Architecture Blog

Auburn Hills, Mich. Guardian announces the next generation in glass performance with SunGuard SNR 43, a new glass coating for commercial applications that offers a high light to solar gain ratio and low solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC).

SNR 43 joins Guardian’s other SunGuard advanced architectural glass products that improve energy performance and help projects achieve LEED qualifications. It features a visible light transmission of 43 percent and excellent solar control: Its SHGC is just 0.23 on clear float glass.

“This product adds another great option for architects specifying all types of commercial glass products. The coating lets in plenty of light and the very low SHGC meets the latest energy code standards,” said Chris Dolan, Guardian director of commercial glass marketing.

The Guardian SunGuard brand features the widest selection of industry-leading glass performance products, offering multiple color and appearance options for commercial coatings and a wide variety of application flexibility. SNR 43 is available on five float glass substrates – Clear, UltraWhite low-iron, CrystalGray, Green and TwilightGreen.

Additionally, because SNR 43 is available through the Guardian Select Fabricator network, glazing contractors choosing this product can feel more at-ease with local access and shorter lead times.

About Guardian Industries Corp.:

Guardian is a diversified global manufacturing company headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, with leading positions in float glass, fabricated glass products, fiberglass insulation and other building materials for commercial, residential and automotive applications. Its automotive trim group, SRG Global Inc., is one of the world’s largest suppliers of advanced, high value coatings on plastics. Through its Science & Technology Center, Guardian is at the forefront of innovation including development of high performance glass coatings and other advanced products. Guardian, its subsidiaries and affiliates employ 18,000 people and operate facilities throughout North America, Europe, South America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Visit www.guardian.com.

During the early 1900′s, carriages and cars started using glass to protect occupants from high winds. The glass that was used at the time did not protect people from flying debris. The glass was a threat if something struck it or the vehicle got into an accident.

French chemist Edouard Benedictus unintentionally found the formula to shatter-resistant glass in 1903. He dropped a glass flask with dried collodion film on the inside. The glass coated with the film cracked, but did not shatter and disperse. This laminated glass that would eventually revolutionize the automobile industry, was not used until the 1920s.

Automobile manufacturers eventually used laminated glass in their windshields to maximize safety during accidents and to add protection from flying debris during driving.

Automakers also started using tempered glass in the late 1930s. This glass is used in the vehicle’s side and back windows and gets its strength from an extreme heating and quick cooling process that strengthens both the outer plate and the core of the  glass.

By the time the 1960s came, the public realized that automobile safety was just as important as its looks. This thinking was derived partly from consumer activist Ralph Nader’s work to expose the dangers that some vehicles posed and the need for stricter  safety standards mandated by the government. As a result of Nader’s push, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) was formed in 1970.

Since then, NHTSA has implemented regulations affecting all areas of vehicle safety, including automotive glass. Some of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) for automotive glass include:

• FMVSS 205 — automotive window transparency and the strength of automotive glass required to keep occupants inside the vehicle during accidents.
• FMVSS 212 — windshield mounting standard to ensure a certain level of windshield retention strength during accidents.
• FMVSS 216 — implemented a standard for roof rigidity in case of a rollover.
• FMVSS 219 — no part of most passenger vehicles can penetrate the windshield more than 6 millimeters (0.24 inches) in a crash.

That is how automotive glass got its start, and how it has evolved to where it is today.

Article written by Ann Knapp

The challenge for companies in the glass making business, especially those with significant resources and financial strength, is to differentiate themselves by developing and introducing new profit opportunities for their customers, something that can be done by meeting the requirements of the industries we serve as well as anticipating future trends and demands.

Already we are witness to an evolution of new coatings, films, polymers, chemistry, and glass patterns. But this challenge also includes our customers, who are creating new applications to create more value and demand for glass from the ultimate consumer.

This style of competition will require a redefinition of strategy to one of making the most of an opportunity rather than one of increasing market share or size.

To reap a disproportionate share of potential profits, business must have a more diverse set of competencies. Those who say – that’s the way it is – will never have a future because what got you “here” will not get you “there.” And since people change only when they have to, their minds, like parachutes, only work when they are open.

For this reason, management’s attention must be expanded from day-to-day operations to a different course of direction. Decisive managers should not be buried in policies and procedures that hinder them from using their creative talents to address an opportunity.

While innovation can accelerate the pace, it can only partially determine the direction. Technology must be harnessed; it will never be a substitute for leadership that prefers action to rhetoric. The scarcest resource of all is time. The temptation is to reset the clock, but we cannot. Nature is the timekeeper and winning boils down to desire and effort more so than skill and experience.

