Definition
The curtain wall is an outer covering of a building in which the outer walls are non-structural, utilized only to keep the weather out and the occupants in. It can be a glass curtain wall, aluminum panel curtain wall, stone curtain wall, or composite curtain wall, etc.
Different Systems
Glass curtain wall systems can be Component curtain wall, United curtain wall, Point-supported curtain wall, Full glass curtain wall, Double-skin curtain wall, Photoelectric curtain wall, Steel structure curtain wall.
Glass Concerns & Solutions
Spontaneous Breakage
Concern: Self-explosion is the biggest drawback of tempered toughened glass.
Solution: Heat-strengthened glass or tempered laminated glass can be used.
Loads
Concern: Dead load, wind load, seismic load, snow load, thermal load, etc.
Solution: Thicker glass has strong load resistance than thinner glass, however, it increases the weight pressure of the building. Laminated glass with thicker PVB or SGP structural interlayers laminated glass can be used to improve the load resistance of glass.
Deflection
Concern: Toughened glass deflection happens during the tempering process.
Solution: Local warp/roller wave smaller than 2.4mm/300mm. Overall bow smaller than 3mm/1meter. Finished tempered glass quality strictly according to ASTM C1036 & BS EN 12150 heat-treated toughened glass standard.
Thermal Performance
Concern: Compared with the high heat transfer of aluminum or low heat transfer of stone, glass is perfect for thermal transfer. Thermal conductivity is also known as the U value. It is very important because heat loss affects the HVAC costs of the whole building.
Solution: The lower the U value, the lower the heat transfer. Double silver Low-E and triple silver Low-E double glazing are ideal for commercial and residential buildings in all climates.
Condensation
Concern: Condensation happens when big temperature difference on the glass curtain walling. Especially in high latitude areas.
Solution: Elite double glazing has an incredibly low condensation point to minus 80 degrees, it is widely used in all the areas around the globe.
Light Pollution
Concern: Some reflective glass has a very high reflectance over 40%, which generates serious light pollution for the surrounding area.
Solution: We should adopt low reflective coefficient glass under 20% to solve the problem.
Fire Safety
Concern: It is fatal for people if a fire happens inside the building, so fire-proof performance is becoming more and more critical in modern building design.
Solution: Use single-piece high borosilicate fireproof glass or composite laminated glass fireproof glass with nano-silicate fire-resistant glue or fire-resistant material inside. The fire-resistant glass has 90 minutes, 120 minutes, or even 180 minutes fire-proof function, thus create enough time for people to evacuate.
Conclusion
There are more glass options except for toughened glass, heat-strengthened glass, and double glazing curtain walls.
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