Glass is one of today’s most versatile building materials due to its virtually unlimited aesthetic options and outstanding energy characteristics. The breadth of glass colors available is one reason ...
Heat-treated glass provides both durability and safety for many of the world’s most visually breathtaking buildings. Manufacturing heat-treated glass is a complex and multi-step process. Courtesy of ...
Placement of a laminated lite within an insulating glass unit (IGU) is key to how its glazing system will perform. INSLIP and INSLOP are two commonly used terms to help designers position laminated ...
Here's an explanation of how bent and laminated glass is made, courtesy of Standard Bent Glass in East Butler, PA. First, large sheets of glass are scored into a range of end-use sizes. Then, these ...
A Partnership Mother Nature Would Approve Of: Award-Winning Bird-Friendly AviProtek® and Solarban® Solar Control Low-e Glass Each year, more than 600 million birds die from collisions with glass in ...
There are a wide range of glasses to choose from to meet the needs of any project. Spandrel glass is one such option. Unlike vision glass, which is meant to be transparent, spandrel glass is designed ...
For years, UV light transmittance used to be thought of as the measure of a glazing material's ability to protect furnishings from fading due to sunlight exposure. Now, ISO Damage Weighted ...
When designing with glass, there is a wide range of options to choose from to create a truly unique project. One option is reflective glass, which has some significant aesthetic and performance ...
Glass fabrication is an important part of glass specification. There are several basic types of fabricated glass, which all offer unique pros and cons. Types of glass fabrication include insulating ...
Understanding the solar energy spectrum is key to understanding glass coatings. Glass coatings affect the way the different parts of the solar spectrum are absorbed into, transmitted through or ...
When designing with large expanses of glass, it is critical to know when the glass may need to be heat-treated for durability and/or safety. The type of processing required—heat strengthening or ...
Accommodating for wind and snow is one of the important upfront considerations in the design and specification process. There is a multi-step process that must be undertaken to help ensure the glass ...
While glass looks great aesthetically, it also has to meet high performance standards. An important part of performance relates to acoustics, whether it’s large, dramatic panels used for the exterior ...
There are several key elements that impact the performance of an insulating glass unit (IGU). These include the primary seal thickness and width, secondary seal width, the spacer and the desiccant.
Sometimes glass breaks in a building without any obvious cause. When this occurs, it could be due to glass edge damage or surface damage from handling and glazing that then weakens the glass during ...
Understanding glass performance begins by understanding some key glass performance terms. Generally, the following four terms are considered very important when it comes to evaluating glass ...
There are three parts to the solar energy spectrum: infrared, visible and ultraviolet. Glass consequently responds to these three different types of light in three different ways: by reflecting, ...
The North American Glass Channel chart demonstrates the many different processes involved in the production of commercial glass and the capabilities of the largest channel participants from primary ...
Glass is one of the most popular and versatile building materials used today, due in part to its constantly improving solar and thermal performance. One way this performance is achieved is through ...
The Float Glass Process is a multi-step glass manufacturing process where liquid glass is formed by "floating" it on molten metal. First, raw materials are weighed, mixed and moved by conveyor from ...
Understanding the solar energy spectrum is the first step in understanding how low-e coatings work. Learn more about our full line of Low-E Glass products.
When thinking of some of the world’s most dramatic, visually breathtaking buildings, they most likely involve large expanses of glass. Before these architectural masterpieces can be created, the ...
While aesthetically versatile and offering outstanding performance, working with glass does come with some special considerations. This is especially relevant in commercial architecture, where it’s ...
Standard Glass Sizes Contemporary building projects that use insulating glass units (IGUs) in their facades typically adhere to obtaining raw float glass with a standard size of 96" x 130" (approx. ...
Glass has become one of the most popular and complex building materials used today by offering virtually unlimited aesthetic options, in addition to outstanding performance. However, designing with ...
Boosting Thermal Efficiency with Gas-Filled Insulating Glass Units As codes, standards and green building certification programs governing energy use and carbon reduction requirements become stricter ...
Building design is constantly changing. Today, strict energy codes and ambitious designs are urging architects to evolve their designs, and manufacturers must provide solutions for these emerging ...
Awareness, Diligence Key to Spotting Errors and Deviations in Glass Specifications by Steve Marino Premium unitized curtain wall and custom-built façades are par for the course in today’s highly ...
Green building certification programs and sustainable design practices have become mainstream. Today’s architects and their clients demand not only greater transparency but also easily accessible ...
Established by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) in 1998, the LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system is a premier benchmark for sustainable design.
Vitro Architectural Glass (formerly PPG Glass) assists architects, interior designers and other specifiers throughout the design process by offering several curated glass sample kits for product ...
Vitro Architectural Glass (formerly PPG Glass) has added a new feature to the Vitro Glass “Construct” tool that enables users to quickly generate 3-part specifications in the Construction Specifiers ...
Each year, more than 600 million birds die in the United States due to collisions with glass. Vitro Architectural Glass (formerly PPG Glass) and alliance partner, Walker Glass, are doing something ...
Mock-up evaluation is a critical element of working with insulating glass units (IGUs). While a 12” x 12” sample can certainly give you a good idea of the glass’s aesthetics in a general sense, ...
When you need a fabricator that can deliver high-performance Vitro Architectural Glass (formerly PPG Glass) products on your timeline, choose a certified member of the Vitro Certified® Network. Our ...
