Glass and Glazing
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Glass “Quick Facts”

  • Maximum insulating glass unit sizes vary by manufacturer; however units weighing over 300 lbs can become unwieldy.
  • Viracon’s warm-edge stainless steel insulating glass spacer is compatible with structural silicone glazing, and can accommodate large sizes. Many residential warm-edge spacer systems are limited in their capabilities for architectural applications - Always review samples and product data.
  • Almost all windows with between-glass Venetian blinds require heat strengthened glass.
  • If dual glazed, windows are specified with a low-E coating, it must be a pyrolitic hard coat. Between-glass blinds require venting of the non- hermetically-sealed air space. Triple glazing (exterior insulating glass) is recommended for cold climate hospitals.
  • Heat soaking is an added-cost process, used to identify spontaneous breakage during glass fabrication, rather then in the field. Spontaneous breakage is caused by nickel sulfide inclusions in the body of the glass.
  • On glass units 7-feet wide or more, roller wave distortion becomes vertical. This may cause aesthetic issues with some coatings in certain lighting conditions. Distortion is usually less visually-evident in smaller units, in which roller wave is horizontal.
  • Using thin plies of glass (e.g. 1/8” or 3mm lites) in insulating laminated units can create visual distortion.