Glass is a noble material par excellence increasingly present in the use of civil construction. Its presence is noteworthy both in simpler buildings and in large-scale developments, being synonymous with light and communication of which man has need, since it allows protection and thermo-acoustic isolation of the most varied environments.
It has been a symbol of architectural modernity since the 19th century. Glass is also a "technologically advanced" material, functional and refined, and it is possible to take advantage of its transparency qualities in a full or discreet way. It is a versatile and very modern material, benefiting in the last decades in a marked way for the improvement of the comfort of the home, its diversity and its functions, its growing aspect of interior applications, today give the designer a greater freedom to put into practice a true architecture of light, which fully meets all the demands of modern comfort.
There are several types of glass, being known for common glass, tempered glass, laminated glass (this is also tempered laminate and smart laminated), screen-printed glass.
Common Glass
Ordinary glass is the least resistant of all the options in the market, quite common in small windows (vitrôs) and its main benefit is the cost, being it the cheaper one. Its characteristic is to be very resistant to impacts, as they shatter more easily.
Tempered glass
Tempered glass is glass that has undergone heat treatment (tempering) or chemical to modify its characteristics as hardness and mechanical resistance. It is stiffer, having a higher thermal resistance and shattering into small fragments when it is damaged. It is usually made from ordinary glass (not tempered), from a thermal process.
Laminated glass
Laminated glass is a type of safety glass that holds together the shrapnel when broken. It is composed of two or more glass sheets, which are joined by one or more layers of polyvinyl butyral (PVB) or resin. When broken, the shrapnel gets stuck in this middle layer. This feature produces a "cobweb" effect when the impact is not entirely sufficient to pierce the glass. Polyvinyl Butyral is a plastic and elastic film applied between glass sheets. It has better sound insulation due to the damping effect between glass sheets, and also blocks 99% of the transmitted UV rays.