Merely restructuring the current business model will not handle these consumer-driven technologies, nor can they be affected by administrative decree. Foresight must be matched with field execution. While the stakes are high, the financial health of a company depends on its role in creating tomorrow’s markets.

Since consumers lack such foresight, it will be our collective duty to lead the public to the future. Twenty years ago, few consumers would have asked for cell phones, Internet access, global positioning systems or iPods. This is magnified by the fact that the average person today has access to more information on their BlackBerry or other smart phone than existed in the entire world just 40 years ago.

If we stand back from the rigors of daily business and take a distant view, we can witness the gestation phase of a new industry being born within the traditional glass industry. Creative glass manufacturers are spearheading this rebirth by trying to differentiate themselves not only from other domestic suppliers but also to shield themselves from less expensive commodity imports.

In the past, glass products were merely a “see through” item. Now glass is becoming ever more integral to our lives. This remarkable material, with its incredible combination of function, beauty and strength, is enriching contemporary life and we are fortunate that the core essence of our business lends itself to so many innovations.

In the coming age of a myriad of new products these innovations will have both a feature as well as a functional orientation. Consequently the marketing of these products will be more focused on the demanding desires of the end consumer rather than the competitive nature of purchasing agents. This will shift the business model to one where profit margins will be proportional to the creativity, knowledge, and ambition of marketing and sales personnel rather than the traditional cost-plus structure. This, in essence, is today’s new playing field.

This situation may also provide a competitive advantage for large global glass makers even as we see a proliferation of regional players. While size alone does not create a sustainable advantage, it does provide necessary financial resources to nurture and develop new technologies. It also provides the operating leverage, stamina, and global presence to bring them to market. At the same time, it can be a double-edged sword: large, bureaucratic organizations not in sync with the market tend to lose the correct balance between research and manufacturing capability. And while small companies may not afford the technological research, big companies must decide on the direction of technology as well as the protection of their intellectual property.

Guardian is a diversified global manufacturing company headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, with leading positions in float glass, fabricated glass products, fiberglass insulation and other building materials for commercial, residential and automotive markets. Through its Science & Technology Center, Guardian is at the forefront of innovation including development of high performance glass coatings and other advanced products. Guardian, its subsidiaries and affiliates employ 19,000 people and operate facilities throughout North America, Europe, South America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

The showers enclosures we know and love today are a far cry from the backwoods shower heads that our ancestors used. Today, a modern home is built glamorizing its bathrooms with showers that are both very easily used and eye-catching. Showers have gone from curtains, to cheap thin plastic enclosures, to fiberglass inserts to high end, thick luxurious glass masterpieces.

Just like the automobile, the shower was originally threatened with the idea of introducing glass to the structure. The danger of possible breaking glass, especially in a shower, was a very scary thought for some to get over. But just like the automobile, showers provide both protection and safety.

Shower glass is made from tempered glass. This means that the glass is heated to extreme temperatures and then cooled very quickly. This provides both outer-layer strength and core strength to the glass.

Most shower glass is also laminated as well. Laminated glass has a thin layer of polyvinyl butyral between two layers of glass. This layer keeps the glass bonded if it is broken or cracked. If the glass shatters, it will not break up into large pieces. Instead, it will create a spider effect and remain together, like a car windshield does when it is hit by a rock.

This same laminated glass is used in store fronts, balconies, skylights and automotive windshields. Laminated glass has become one of the most important materials in our everyday lives. Most of the time, we do not even think about it.

Originally posted on www.usgnn.com

October 27, 2011

Guardian Industries is exhibiting at the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) World Workplace Conference and Expo this week in Phoenix. The event, which runs October 26-28 at the Phoenix Convention Center, is a conference designed for facility management and related professions.

Guardian is promoting its DiamondGuard high-endurance glass at the event, which is designed to resist scratching and also be highly transparent. Its interior applications include doors, wall panels, partitions, store fixtures, display cases, tabletops, cabinets, shelving, furniture and mirrors, according to company officials.

The glass is fused with the strength of carbon, according to Guardian, giving it an extremely low coefficient of friction to protect it from scratching, smudging and hazing. The company also utilizes a patented vacuum deposition process to enhance its scratch resistance—a process developed in response to the requests of facilities managers for a more durable glass product.

“Facility managers need high-quality durable products that last,” says Diane Turnwall, Guardian Interiors market segment director. “DiamondGuard stands up to everyday contact with items such as keys, jewelry, silverware, briefcases and handbags. Its performance in the real world redefines the possibilities for glass.”

DiamondGuard is part of the new Guardian InGlass brand.

Glass is used for many things these days. Architectural glass is used in buildings, interior glass is used to upscale a design, automobile glass is in our vehicles, and shower glass is in our bathrooms. One of the reasons that glass has all of these uses is because it is flat. It can fit into all of these applications and work.

