The surface compression gives the glass generally higher resistance to breakage than annealed glass. Heat-strengthened and fully-tempered glass are heat-treated glass products, heated and quenched in such a way to create residual surface compression in the glass. On the downside, annealed glass breaks into sharp, dangerous shards. Because it is not heat-treated and therefore not subject to distortion typically produced during glass tempering, it has good surface flatness. Annealed glass is the most commonly used architectural glass. The following covers brief descriptions of commonly used glass and glazing components:Īrchitectural glass comes in three different strength categories. This glazing Chapter is complementary to the other fenestration sections of the Design Guide. The vast majority of new windows, curtain walls and skylights for commercial building construction have insulating glazing for energy efficiency and comfort. The development of the float glass process in the 1950s allowed the economical mass production of high quality flat glass and virtually all architectural glass is now produced by this process. Glass has been used for thousands of years to allow daylight into our buildings, while providing weather protection.
