PPG Architectural Glass Leads the Industry with Energy Efficient, Aesthetically Pleasing Building Solutionsy

Current Issue
Click here to
read the issue.

Click Here To Access The DCD Archives™
	Content/Departments Current Issue Issue Archive Specifiers Spotlights Building Products Revue TradeWinds Technical Articles Insights Case Studies DCD Sq. Ft. Cost Guides Cost Trends Advertising Media Kit Subscriptions Free Subscription Subscribe DCD E-News Subscription

PPG Architectural Glass Leads the Industry with Energy Efficient, Aesthetically Pleasing Building Solutionsy

For sustainable building projects, the ideal architectural glass permits the greatest amount of natural light to enter while limiting the thermal effects of solar heat. The ability of the glass to achieve this balance is known as its light-to-solar gain (LSG) ratio. Any glass that achieves an LSG ratio of 1.25 is considered "spectrally selective" by the U.S. Department of Energy.

PPG has long been the forerunner in producing glass to help manage LSG. Since supplying the first spectrally selective glass in 1952 for the first major skyscraper in New York City, to using tinted glass as a design and environmental control element, PPG has continued to make advances in the development of high-performance glass that provides superior energy performance.

In 1983, PPG commercialized the world’s first coated low-emissivity (low-e) glass product, Sungate glass. That original technology evolved into two of the industry’s most effective products, Solarban 60 and Solarban 80 solar control, low-e glasses. Since then, PPG has continued to advance thin-film coating technology and developed Solarban 70XL glass, the architectural industry’s first magnetron sputtering vacuum deposition (MSVD), triple-silver-coated, low-e glass.

Solarban 70XL glass offers an unprecedented combination of solar control and visible light transmittance along with the transparent appearance architects and building owners desire. In a standard one-inch insulating glass unit, Solarban 70XL glass transmits 64 percent of the sun’s natural light while blocking 73 percent of its solar energy. The resulting LSG ratio of 2.37 establishes a new standard for performance in the architectural glass industry.

A recent PPG commissioned study by the Architectural Energy Corporation (AEC) comparing the energy performance of Solarban 70XL glass to dual-pane tinted glass and several commonly specified high-performance architectural glasses showed that, depending on the size, type and climate of a prospective building, Solarban 70XL glass has the potential to save architects and building owners hundreds of thousands of dollars in upfront capital cooling equipment costs when it is specified instead of competing products. Solarban 70XL glass also can produce annual energy savings of up to 13 percent compared to dual-pane tinted glass. Additionally, the study also showed that specifying Solarban 70XL glass for a typical commercial building can reduce CO2 emissions by thousands of tons over its lifetime.

Today, PPG is the first and only glass manufacturer in the United States to earn Cradle to Cradle Certification® for its entire line of high performance architectural glass products, which signals PPG’s continued commitment to environmental stewardship and its dedication to developing and enhancing sustainable products. Additionally, PPG glasses can help architects achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) certification for their building projects. According to the U.S. Green Building Council, building projects may be eligible to earn one point in the “Innovation in Design” category if the percentage of Cradle to Cradle Certified products used in their construction equals at least 2.5 percent of the project’s total material cost.

All PPG architectural glass products are available through the PPG Certified Fabricator Network, an elite collection of specially trained and audited glass fabricators who provide exceptional product quality, regional sourcing and responsive service.