Clearview National June 2017 - Issue 187 | Page 77

GLASS&SEALEDUNITS
Where Are We Now
with Triple Glazing?
Super Spacer
Premium Plus
in a Triple
Glazed Unit
It’s been three years since Edgetech hosted the Triple
Glazing Question (TGQ) and brought together
delegates from the whole glazing supply chain.
» » AT TGQ, THERE WAS A
great argument made for using
‘clever doubles’ instead of triple
glazing. Especially as there were
concerns about the manufacturing
complexity of triple glazing and
lack of availability, for units and
appropriate profiles.
Head of Marketing at Edgetech
UK, Charlotte Davies reports:
“With such good performance
available from double glazed units,
it was argued that an extra pane
of glass wouldn’t necessarily be an
improvement.
“However, since TGQ we have
seen instances where the additional
Edgetech’s Super Spacer
Cushion Edge
thermal efficiency from triple
glazing is the better option, such as
in super insulated buildings, where
there are significant gains to be
made by choosing U-Values of 0.8
W/m2K — easily achievable with
triple glazing. Plus, the massive
increase recently in sales of bi-folds
and sliding doors, means that
there’s a lot more demand for big
units. Some of these can greatly
benefit from using triple glazing
also as with such vast expanses of
glass it can make a real difference
to the comfort levels in a room.”
It was confirmed at TGQ
that the centre pane should be
toughened
because it can
become very
hot within
triple units,
especially if
they are fitted in a
building in the full glare
of the sun. But the elevated
temperature can have other
ramifications too, as Charlotte
explains: “The temperature within
triple units can easily exceed the
maximum required of volatile
fog tests in current European
standards. This means there is a
risk of fog appearing within units
It’s Three Years Since The
Triple Glazing Question
from
spacers,
which are not compliant to
higher international standards,
giving off volatiles when
overheated. This isn’t a problem
for Super Spacer as it is installed
in units from Alaska to Dubai
and tested successfully from -15
to 125°C, so you can be sure
it will perform in UK triple
glazing.”
Other advances since TGQ
include developments in
automated IGU manufacturing
and the addition of profile
options to accommodate triple
glazed units by most window
systems companies.
www.edgetechig.co.uk
C L E A RV I E W-U K . C O M » J U N 2017 » 77