The glass industry has been making flat glass since 1959. Believe it or not, manufacturers could not make a flat piece of glass before then. Sir Alaistair Pilkington invented what is called the float glass process in 1959. Glass would take on a whole new set of uses. Manufacturers have been using it ever since.

There are over 250 float-glass manufacturing plants in the world, and they produce around 95 percent of the flat glass which is used today. While each plant is different, they produce the glass in a similar manner.

The first step is batch mixing. Raw materials, which include silica sand, calcium, oxide, soda and magnesium, are weighed and mixed. The mixture is then placed into a furnace where it is melted at 1500° C. Cullet is used to reduce the consumption of natural gas while colorants are added in to for tinting and solar-radiation absorption properties. The melting process is the most important procedure in gaining high glass quality.

Next, the glass gets a float bath. The molten glass then flows from the glass furnace into a bath of molten tin in a continuous ribbon. The glass, which is highly gummy, and the tin, which is very fluid, do not mix and the contact surface between these two materials is made perfectly flat.

In the coating process, metal oxides are directly applied to the glass, while the glass is still hot, in the heat treatment lehr. When it leaves the bath of molten tin the glass has cooled down sufficiently to pass to a heat treatment healing chamber called a lehr. It is cooled until it is at room temperature. The glass then goes through a final inspection to make sure the glass is of the highest quality. Then it is cut and shipped.

A float glass manufacturing plant which operates non-stop makes about 3,728 miles of glass every year. The thickness ranges between 0.4mm to 25mm and in widths 3 meters wide.  One float line can be over a half mile long.

Article written by Ann Knapp

Originally posted on www.fxstd.com

A skill set that the glass making industry’s supply chain needs to acquire is a farmer’s instinct where one is able to separate the wheat from the chaff when evaluating the feasibility and viability of new product offerings.

Make no mistake about it; there will be an opportunistic and very profitable cadre of products for the astute customer. It will be up to each individual company to determine whether the new technology offering is a lemon or lemonade. This may be difficult because the future will not be an extrapolation of the past; nor will there be a clear line of demarcation. Trends will emerge from various parts of the globe as well as across industry migration. Since these new products and new markets will emerge at different “clock speeds” in each region of a country as well as the world, a global vision and awareness enhances and secures competitive advantage.

While everyone would like to be on the leading edge of this movement, there is the caveat of being too early and falling on the bleeding edge. There will be the tendency to over-hype new offerings with fuzzy jargons. This leaves the trade open for wild claims and illusions. It won’t take many failures or false starts to badly damage the image and reputation to our highly visible industry.

To cite a recent example, consider when segments of this industry introduced a new product. In hindsight, was it no maintenance glass, low maintenance, easier to clean, only works with distilled water, or when the sun is shining. The gap between what was promised and what is delivered defines not just a company’s credibility but also that of the entire industry. On the other hand, when great products are developed – and delivered in a timely manner to the marketplace–a great brand is created and a reputation generated that makes the next generation of product easier to bring to market.

While glass has been highly coveted for literally thousands of years, in a technological sense, this millennium will mark the renaissance of a new and different “glass age.”

As an example, it’s clear that the western economic model of fossil fuel based throwaway economy is not viable for the world. A new economic paradigm will be powered by renewable sources of energy and will recycle materials comprehensively. No sector of the global economy will be untouched by this environmental revolution. Already in some stock exchanges there are “green futures.” In this new economy, companies will be winners or losers. Those who participate in building the new economy will be the winners. Those who cling to the past risk becoming part of it.

The key to building a global economy for sustained economic progress is the creation of an honest marker to tell the ecological truth so that the market can allocate resources with total cost efficiencies. A properly defined green ideology will transcend politics — it will mobilize liberals, conservatives, businesses, and environmentalists on a common agenda.

One possible case in point is the pilot program proposed by the Clinton Foundation. As part of the organization, former U.S President Bill Clinton has created a coalition of 16 of the world’s biggest cities and five banks with a pledge is of up to $5 billion in loans to upgrade energy intensive heating, cooling, and lighting systems in older buildings. Four international energy service companies would certify and guarantee a 20 to 50 percent reduction in energy costs to pay back the loans with the accrued savings. In addition to saving money, it will make money, and create jobs while favorably affecting climate change.

Politically this program would not be a millstone on economies of rich nor developing countries while shrinking the world’s carbon footprint with a pro-growth policy. While climate change is a global predicament, it requires local action to make a real difference. Finally this would help redesign the materials segment of the economy so that Mother Nature is compatible with Father Greed since the throwaway economy will be but a passing aberration.

