EXPERT INSIGHTS

All Expert Insights

Understanding the Pros and Cons of Ballistic Glass

Devin Bowman, General Manager, Technical Glass Products

For many education, government and commercial projects, enhancing building security has become a higher priority goal as project owners evaluate multiple ways of keeping occupants safe. Design teams have several avenues for improving and layering security measures, including the use of security-rated glazing systems. This type of glass creates a barrier against a range of threats, from forced entry and vandalism to ballistic attacks and more.

Under the security-rated glazing umbrella, ballistic glazing passes the UL Solutions (UL) testing standard UL 752, which documents a system’s ability to withstand ballistic attack. Ballistic-rated systems are categorized into specific levels based on firearm and round caliber to meet different types of threat.

Ballistic-rated glazing and other security-rated glass can help project teams achieve safer school designs and more secure buildings in general. Each type offers different protections, and neither is inherently more or less secure than the other.

If a project’s design and security goals would benefit from the use of ballistic glass, specifiers may not know their options for incorporating these systems—or what limitations may exist. The following three questions provide initial information for using bullet-resistant glass within a safer building design.

How can ballistic glass enhance building security?

Ballistic glass is intended to prevent bullet penetration according to the UL 752 ballistic test standard. As such, it can be a crucial barrier between occupants and attackers during active shooter events, whether that is to delay violent threats from reaching occupants or as a ballistic shield.

However, strategically incorporating ballistic glass into a design is quite nuanced. Not every opening would benefit from bullet-resistant glass. Sometimes, forced-entry rated systems, or even non-rated systems with durable locking hardware, may be more appropriate, given tiered recommendations from the Partner Alliance for Safer Schools (PASS) and the International Code Council (ICC). Further security-rated systems are often more expensive than non-rated glazing systems, so their efficient use is often necessary for maximizing results without exceeding project budgets.

While there are commonly cited openings that may benefit from ballistic glass, like entrances, customer service areas and safe rooms, determining the most beneficial places for these products is often project-specific and can depend on recommendations from security experts based on risk statistics, other security measures in place and the design’s overarching goals.

Building professionals can streamline the process of effectively enhancing security with a collaborative approach that involves designers, project owners, security professionals and manufacturers of security-rated products.

Are there limitations to ballistic glazing design?

Today’s ballistic glass options have sidelined many limitations of this material—especially in terms of incorporating it into multifunctional, fire-rated assemblies, which defend against both security threats and fire, smoke and radiant heat.

That said, it is important to note that ballistic glass is heavier and often thicker than non-rated glazing. Depending on the framing system used, designers may have limited glazing areas due to frame strength or larger-than-standard framing profile dimensions.

Roll-formed steel frames can help project teams maximize glazing areas and minimize framing profiles to expand design options and achieve a close visual match to non-rated systems, a key consideration given the strategic use of ballistic glazing to enhance building security.

Can ballistic glazing be customized for specific architectural designs?

Due to the project-based nature of enhanced security, ballistic glazing solutions are often inherently customizable—so long as they remain within a manufacturer’s material tolerances. For instance, ballistic glazing from Technical Glass Products (TGP) can be specified in openings with exposed glazing areas of nearly eight square feet, which expands the possibilities of its use within a safer building design.

Further, multifunctional, fire-rated glazing can help design teams solve challenges in applications where enhanced security goals and code requirements for fire and life safety overlap, for instance in fire doors along main corridors or in some secure entry vestibule designs. In these applications, incorporating bullet-resistant components into a fire-rated assembly may reduce or negate a system’s fire rating, unless components are compatible or the assembly has been tested to multiple standards, such as UL 752 and ASTM E119.

Like TGP’s fire-rated and non-rated glazing assemblies, these ballistic glass solutions are customized for each project to meet security goals and code requirements. Working with TGP can help project teams explore multiple options that push the boundaries of code-compliant, security-rated design.

Multiple security-rated glazing solutions meet specific project goals

Enhancing a building’s security, whether it is a school, government facility, commercial building or other occupancy type, may benefit from the use of ballistic glass. Likewise, project teams are encouraged to discuss the design, security goals and other considerations with security professionals to ensure they are using the most appropriate type of security-rated glazing in the most effective ways.

Because there is not currently an official standard or code requirement for enhancing security, selecting the right materials and systems to meet project goals can be a daunting task. But design teams do not have to navigate security improvements alone.

With a history of collaboration for both fire- and security-rated designs, TGP can support building professionals from the design phase through occupancy.