Specialty Glass for Windows and Doors - Viwinco Windows

Specialty Glass for Windows and Doors

Some projects might rely on specialized glass packages to meet the needs of the homeowner or local building codes, and in those instances, Viwinco’s specialty glass for windows and doors offerings have you covered.

Safety Glass

Typically used in storm-prone areas, high traffic areas, or in large windows or doors, safety glass is designed to offer enhanced protection compared to your standard annealed glass. The two types of safety glass in our offerings are: Laminated Glass and Tempered Glass.

Laminated Glass

Comprised of a thin layer of polyvinyl butyral (PVB) sandwiched between two clear glass lites, the laminated glass is designed to protect the building envelope from being penetrated by airborne projectiles during an extreme storm. When struck by a heavy force, the laminated glass may shatter, but will remain intact due to the strong PVB interlayer.

PVB is an opaque, plastic-like material that after being run through our infrared oven, and a pressure cycle in our autoclave, fuses with the two clear glass lites. The resulting product is a transparent, highly durable piece of glass.

Benefits of Laminated Glass

In addition to enhanced durability and the capacity to withstanding hurricane conditions, our laminated glass also offers additional benefits over standard glass packages.

  • Reduction in sound transmission — noise from outside is significantly reduced
  • Enhanced security — Laminated glass creates a powerful barrier, minimizing risk of forced entry
  • Energy efficiency —  Resists the impact of the sun, leading to maximum energy efficiency
  • Lower UV exposure to the home — Our laminated glass package results in drastically lower amounts of harmful UV lighting entering the home preventing furniture and carpets from fading
Viwinco laminated IGU - shot by a cannon for impact testing

Tempered Glass

Through a series of intense cycles of heating and cooling, the surfaces and edges of annealed glass lites are compressed, resulting in tempered glass. Through compression comes strength—tempered glass is four to five times stronger than annealed glass. Having a surface compression of 10,000 psi (or more) and an edge compression of 9,700(or more), ensures that if the glass does break, it will fracture into tiny rounded cubes referred to a “dice”. Whereas when annealed glass breaks it creates jagged shards that can cause serious lacerations, dice created by broken tempered glass are much smaller and more rounded, reducing the likelihood of severe injuries. Tempered glass is typically required in large pieces of glass such as patio doors or high traffic commercial areas.

Viwinco broken tempered glass - "dice" glass

Specialty Glass

In addition to our safety glass offerings, our specialty glass for windows and doors options for glazing also include obscure and gray-tinted glass.

Obscure Glass

Commonly used in bathrooms, obscure glass has a frosted look to it and allows natural light to pass through while providing a comforting level of privacy.

Viwinco's Obscure glass option

Obscure Glass

Gray Glass (Turtle Glass)

Our gray glass provides visible light transmittance of ≤ 45%, it meets Turtle Glass requirements.

 

Viwinco's gray glass option

Gray Glass

Colored Glass
S-SERIES
NEW CONSTRUCTION
AVAILABLE on hung, sliding, hinged,
fixed windows and patio doors
CAMBRIDGE
REPLACEMENT
AVAILABLE on hung, sliding, hinged,
and fixed windows
EDGEMONT
REPLACEMENT
AVAILABLE on hung, sliding, hinged,
fixed, and bay and bow windows
OCEANVIEW
IMPACT NEW CONSTRUCTION & REPLACEMENT
AVAILABLE on hung, sliding, hinged,
fixed windows and patio doors
PATIO DOOR + MULTITRACK 650 DOOR
AVAILABLE