Aesthetic

From the upscale and sophisticated to the contemporary and trendy, glass has the undeniable ability to capture virtually any aesthetic. Brilliant colors, distinctive patterns, and effects such as acid etching and frosting can all be readily incorporated into your interior design elements. Whether you’re looking to calm or excite the senses, AGC offers products that will enable you to do it, beautifully.

Daylighting and Visible Transmittance

The emphasis on daylighting (the practice of designing structures to maximize the use of natural light) continues to increase in step with the movement toward greater sustainability. The benefits of daylighting include reduced energy consumption and increased indoor environmental quality. As such, the merits of daylighting are recognized by the USGBC and its LEED® certification program. Studies have shown that daylighting can also increase the productivity of building occupants and improve the test scores of students.

Design

AGC manufactures a wide variety of solutions for interior and decorative applications. These specialty glass products—including patterned and heavy-patterned glass, matte-finish glass, painted glass, and polished-wired glass—lend both strength and beauty in a broad range of commercial and residential settings. No other glassmaker offers the same depth and breadth of decorative glass solutions. AGC is committed to remaining the industry leader and innovator in this category.

Perfect for a variety of interior and exterior applications, AGC decorative glass products can be used in:

• Partitions and wall systems
• Sliding or fixed doors
• Entrance doors
• Railings and staircases
• Ceilings and atriums
• Wall cladding

Privacy Glass

The ability to specify glass in varying degrees of privacy and diffusion makes it ideal for such applications as bathroom partitions and shower doors. Additionally, options such as thicker glass and laminated glass can enhance sound control to add privacy in commercial applications. AGC can assist you in finding a solution that meets both your aesthetic desires and performance needs.

Safety Glass

Safety is a wide-reaching concept covering many areas. The most important aspect of safety glass is to protect individuals against the risk of injury from sharp, broken glass, as well as falling glass (defenestration). In trying to avoid the risk of injury only, it is the breakage pattern of the glass that is significant. It is important to ensure that, if the glass breaks, it does not produce pieces which are likely to cause injury. If the aim is to provide protection against falling as well, care must be taken to ensure that the glazing is not obliterated.

Another key function of safety glass is to protect people and property against the burglary and vandalism of private homes, shops, and offices. In this context, the glazing should remain in place and should prevent anyone or anything penetrating it. Additionally, safety glass can provide protection against firearms and explosions.

Only a small number of glass products meet the breakage pattern, defenestration, and resistance criteria described above: tempered and laminated glass. Other glass products—including float, heat-strengthened, and wired glass, among others—are not considered safety glasses.

Security Glass

Bullet Resistance—ASTM F-1233 and UL-752
There are many standards used in North America for the testing and classification of bullet-resistant glasses. These standards make a distinction between the resistance that glazings demonstrate against various types of weapons and ammunition. For each category of weapons that are tested, glass products are considered bullet-resistant if they stop all the bullets on a set of different rounds fired from a specified distance. The various classes and levels of bullet-resistant glass may include products that offer a number of levels of protection. A glass meeting the requirements stipulated for a given class of weapons also meets those of the classes below it. However, there is no correlation between classes/levels for different weapon types.

Burglar-Resistant Glass—ANSI/UL 972
Laminated glasses provide an element of security against “smash and grab” thefts. Whether protecting merchandise in a store display, or guarding a homeowner’s porch door or window against intruders, laminated glass provides the needed security. Laminated glass protects against forced entry by resisting repeated blows from hammers, bricks, or other weapons—and deterring burglars from perpetrating the crime.

ANSI/UL 972 Testing
ANSI/UL 972 test standards define the specific methods that are used to classify glasses in terms of their resistance to burglary. This testing uses the impact of a steel ball as a surrogate for a variety of burglary tools such as hammers, bricks, or crow bars. Testing consists of dropping a 3.25-inch (82 mm), 5-pound (2.26 kg) steel ball across a designated vertical distance at glazing specimens conditioned at different temperatures. The test specimens should measure 24 inches x 24 inches (610 mm x 610 mm) in size. There are five impacts per specimen.

Pass/Fail Criteria
In order for glazings to qualify as burglary-resistant under these standards, the steel ball must not penetrate the laminate during all five impacts.

Hurricane Impact Resistance Glazings
Building codes in the coastal counties of the United States require that, in windborne debris regions, glazing in buildings shall be impact-resistant or protected with an impact-resistant covering meeting the requirements of SSTD 12, ASTM E 1886 and ASTM E 1996, Florida Building Code TAS 201 and 203, or AAMA 506.

In accordance with the windborne debris provisions of these building codes, glazed openings located within 30 feet (9.144 m) of grade must meet the requirements of the ASTM E 1996 Large Missile Test. This test simulates the effects of large, wind-driven debris that can impact the glazing during a hurricane—such as broken roof tiles, branches, patio furniture, etc.

Pass/Fail Criteria
Window systems are certified if three similar specimens pass in accordance with the following criteria, after completion of the impact and cycling portions of the ASTM E 1996 testing. (a) All test specimens must resist the large or small missile impacts, or both, without penetrating the pane of glass (b) Test specimens must resist the large or small missile impacts, or both, with no tear formed longer than 5 inches (130 mm) or no opening formed through which a 3-inch (76 mm) diameter solid sphere can pass freely.