Uses of Glass in Modern Construction: Benefits and Types Explained

Glass has become a very essential material in modern construction. Due to its esthetic appearance and functional benefits, glass becomes one of the most crucial components of modern architecture. 

In this blog, you will learn about the uses of glass in construction, its benefits, and types normally used.

Application of glass in construction 

As technology advances, the applications of glass in construction continue to expand. From functional uses like windows and doors to advanced technologies like smart glass and solar glass and whatnot.

Windows and Doors

Glass windows and doors are fundamental in any building. They allow natural light to enter the building interior, which not only reduces artificial lighting consumption but also adds to interior comfort.

They also allow ventilation and outside views, enabling a better relationship with the outdoors.

Curtain Walls

They provide structural support, tightness against weather conditions, and aesthetic appeal.

Notably, curtain walls also enable energy efficiency due to provisions for controlled daylight penetration and are designed to reduce significant heating and cooling loads.

Spandrel glass

Basically, a spandrel is a portion or part of a curtain wall system. In a multi-story building, it also entails the floor slabs and covers, concealing structural components of a building like vents, columns, floors, HVAC systems, and plumbing. They are often fabricated with opaque glass, metal panels, or stone.

Their application offers aesthetic continuity and may be insulated to improve the thermal performance of buildings.

Skylights

It gives another level of an aesthetic and a cool look to your house. Skylights are a type of windows installed in the roofing to let in natural light into a building’s interior areas where it is totally impossible to fit in conventional windows.

In glass roof houses, skylights are particularly popular, adding to the design by allowing more light and ventilation. They reduce energy costs and, in addition, could offer ventilation where they are operable. Skylights are particularly popular in residential, commercial, and industrial buildings.

Additionally, they also provide passive solar heating and reduce the cost of heating in colder climates.

Glass Floors and Staircases

Glass used for flooring and staircases create open appearances and are modern look that add to architectural designs. They are used in both residential and commercial settings. They enhance the visual appeal and allow light to penetrate into multiple levels of a building.

Facades

Glass facades in exterior completely change the appearance of building, making it more attractive. These are used in modern architecture to create a sleek, contemporary look for buildings. Unlike other type of glass, it provides thermal insulation, soundproofing, and weather resistance while allowing ample natural light to enter the building.

A proper combination with other materials like metal or stone creates unique and visually striking designs for buildings.

Types of glass for construction

Annealed Glass

Annealed glass  is commonly used for windows and doors in both residential and commercial buildings, as well as for interior partitions that do not require additional strength or safety features. It is produced by slowly cooling molten glass to remove internal stresses, resulting in a smooth, flat surface

It has moderate strength and can be easily cut and processed. It is typically available in thicknesses ranging from 3 mm to 19 mm.

Float glass

Float glass, also called soda lime glass or clear glass is widely used in various applications, including canopies, shop fronts, glass blocks, railing partitions, display cases, and furniture. 

It is produced by floating molten glass on a bed of molten metal, typically tin, which results in a clear and flat surface. Its modulus of rupture is 5,000-6,000 psi. It is available in standard thicknesses ranging from 2mm to 20mm. By its chemical composition, it consists of 72% silica, about 14% of soda, around 10% of lime, and minor amounts of other compounds. It is also a base material for further processing into tempered, laminated, and coated glass products. Due to its high transparency, it can cause glare. It is used in making canopies, shop fronts, glass blocks, railing partitions, etc.

Tempered Glass

Tempered glass is created by heating annealed glass to approximately 620 degrees Celsius and then rapidly cooling it. This increases its strength by about four to five times compared to annealed glass. 

This makes it highly tough and is thus used very widely in shower doors, glass doors, and automotive side and rear windows. The strength in tempered glass is high from the tempering process, and upon breakdown, it shatters into small blunt pieces to ensure low injury.

Laminated Glass

Laminated glass is composed of two or more glass panes bonded together by an interlayer—usually made from polyvinyl butyral (PVB) or ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA). This construction ensures that, when broken, the glass retains its fragments, providing enhanced safety and security.

This form of laminated glass is widely used in safety glazing applications, which take in skylights, overhead glazing, and railings, and also in security glazing applications, for example, bank teller windows and display cases. Laminated glass comes with tuned strength plus extra acoustic insulation and UV protection.

The thickness of laminated glass, therefore, varies depending on the number of glass layers and the thickness of the interlayer, which makes it a versatile choice for many various safety and security needs.

Extra clean glass

This type of glass is hydrophilic i.e. The water moves over them without leaving any marks and photocatylitic i.e. they are covered with Nanoparticles that attack and break dirt making it easier to clean and maintain.

Chromatic glass

This type of glass can control daylight and transparency effectively. These glass are available in three forms- photochromatic (light sensitive lamination on glass), thermochromatic (heat sensitive lamination on glass) and electrochromatic (light sensitive glass the transparency of which can be controlled by electricity switch.) It can be used in meeting rooms and ICUs

IGUs

It is composed of two or more glass panes separated by an air space and hermetically sealed at the edges. The space between the panes may additionally be filled with an inert gas like argon or krypton to enhance the thermal performance.

