Reflective Glass

Reflective glass is designed to reflect solar heat and light and reduce glare and solar gain in a building – There is a wide range of reflective glass types and colours and properties vary widely.

Pyrolytic reflective glass has a metal oxide coating that is applied on line during the float manufacturing process. The coating is very hard and durable and so can be glazed to either the external (surface 1) or internal surfaces (surface 2). It has the further advantage that it can be processed and cut like standard float glass. The other names for this process are ‘on line’ and ‘hard coat’ reflective glass.

Sputtered coat reflective glass has metal particles deposited onto the surface of the glass in a vacuum chamber. In general, sputtered coat surfaces have better solar control than pyrolytic glass. Sputtered coats are often called ‘soft coats’ because they are more susceptible to damage and so special care must be taken during processing and glazing. These are often toughened or heat-treated, increasing the lead time and costs when compared to pyrolytic coatings.