Reflective glass is glass that has been treated with a metallic coating to allow it to reflect heat. It is not reflective in the sense that it acts as a mirror, although some products do indeed have a highly reflective surface, but rather in the sense that it reflects radiation rather than absorbing it. This type of glass is used in environmentally friendly construction with the goal of reducing heat gain and loss, making structures much cheaper to heat and cool over the course of the year
Application in Exteriors:
At shop fronts and commercial frontages, where vision is important, particularly at night time (panoramic restaurants, air traffic control towers, petrol station windows) etc.
Application in Interiors:
For high quality picture framing, display cabinets and interior display windows, for dividing screens in cinema projection rooms, television studios, machine control rooms etc.
Available Shades
- Blue
- Green
- Brown
- Grey
- Neutral
Available Thickness
- 3.5mm
- 4mm
- 5mm
- 6mm
Used for
Domestic and Commercial Applications
Windows
With advanced coating to filter heat and radiation from sunlight allowing natural daylight to come in.
Summer Comfort: Helps to enjoy sunlight without heat. Cut Sun?s direct heat by up to 70%, keeping interiors cool and comfortable. Reduce cooling and air conditioning costs.
Optimum Daylight: Special coating helps to enjoy more natural light inside without heat. Decreases the use of artificial lighting during day time and reduces power bills.
UV Protection: Filters UV rays from the sun, keeping interiors branding new.
The precise finish used on reflective glass varies. There are a number of options available, including tinted glass that can be used to achieve a desired aesthetic effect. The finish is usually metallic in nature, and designed so that people behind the glass can see out. As a bonus, the coating sometimes reduces glare, which can be tremendously beneficial for making office environments healthier; glare is a common cause of eye strain, especially for people who work on computers.
Heat generated inside the building tends to stay in the building when the windows are made from reflective glass, which reduces heating costs. Conversely, heat from the outside stays outside, with the radiation being bounced back by the glass. This keeps the building cool in summer. Some structures that use it may be able to scale down or eliminate their climate control systems and other passive measures, while others need to run these systems less frequently, saving money and helping the environment out at the same time. A classic use of this type of glass is in building facades. Glassed-in buildings wax and wane in popularity around the world, and when they are in vogue, using reflective options can cut down on operating costs over the building’s lifetime, in addition to making the interior more pleasant to work in. Reflective auto glass is also available for installation in environmentally friendly vehicles.
Another use for reflective glass is in rooms where the climate needs to be tightly controlled, as seen in some scientific labs. In this case, the glass can be one of several measures used to keep the temperature inside the room as stable as possible. One advantage of passive systems like this is that they keep working when the power is out, providing a form of automatic protection when there is a problem with a computer or electrical system.
The Benefits of Designing with Reflective Glass
When designing with glass, there are a wide range of options to choose from to create a truly unique project. One option in particular?reflective glass?has some significant aesthetic and performance benefits. Even when transparent glass is in vogue, there are specific applications when tinted, reflective glass can be the superior choice. In fact, there are even reflective glasses that provide the solar control benefits of low-e coatings.
Today?s reflective glasses have evolved and now feature varying levels of reflectivity that create a wide range of aesthetics. The mirror box effect is definitely a thing of the past! Below are some key benefits to designing buildings with reflective glass:
- Color: Tinted, reflective architectural glasses offer better harmonization with spandrels, metal panels, extrusions and other building materials. This color enriched glass transmits generous levels of visible light and offers color neutrality, which also enhances the tint of the glass substrate underneath the reflective coating. Today, reflective glasses can also include low-e coatings.
- Visibility: Reflective glass also has a special metallic coating that makes it possible to see out, while preventing people from seeing in, in order to preserve privacy during the day. In addition, reflective glass makes it possible to hide computer wires, vents, fans, HVAC components and other building mechanicals.
- Glare Control: Reflective glass also impacts visible light transmittance (VLT). Reflective glass allows just the right amount of natural light into a building, while at the same time reduces glare and the need for window blinds and other interior shading devices. In addition, reflective solar control glass reflects a portion of incoming solar radiation, which limits heat penetration into the building and can potentially lower HVAC usage.
- Exterior Appearance: Reflective glass provides a bold, crisp exterior appearance, along with a dynamic building surface that changes to reflect the color of the sky, the passing of clouds and the different times of day.
Reflective glass actually has quite a few benefits, whether its used in your home, office space or any other commercial space. It’s basically a new energy saving glass that uses advanced coatings to keep the heat and radiation from the sun out. While it blocks the UV rays and heat, it lets in the sunlight-helping cut down the need for artificial light or air conditioning. Your electricity bill will come down drastically! Other benefits are:
a) Summer comfort
b) Daytime privacy
c) Better Aesthetics
d) UV protection etc.
In the awe-inspiring world of glass, reflective glass occupies a significant position. Besides the basic functionality of sun control, it contributes to architectural aesthetics and even energy conservation. Reflective glass helps a building achieve a high standard of visual appeal besides reflecting a greater amount of heat than normal tinted float glass, making it less prone to thermal breakage.
Reflective Glass
Reflective glass is essentially ordinary float glass with a metallic coating that cuts off solar heat. This special metallic coating also provides a one-way mirror effect, preventing visibility from the outside and thus preserving privacy. Reflective glass is used primarily for structural fa?ade glazing.
There are two different ways of manufacturing reflective glass – production pyrolitic process and vacuum (magnetron) process.
1. Production Pyrolitic (On-line):
In this process, semi-conducted metal oxides are directly applied to the glass during float glass production, while the glass is still hot, in the annealing lehr. These coatings are called hard coatings, and are relatively less harmful to the environment.
Pyrolytic Glass
In summary, pyrolytic glass is a reflective glass that has had a coating applied to it during float glass manufacture. The coating is fused to the glass at 1200o C. The best feature of this product is its durability; it can be easily handled like a standard square of glass. It can also be easily cut, heat strengthened or toughened. Pyrolytic glass is sometimes referred to as ?hard coat? reflective. Since it is processed online, it works out to be cost-effective.
2.Vacuum (Magnetron) Process (Off-line):
In this process, one or more coats of metal oxide are applied under a vacuum to finished glass. The coatings applied by this technique are soft and require protection from the external environment; they are therefore applied on the inner side of glass panes. Their low resistance makes them better off when used in a double glazing system. Cost-wise, this glass is relatively expensive.
Other offline coating techniques are as follows:
- Immersion process
- Chemical process
- Foil
- Screened glazing
Vacuum-Coated Glass
The manufacture of this type of glass involves the deposition of metal particles on the glass surface by a chain reaction in a vacuum vessel. It is often called a ?soft coat? because the coating is more susceptible to damage than a hard coated glass when glazed in monolithic form. Where toughening of the product is required, the product must be first toughened and then vacuum coated.
Vacuum-coated glass is available in laminated form with the coating on the inside. Subject to certain exceptions, vacuum-coated products have better shading coefficient values than pyrolytic products.
Anti-reflective glass
Anti-reflective glass is float glass with a specially-designed coating which reflects a very low percentage of light. It offers maximum transparency and optical clarity, allowing an optimum view through the glass at all times. The clarity of vision makes anti-reflective glass suitable for all applications where transparency is required.