What is Hurricane Resistant Glass and How Does it Work?
In areas where hurricanes are prone, you will often have to install hurricane resistant doors as part of the architectural design. Areas like Miami Dade detail stringent rules that hurricane doors and windows have to comply to. Hurricane resistant doors and windows are designed and tested to withstand the harsh environments of a hurricane. These hurricane proof doors will include hurricane resistant glass. In order to be strong enough to withstand the winds and flying objects of a hurricane, hurricane resistant glass is a laminated glass. This laminated glass is used within the hurricane tested glass door to create a full glass barrier from the storm. Hurricane resistant glass has been designed and proven to stand up against the extreme weather of a hurricane including hard winds and storm thrown objects.
What is the difference between impact glass and hurricane glass?
All ‘safety glass’ is designed to withstand impacts and ensures that the glass units are not dangerous if they are broken. Tempered or toughened glass is a safety glass, and so is normal laminated glass. But tempered glass on its own is not strong enough to be classed as hurricane glass.
Although tempered glass is strong and can be used to protect against normal impacts, it is not strong enough to withstand the forces of a hurricane on its own. It requires additional specification and engineering to achieve that.
In order to achieve the strength required for the hurricane testing – such as Florida Building Code Test Protocols (TAS) – then the hurricane glass should be toughened and laminated. This layering of the impact resistant glass creates an even stronger glass product that can be used to create hurricane resistant glass doors with minimal frames.
The glass used in the hurricane proof glass doors from IQ is toughened laminated with a strengthening interlayer within the glass. This high level of glass specification creates a robust hurricane resistant glass layer. A toughened laminated layer of hurricane glass is used on the outside face of the glass sliding doors to create a clear glass layer that has been proven to withstand the forces of a hurricane (tested to TAS 201, 202 and 203).
How thick should hurricane impact glass be?
Hurricane impact glass doesn’t have to be as thick as you imagine it would need to be. The thickness of a hurricane resistant glass panel will depend on the larger requirements of the build and how the glass is going to be used.
Is the hurricane glass going to be a fixed glass panel? Will it be used within an opening window? Will it be used within a door?
Hurricane resistant glass has to be strong enough to remain in place during the course of a hurricane, protecting occupants and buildings from the perils of the storm. It has to be tested and shown to remain in situ during positive and negative air pressures, strong winds, cyclic winds, driving rains and impact from flying objects.
During the testing of IQ’s hurricane resistant glass door, we used a toughened laminated glass panel to the outer skin of the double-glazed unit with a toughened panel to the inside of the glass door. The resulting glass unit was 53.5mm deep, with a toughened laminated layer of glass to the outer skin of the unit.
This type of laminated glass construction is not only strong, but insulating, helping to regulate internal building temperatures and reduce energy demand on heating and cooling systems.
When this hurricane resistant glass is used within a slim door system like Keller minimal windows, the result is a slim glass door system which is hurricane resistant.
Contact the team at IQ Glass International for more information about specifying hurricane resistant glass in your next project.