Technology Glass
Flat Glass Showcase

Pilkington MirroView has great colour with a natural, mirror-like appearance that is ideal for concealing digital displays and video screens for commercial and residential applications.

Displays video
pilkington.com
Pilkington MirroView has great colour with a natural, mirror-like appearance that is ideal for concealing digital displays and video screens for commercial and residential applications. When the display is off it appears as a mirror and when it is on the screen image shows through. It also has the capability to work with all touchscreen technologies, including projected capacitive, while providing a smooth surface for an enhanced touch experience. Pilkington MirroView will provide digital displays and video screens a modern, high-tech look. It comes in large stock sizes providing the ability to conceal multiple screens at once or can be cut into smaller, traditional mirror sizes for smaller, individual screens. The pyrolytic coating allows for easy handling, processing and durability that prevents degrading while providing an essentially unlimited shelf life.
 

Warmer social spaces
bendheim.com
Building on hundreds of recent collaborations with architects and interior designers, Bendheim has announced its first colour collection for 2017: back-painted glass in soft pastel hues. The trend-sensitive palette is designed for today’s health and comfort-focused design models. The collection is composed of 12 nature-inspired hues, from Robin’s Egg Blue and Pale Green Tea, to Lavender Off-White and Palest Pink. The company credits pastels’ popularity to the rise of health and wellness-centred design. The effort to create warmer and more social spaces calls for the use of softer colours and materials. This philosophy guided Bendheim to pair its new pastel palette with its soft-etched SatinTech glass. The resulting back-painted glass feels silky-smooth to the touch, with noticeably muted reflections and subtle dimensionality. The durable, maintenance-friendly glass is also anti-glare and kinder to the eye. As with all Bendheim back-painted glass, the new collection features the company’s industry-leading, independently tested paint formulations. They are designed specifically for architectural glass and are applied to ultra-clear low-iron glass for precise colour matching. The colors are ultra-durable, baked-in and UV-stable. The resulting hard-working glass surfaces are 100 per cent VOC-free and naturally hygienic, enhancing occupant health, comfort, and safety. Typical lead times are three to four weeks. The glass can be specified in sizes up to 60 by 120 inches and in standard thicknesses of 1/4” or 3/8”. An ultra-thin 1/8”  thickness is also available. It is ideal for laminated glass applications required to meet strict safety codes and weight limitations, such as elevator interiors.

More options
vitro.com
Vitro Architectural Glass (formerly PPG Glass) announced that Solarban 90 solar control, low-E glass is now available on a wide array of performance-tinted glasses, including Atlantica, Azuria, Pacifica, Solarblue, Solarbronze, Solargray and Solexia glasses. Solarban 90 glass was previously available on clear, Starphire Ultra-Clear, Optiblue and Optigray glasses. Solarban 90 glass adds value and versatility to performance tints, uniting colour with the coating’s inherent ability to block heat, and therefore creating a full range of clear, light- and saturated-colour glasses to increase design options. Introduced in 2015, Solarban 90 glass utilizes proprietary coating technology to deliver robust solar control and high visible light transmittance on clear glass, while providing the colour neutrality needed to harmonize with a wide range of performance-tinted glasses. In a standard one-inch insulating glass unit with clear glass, Solarban 90 glass has a solar-heat-gain coefficient of 0.23, which is a 15-per cent improvement over Solarban 70XL glass, the industry’s most widely specified triple-silver-coated solar control, low-E glass. When coated on performance-tinted glasses by Vitro Architectural Glass, such as blue-tinted Pacifica glass or Solargray glass, Solarban 90 glass can achieve SHGCs of as low as 0.17 in a one-inch IGU. Solarban 90 glass and most performance-tinted glasses by Vitro Glass meet requirements of the Cradle to Cradle Certified products program at the Bronze level, which helps architects earn credits in the LEED green building program for their projects.
 

Adding life to showers
luxclearprotect.com
Luxclear Protect is a permanent coating technology designed primarily for use in shower enclosures to keep the glass looking clean and clear longer, protecting the end user’s investment long-term. The product requires no special cleaning or processes and eliminates the need for labour-intensive aftermarket solutions that require periodic re-applications. The product features a durable coating that resists hard water, staining, and etching. It is easy to cut, drill, edge, and temper, just like standard float glass. In addition, its durable coating makes it easy to store and handle. Luxclear Protect is used in a wide variety of applications, both commercial and residential. It is ideal for any project where exposure to water, heat and high humidity is a concern, such as enclosures for hot tubs, swimming pools, or sunrooms. Luxclear Protect is available in thicknesses from three up to 12 millimeters and can be used annealed for non-safety glazing applications or tempered. AGC Glass North America offers a limited lifetime warranty for Luxclear Protect. The warranty activation and claim form is provided direct to the end user, and can be managed online, streamlining processes for the end user, glass fabricator and installers. Relevant documents are available in English, French and Spanish.
 

In-demand blue
guardian.com
Guardian Glass North America introduces Guardian CrystalBlue glass, a light blue glass that gives architects multiple options in achieving performance and aesthetic requirements. Architects and designers can combine Guardian  CrystalBlue glass with many SunGuard low-E products, resulting in a range of energy performances along with high visible light transmission via an in-demand blue colour. Guardian’s newest substrate for commercial applications, CrystalBlue glass is a available coated and uncoated at six millimeter thickness in a variety of sizes. The Guardian SunGuard glass product line for commercial applications offers excellent solar control and a wide variety of colours and performance levels. SunGuard glass products provide innovative, leading solutions for appearance, economics and energy efficiency and are available through  an international network of independent Guardian Select fabricators.

Extremely low reflectivity
saint-gobain-glass.com
Vision-Lite low-reflective coated glass from Saint Gobain has the property to significantly reduce the reflection of visible light on the surface of glass. Vision-Lite is obtained by magnetically enhanced cathodic sputtering under vacuum conditions, by applying transparent coatings of metallic oxide to the glass. It can be used in a wide variety of external and internal applications that are designed for optimum vision through glass. External applications include shop fronts, picture windows, control towers, and screens or partitions in public areas. Internal uses include windows and display-cabinets in museums and stores, protective screens for paintings, internal partitions in hospitals, clean rooms, control rooms, television studios (no reflection in front of the cameras), interpreter booths and recording studios. Other recommended applications include signage or advertising panels and machine control rooms in industrial areas. Vision-Lite is useful anywhere improved visibility is desired, offering very low residual reflectance (approximately eight times less reflection than conventional glass) and very high transparency levels. The optical quality delivers better clarity of objects, better contrast and truer colour rendering. Vision-Lite can be specified in large sizes for large shop windows and large picture windows. It is available as Stadip Protect laminated safety glass for enhanced security. The transparency of Vision-Lite and its very low light reflectance often reduces the need for sun visors outside shop windows and the requirement for artificial lighting. The residual reflectance of Vision-Lite anti-reflective glass is very low (approximately one per cent in monolithic laminated). It is however still visible depending on lighting conditions, the surrounding environment and the angle of observation. The residual reflectance depends on the angle from which it is viewed. Perpendicular to the glass, it is slightly bluish and can vary slightly. For external applications (for example, shop windows), large samples should be inspected in situ at the proposed location of use, prior to specification.