Hot Topics - What's New in Specialty Glass & Framing

Hot Topics - What's New in Fire-Rated Glass & Framing

TGP is pleased to announce the launch of our newly redesigned product Web sites, fireglass.com and tgpamerica.com.

Our new sites offer state-of-the-art interactive features that provide a streamlined process for accessing information about our fire-rated products (fireglass.com) and architectural products (tgpamerica.com), education on specs and industry standards, and simple steps to purchase glazing product solutions.

Additionally, we are currently developing online continuing education courses registered with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and we are creating selectivity between English and Spanish languages to deliver information to our Hispanic customers. These two features will be available on our sites in the coming weeks.

We invite you to check out our new Web sites and see for yourself how they can help you generate product ideas for your next project, develop and obtain glazing solutions for your customers, and obtain accurate information about our high quality products.

Download free desktop calendar.

Attend a local lunch presentation on daylighting design or fire-glazing and framing and receive 1 AIA HSW Learning Unit Credit.

Fire-Rated Product Alert!

When something as important as life safety is at stake, it is critical to know as much as possible about the products you choose to install. If you're considering using SuperLite I-XL™ tempered and coated glass in a fire-rated opening, be aware that it does not meet critical testing standards. Click here for more information.

Nationwide Pool of FireLite® Distributors Grows

Now it's easier than ever for your projects to use the #1 wireless fire-rated glazing - FireLite glass ceramic - thanks to local distribution throughout North America. In the coming months, the following new locations will begin partnering with TGP to offer clear and wireless FireLite: ACI Denver, ACI Miami, Insulite Glass Co. (Olathe, Kansas), and Karas & Karas (South Boston, Massachusetts). To find a FireLite distributor near you, call TGP at 1-800-426-0279, or e-mail us at sales@fireglass.com.

Discovery World Museum Case Study:
Fire-Rated Glass and Frames Help Architects Meet Life Safety Requirements with Beauty and Elegance

Milwaukee's Discovery World is an interactive, lively museum where children and families learn about a variety of technological, cultural and environmental topics. The museum exhibits seek to weave together the human and natural world, and the building itself was designed to reflect that goal. Located on Pier Wisconsin overlooking Lake Michigan, Discovery World forms a link between the water and land, offering sweeping views of the lake and the city.

A key feature of the building complex is a 7,150-square-foot circular "pilot house" built over the water, which includes banquet and conference facilities with 360-degree views. Late in the design process, the museum requested a substantial change, calling for the elevator core in the pilot house to be changed from a walled-in configuration, to an open configuration using glass. This design element was very important to the museum, as it would allow for views of the lake and city skyline from the elevator, while also allowing visitors to see the elevator's mechanical systems.

The challenge faced by the architects, Hammel, Green and Abrahamson (HGA), Inc., Milwaukee, was how to provide glazing for the elevator shaft that would meet the aesthetic needs of the project, while also meeting fire and building code requirements. The glazing needed to do double duty: be clear, wireless and match as closely as possible to the building's exterior curtainwall system, and provide up to two hours of protection from flames and smoke.

Read more about how HGA solved this design challenge...

TGP Introduces SteelBuilt Curtainwall™ Systems

Architects and designers now have a better way to incorporate large expanses of glass in building designs. Used for wall facades and roofs, SteelBuilt Curtainwall Systems are strong and slim, allowing larger spans of glazing than traditional aluminum framing. The result is greater expanses of exposed glass and increased ability to bring natural light indoors.

The high strength of the European-designed SteelBuilt Curtainwall Systems means that a narrower frame profile can be used than with aluminum framing, while at the same time allowing larger sizes of glass. The steel framing members have substantially lower deflection than aluminum, providing three times the wind load capacity. In addition, the lower thermal expansion of steel allows greater design flexibility with fewer or no extension profiles.

The SteelBuilt Curtainwall Systems use a "plug and screw" connection system for the framing components, which provides for crisp corner joints without a visible weld bead. The systems are watertight and the low heat transfer coefficient of steel helps ensure less interior condensation (sweating) on frames. To learn more, contact us at sales@fireglass.com.

Expand Design Options with Tempered and Enameled Channel Glass

In applications requiring safety glazing, architects and designers now have more options to use the Pilkington Profilit™ channel glass system. Pilkington Profilit is now available tempered in full lengths up to 23 feet from the factory, and post-factory tempering of shorter lengths for quick lead-time projects also continues to be available.

In addition, a new enameling option for Pilkington Profilit further enhances design flexibility and choice by incorporating a wide range of RAL-colors. The enameled channel glass is well suited for striking colored accents in building designs.

The Pilkington Profilit line of products is an exciting alternative to glass block and other translucent materials. The glazing system consists of unique, self-supporting, "U"-shaped glass channels and an extruded metal perimeter frame. The end result is a wall, façade or partition without vertical or horizontal supports, except the framing. A variety of colors and textures with varying translucency allow for the passage of natural light, without loss of privacy, in many versions of the product.

The frame and sills of the Pilkington Profilit glazing system can easily be shaped to form walls with virtually any number of curves. The glass channels can be installed vertically or horizontally and used in interior or exterior applications.

Request for Photography

If you have a recent project that incorporated our products (such as Pilkington Pyrostop™, Fireframes®, FireLite® family of products, Pilkington Profilit™ or Neoparies®), we would like to see it. Simply e-mail snapshots and a brief description to photos@fireglass.com. Your work could be featured in a case study in Hot Topics or in a national publication.

Oceanaire® Seafood Room Case Study:
Channel Glass Creates Evocative Focal Point for Upscale Seafood Restaurant

Famous for its high-end department stores, specialty shopping and quality restaurants, the Galleria Mall in Houston, Texas, is the city's top shopping and tourist destination, attracting more than 24 million visitors each year.

In a city with many world-class eating establishments, capturing the attention of diners is critical for a restaurant's success. When the Oceanaire Seafood Room decided to open in the Galleria, they recognized that exceptional architecture goes with exceptional food in creating a memorable dining experience.

The challenge facing the project architects was to create a dramatic presence and a focal point for the restaurant on the outside corner of a very large shopping mall. This was made more difficult by the restaurant's surroundings - a large expanse of building with a flat, plain façade.

Read more about how the architects used channel glass to attract diners...

Lead Glass Provides Increased Protection for Hospital and Medical Facility Workers

To help protect medical workers who use radioactive substances in diagnosing and treating illness, TGP is pleased to offer Pro-GR lead glass. Pro-GR is an ultra-high lead content glass suitable for shielding gamma rays generated during medical imaging such as PET (Positron Emission Tomography) and CT (Computed Tomography) scans.

Pro-GR lead glass contains approximately 70 percent lead oxide, which is equivalent to the ultra-high lead content block glass used in nuclear power facilities. The product's manufacturer - Nippon Electric Glass Company, LTD - has evaluated Pro-GR's shielding capability for both primary and scattered gamma rays. Their test results indicate that a 14.2 mm-thick piece of Pro-GR lead glass provides gamma ray shielding comparable to a 5 mm-thick sheet of lead.

In addition to shielding medical workers from gamma rays, Pro-GR lead glass provides needed visibility of medical imaging operations. It transmits 83 percent of visible light, offering excellent visibility.

Technical Glass Products
600 6th Street South
Kirkland, WA 98033
1-800-426-0279
Fax: 1-800-451-9857
Email: sales@fireglass.com

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