IGUs are frequently installed into energy-efficient windows for residential and non-residential applications, to afford comfortable degrees of thermal insulation. They are also fitted into curtain walls to offer energy efficiency through large glass facades. 

Technical specifications for IGUs include very low thermal conductivity, hence greatly enhancing energy efficiency.

Tinted glass

It has added colorants that absorb some of the sunshine. It helps in the reduction of glare and solar gain. It thus eases the amount of solar exposure entering the building and thus, to a large extent, will assist in the reduction of cooling loads.

Tinted glass is also popular in car glass to offer comfort and privacy. In terms of technical specifications, tinted glass has a variable visible light transmittance (VLT) based on the class of tint, and a lower solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) compared to clear glass, which duly reduces the ingress of heat.

Advantages of Using Glass in Buildings

• Reducing the need for artificial lighting and energy consumption, glass allows daylight to penetrate the building. Advanced glazing, including Low-E coatings and insulated glass units, improves thermal insulation, thus reducing heating and cooling costs.

• Due to excellent sound insulation, guaranteed by the dampening of sound vibrations by the laminate, it is compatible with all noisy areas, which is more appreciable in urban environments, ensuring comfort in acoustics within a building.

 • Glass can also be designed to meet particularly individual needs through various colors, textures, and finishes to create a tailor-made style suitable for customer wants.

Conclusion

Beyond its aesthetic allure, glass offers remarkable versatility. The adaptability makes it an essential material in both residential and commercial architecture. In urban landscapes crowded with steel and concrete, glass introduces lightness and fluidity, bridging the gap between the built environment and the natural world. The future of construction will undoubtedly see glass taking on even more significant roles, integrating advanced technologies like smart glass that can adapt to our needs in real-time. 

Properties of glass

Transparency: 

This property allows visual connection with the outside world. Its transparency can be permanently altered by adding admixtures to the initial batch mix. By the advent of technology clear glass panels used in buildings can be made opaque. (Electro chromatic glazing)

U value:

The U-value is the measure of how much heat is transferred through the window. The lower the U-value the better the insulation properties of the glass– the better it is at keeping the heat or cold out.

Strength: 

Glass is a brittle material but with the advent of science and technology, certain laminates and admixtures can increase its modulus of rupture( ability to resist deformation under load). 

Greenhouse effect: 

The greenhouse effect refers to circumstances where the short wavelengths of visible light from the sun pass through glass and are absorbed, but the longer infrared re-radiation from the heated objects are unable to pass through the glass. This trapping leads to more heating and a higher resultant temperature.

Workability: 

It is capable of being worked in many ways. It can be blown, drawn or pressed. It is possible to obtain glass with diversified properties- clear, colorless, diffused and stained. Glass can also bewelded by fusion.

Recyclable: 

Glass is 100% recyclable, cullets (Scraps of broken or waste glass gathered for re-melting) are used as raw materials in glass manufacture, as aggregates in concrete construction etc.

Solar heat gain coefficient: 

It is the fraction of incident solar radiation that actually enters a building through the entire window assembly as heat gain.

Visible transmittance: 

Visible transmittance is the fraction of visible light that comes through the glass. 

Energy efficiency and acoustic control: 

Energy-efficient glazing is the term used to describe the double glazing or triple glazing use in modern windows in homes. Unlike the original single glazing or old double glazing, energy-efficient glazing incorporates coated (low-emissivity) glass to prevent heat escaping through the windows. The air barrier also enhances acoustic control.

FAQs

How does glass contribute to energy efficiency in buildings?

Energy-efficient glass, such as double-glazed or low-emissivity (low-E) glass, reduces heat transfer, keeping buildings cooler in summer and warmer in winter. This lowers energy consumption for heating and cooling, making buildings more sustainable.

The glazing of our production is several times superior to the solutions presented on the market.

Options for other translucent materials

Polycarbonate

This elastic is 300 times stronger than glass, is resistant to most chemicals, is twice as lighter than class, has high abrasion and impact resistance. It can transmit as much light as glass without many distortions. Applications include window, green house glazing etc.

Acrylic 

Acrylic is made of thermo plasticsis weather resistant, is 5 times stronger than glass but is prone to scratches. It has excellent optics, is softer than glass but can accumulate a lot of dust. This is extensively used in to make playhouses, green house etc.

GRP panels 

GRP is manufactured by combining hundreds of glass strands together using a pigmented thermosetting UV resin.Glass-reinforced plastics are also used to produce house building components such as roofing laminate, canopies etc. The material is light and easy to handle. It is used in the construction of composite housing and insulation to reduce heat loss.

ETFE

Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene is a plastic with high strength and corrosion resistance. It has high energy radiation resistance properties, it is strong, self cleaning and recyclable.The versatility of glass keeps on increasing as scientists find new applications to this wonder material. Glass is now being used in the building industry as insulation material, structural component, external glazing material, cladding material; it is used to make delicate looking fenestrations on facades as well as conventional windows. With the advent of green technology in construction, glass is constantly undergoing transformation. Solar power glass, switchable glass projection screens are a few of the newer uses. This is one material to look out for!