Guardian is a diversified global manufacturing company headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, with leading positions in float glass, fabricated glass products, fiberglass insulation and other building materials for commercial, residential and automotive markets.

Article written by Ann Knapp

Originally posted on www.fxstd.com

Like the case of safety, insulated, and low-e glasses, government law mandates most effective use of product acceptance. Unfortunately, the stagnant growth of wage roll employees and pandering politicians in developed economies are inspiring outcries of protectionism from globalization.

Certainly the most affected segment of the population is those with limited skills and tenure. However, public policies addressing the advantages to adding millions of consumers and disadvantaged people in poverty and terrorist regions far outweigh the shortcomings. This issue should be focused on retraining.

If you go green, what will it look like? Will it be solar? Will it be clean coal? Will it be ethanol or biodiesel? Are government subsidies required to supplement technology to make it economical to develop? How fickle is the public to taxation to promote subsidies? In the U.S., clean energy is gobbling up 10 percent of America’s venture capital. It is estimated that investment into this activity has doubled between 2004 and 2006 to $63 billion.

As an example, a detailed analysis on the real cost of gasoline, done by the International Center of Technology Assessment, estimates the indirect costs of subsidies, tax breaks, depletion allowances, security costs, climate change, and health care costs of treating respiratory illnesses amounts to about $9 per gallon – in addition to the current price of $3 to $6 in world prices. This additional cost to the state could be offset by a significant reduction in individual tax rates instead of being spent on excessive social and medical programs.

Currently almost all clean energy relies on government subsidies to make it competitive with fossil fuels. Therefore voters pay either way in direct subsidies or higher prices. Unfortunately, government subsidies are an unstable foundation on which to build a business since politicians are a vacillating lot.

This is especially true because people look at green products and technology as a bonus with bragging rights for owners.

But these same people are less willing to pay the difference in price since future savings is a non-starter. This tendency will change, of course, as energy prices rise and the price of technology falls. The cost of generating wind power, for example, has come down to less than half per kwh.

The first solar powered cells were over 65 times more expensive than they are today. While people may see a three-year payback, they can’t see beyond the benefits because people in the U.S. frequently move every five to seven years. Convincing data is not enough since final decisions are wallet driven. Even with the law of diminishing returns consumers will have a pecking order of upgrades that they are willing to pay for because green is still the color of money.

The price of oil hits the pocket of consumers in every non-energy producing country in the world. This influences greatly both manufacturing and transportation costs in Europe and the United States and will soon have an impact on China, India, and other oil-dependent regions. So something has to yield. In our industry, we have the opportunity to make a contribution – and it is the issues we discuss at meetings like this that set the tone and direction for solutions.

Are we in the glass business or are we in the environmental business and we just happen to make glass? The answer to this question will impact the future of our industry.

Guardian is a diversified global manufacturing company headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, with leading positions in float glass, fabricated glass products, fiberglass insulation and other building materials for commercial, residential and automotive markets.

Bird-watchers spend their time looking up hoping to see the flash of a yellow warbler or a scarlet tanager. Deborah A. Laurel, a volunteer for New York Audubon, spends her time looking at the ground.

During the weeks of the fall bird migration, Laurel is part of a dawn patrol that looks on the sidewalks and plazas of downtown Manhattan, searching for birds who have become victim of the city’s many glass towers. Recently, she found six dead birds that had flown into the plate-glass ferry terminal at the World Financial Center.

Laurel, an architect by trade, admits that we live in an age of glass. She also notes that architectural glass can be very beautiful the way it reflects light. The bigger and more glass there is the more grandiose.

New York is in a major area that migratory birds stopover on their way to the Atlantic coast. Estimations are that about 90,000 birds are killed by flying into buildings in New York City each year. Many times, the birds hit the lower levels of glass facades while looking for food. Some researchers say such crashes are the second-leading cause of death for migrating birds, and estimates are nationally, that a billion birds a year die in similar fashion.

Glass office and condominium towers have been on the rise for the last ten years. The goal is to make them less deadly to birds. The San Francisco Planning Commission has recently adopted bird-safety standards for new buildings. There is also legislation in Washington that would make it mandatory for federal buildings to incorporate bird-friendly designs.

A couple manufacturers are testing glass designs that will use ultraviolet signals visible only to birds. Opaque or translucent films, decals, dot patterns, shades, mesh screens — even nets — are the main options available. In the high-design world, these options are a tough sell.

Around 90 buildings in New York City participate in Lights Out New York, which is Audubon’s push to get buildings to turn off lights after midnight during the spring and fall migrations. Bright lights especially can attract and confuse birds, causing them to fly into the glass. Some cities, including Boston, Chicago and Toronto also are trying the lights-out tactics.