What Is Reflective Glass?
What Is Reflective Glass?
Reflective glass is clear or tinted glass that has a very thin layer of metal or metallic oxide on the surface. The reflective coating is applied during the float process to enhance the amount of heat reflected by the glass.
Reflective glass can absorb and reflect harmful UV and infrared rays from the sun while allowing natural visible light to pass through. It also prevents excessive solar glare.
Reflective glass is used primarily to combat rising energy consumption by blocking solar heat and glare from entering buildings.
It is used in structural facade glazing, green sustainable elements, and for its high performance against heat ingress and visual appeal.
Reflective glass gives a building a mirror-like appearance. The coatings are available in silver, copper, gold, and earth tone. They can be combined with tinted glass to give a building a beautiful exterior.
Reflective glass reduces variations in temperature inside buildings by reflecting and absorbing the sun’s rays, which can save money in heating and air-conditioning costs.
One of the major benefits of reflective glass is that it is heatproof. Not only is it beautiful to look at, but it is also energy efficient.
Reflective glass has a special metallic coating that makes it possible to see out while preventing people from seeing in during daylight hours for privacy purposes.
How Does Reflective Glass Work?
Reflective glass is a type of glass that has a thin layer of metallic or metallic oxide coating on one side.
This coating reflects longer-wavelength infrared light, which helps to reduce the amount of heat that flows into a building.
Reflective glass also absorbs and reflects the sun’s harmful UV and infrared rays while allowing natural visible light to pass through.
As reflective glass impacts Visible Light Transmittance (VLT), it reduces solar glare but allows natural light to flood in.
Reflective glass windows are usually coated with a thin layer of metallic glazing that has heat-reflecting properties.
This coating prevents solar radiation through selective spectral filtering, allowing only natural sunlight to pass through.
Reflective glass windows also provide filtering of harmful solar radiation, offering excellent glare management.
The unique metallic coating on reflective glass windows blocks external heat from entering indoors and sustains a favorable temperature for occupants.
Reflective glass is used primarily in architectural designs as green solutions to combat rising energy consumption by blocking solar heat and glare from entering inside buildings.
It can be used in conservatories, skylights, curtain walls, facades, and other applications where energy efficiency is important. Reflective glass comes in various color and style options.
Where Is Reflective Glass Used?
Reflective glass is used in a variety of applications, both interior and exterior. Exterior applications include commercial façades, shopping malls, educational institutions, stand-alone storefronts, air traffic control towers, restaurants, hotel rooms, petrol bunk windows.
Interior applications include picture framing, display cabinets, display windows, tabletops.
Reflective glass is primarily used to combat the rising rate of energy consumption by blocking solar heat and glare from entering inside.
It also provides UV and IR protection and prevents excessive solar glare. Reflective glass also offers aesthetic benefits such as color flexibility and privacy benefits.
What Are the Benefits of Reflective Glass?
Reflective glass offers several benefits for building design. It allows optimal light into a space while reducing glare from the sun, which eliminates the need for blinds and other window coverings.
Reflective glass can also reflect incoming radiant heat energy to keep HVAC costs low.
Reflective glass is available in a variety of reflectivity options and energy cost-saving low-e coatings.
Tinted reflective glass allows for optimal light filtration and color neutrality, so it can be coordinated with a building’s framing, including spandrels, metal panels, and even stonework.
The special metallic coating applied to reflective glass lets visitors and employees take advantage of spectacular views but prevents those outside the building from seeing in.
Reflective glass also impacts visible light transmittance (VLT). It allows just the right amount of natural light into a building while reducing glare from direct sun, which eliminates the need for blinds and other window coverings.
Reflective glass makes it possible to see out while preventing people from seeing in during the day. In addition, reflective glass makes it possible to hide computer wires, vents, fans, HVAC components, and other building mechanicals.
Reflective glass reflects away a greater amount of heat as well as harmful ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) rays that can damage furnishings like upholstery.
Reflective glass has wide applications in interior and exterior designs. It is widely used in bathrooms, dressing rooms, living rooms in interior design.
In exterior design applications include commercial buildings facades to increase their aesthetics.cleaners, scouring pads or other harsh materials should not be used when dealing with high-performance reflective glasses like Low
Reflective Glass Vs Tinted Glass
Reflective glass and tinted glass are both types of heatproof glass that can be used to reduce the amount of solar heat that enters a building.
Tinted glass absorbs the sun’s energy to control radiation, while reflective glass reflects the sun’s energy away from the building.
Tinted glass is available in colors such as grey, green, bronze, and blue, while reflective glass is typically available in clear, neutral, green, grey, bronze and blue colors.
Reflective glass offers greater solar control than standard tinted float glass and can be used to create a specific visual appearance in a building.
Reflective window film installed on a glass pane will block up to 99% of UV rays and reject up to 80% of solar heat.
It also comes with anti-glare and color-enriched features that provide color neutrality and improved visibility.
