Viking Company

Laminated Glass:

Laminated glass, often called "safety glass", consist of two lites of equal thickness bonded together with a plastic interlayer, or polyvinyl butyral (P.V.B.). In the event that the glass should break, the P.V.B. interlayer will allow the glass to remain in the skylight framing. Colored PVB's which allow a virtually unlimited range of color are incorporated in many skylights.

Insulated Glass:

Insulated glass consists of a 1/4" thick outer lite, over a 1/2" air space, over a laminated inner lite. Insulated glass is used in skylights and sloped glazing over a conditioned space. When energy efficiency is of paramount concern.

Annealed Glass:

Annealed glass is the state in which float glass becomes after it is poured from a molten state into a bed of molten tin. This glass is allowed to solidify, and then is cooled under controlled conditions which turns the glass into an annealed state. This glass is rarely used in sloped glazing.

Tempered Glass:

Tempered glass is produced by heating annealed glass to approximately 1150 degree F, then cooling the glass rapidly by blowing air on both surfaces of the glass simultaneously. Tempered glass is about four times as strong as annealed glass of the same size and thickness. When tempered glass is broken, it breaks into very small pieces. One problem that exists with tempered glass is spontaneous breakage; the glass will break for no apparent reason. Spontaneous breakage occurs when nickel sulfide stones increase in size due to repeated heating and cooling.

Heat Strengthened Glass:

The heat strengthened glass process is similar to that of tempered glass. The annealed glass is heated to approximately 1100 degrees F, but the cooling process is slower than that for tempered glass. Heat strengthened glass is about twice as strong as annealed glass of the same size and thickness. One of the benefits of heat strengthened glass is that it is far less susceptible to spontaneous breakage. Due to this, we recommend to use of heat strengthened glass for skylights.

Low-E Coated Glass:

Low-E coatings are metallic-oxide coatings that are applied to the interior surface of the glass, which is invisible to the naked eye. Low-E coatings reflect the "long" infrared (IR) portion of sunlight, which is the radiant heat portion. Depending upon which surface of the glass on to which it is applied, it can keep radiant heat from entering, or escaping a building. There are two types of Low-E coatings, Pyrolitic or Sputter coat. In Pyrolitic coatings the metallic-oxide coating is applied directly to the hot glass. Sputter coat Low-E coatings are applied through the use of a vacuum chamber filled with gas, to which an electrical charge is induced. Due to the application process, Sputter coatings offer better performance numbers, and can be applied to tinted glass.

Reflective Coated Glass:

Reflective coatings are similar to that of low-E coatings, except that it has a "mirror" like appearance. Also, reflective coatings have a low shading coefficient and visible light transmittance.

Tinted Glass:

Tinted glass is used to reduce the amount of direct sunlight and glare that enters a building. Tinted glass is available in many different colors; green, grey, bronze and blue-green are standard colors which are most readily available. Premium colors included blue, Evergreen and Azurlite.

Ceramic Frit Coated Glass:

Ceramic frits are often applied to glass to produce architectural enhancing features to skylights. Ceramic frits can help to reduce glare, and decrease solar transmission. The ceramic material is silkscreened on to the glass, and then is heat fired to the glass. The patterns can range from a simple dot pattern to a one of a kind custom pattern. The frits are also available in a wide range of colors. Please note that the maximum lite size of most frit patterns is 60" x 120".