Window Glass Design 5 Serial Number
Adrian Rocher
Window Glass Design performs all required calculations to design window glass according to ASTM E1300-09, ASTM E1300-12 and ASTM E1300-16. The Glass Association of North America (GANA) endorses Window Glass Design as being the best tool available to aid in designing window glass to resist wind and long-term loadings. Members of the GANA technical council served in program development and each now uses a copy of the program.
A poorly designed or installed window, or a window made with inferior materials like vinyl, may not be energy efficient regardless of the number of panes of glass. Materials shrink and expand with cold/heat cycles and seals can begin to fail. Once seals fail, the energy efficiency the windows claimed when new is greatly reduced, regardless of how many panes of insulated glass you have. Ask your window professional to help select the right package for your home and your climate.
We believe that the true number is closer to a billion, for several reasons. For one, data used in the study is now more than six years old, and there has been a steady increase in glass use since that time, increasing the likelihood of fatal collisions. In addition, we've learned that bird carcass reports tend to understate deaths, meaning that more dead birds go uncounted than we realized.
If you are designing a new building or replacing windows, consider the professional solutions favored by architects. Many of these elegant products have enjoyed long-standing popularity among architects for their aesthetic appeal alone. For more on designing a new building or replacing windows, visit the "Resources for Architects, Planners, and Developers" tab on our learn more page. Looking for inspiration? Check out our pdf slideshow of 44 bird-friendly buildings.
During the course of a year, migration periods bring the largest upticks in collisions, when huge numbers of birds stop to rest, often in unfamiliar areas where glass is common. Fall is worse than spring due to the larger number of birds in flight. This is because fall migration includes both adult birds and juveniles that were born over the summer. Spring migration includes only adults returning to breed.
Dr. Christine Sheppard is ABC's Bird Collisions Campaign Director. She earned her Ph.D. at Cornell University and worked as head of the Bronx Zoo's Ornithology Department before joining ABC. Since then, she has authored both editions of the ABC publication Bird-friendly Building Design. She created AIA/LEED continuing education classes on Bird-friendly Design, helped design San Francisco's Standards for Bird-safe Buildings, and has been involved in writing code and legislation in many different locations. Sheppard helped develop the USGBC LEED Pilot Credit 55: Reducing Bird Mortality. She was named an Engineering News-Record "Top 25 Newsmaker for 2014" because of her work on glass testing, and has worked with most major glass manufacturers on design and evaluation of bird-friendly materials.
Dr. Bryan Lenz is ABC's Bird Collisions Campaign Manager. He earned his Ph.D. at Tulane University and worked as the Director of the Community Conservation program at Bird City Wisconsin, and as the Chief Scientist at the Western Great Lakes Bird & Bat Observatory. At ABC, Bryan works to reduce the collision threat that the built environment, especially glass, poses to birds. His work incorporates research, design, legislation, building codes, education, outreach, and marketing.
The first rule in cutting glass is you have to start and end the cut at the edge of the glass. This means you can not start or stop part way in the glass. This is why Stained Glass has the look that it does. All those extra lines you see are for a reason, though I don't want you to get lazy and just add a bunch of extra lines and cuts if you don't need it in your design.
The important thing I want to point out with glass types is that those 3 categories blend into each other. You will see some glass called Opalescent, which means it is something in between opal and translucent. Just make sure you are getting what you want. You don't want to make a panel, only to hold it up to the light and realize one type of glass won't let light through, and throw off the composition of the window. If you intent to do that- great! Just know what you are after.
When thinking about strength, there is the issue of reinforcing. Old windows were reinforced with rebar and most folks don't like how that might look. Today you can get a product called strong line, and put that inside areas of the panel to make it rigid. If your panel is larger than 24" you should consider a zinc frame- that is stronger than copper foil or lead came. The thing that creates the most weakness in any stained glass panel is called a hinge joint. A hinge joint is where a line in your design flows uninterrupted from one side of the panel to the other. This creates a point of weakness and the panel will want to "fold" along that line with gravity. You can strengthen any line with strong line, or better yet, interrupt the line so it doesn't flow all the way across the panel. You can keep the line flowing across, but where other lines intersect- have those lines interrupt the longer ones.
When it comes time to solder your project, you have a few choices. There is lead free solder, 50/50, 60/40, and 63/37, to name a few. The number refers to how much lead vs. tin is in the mixture. In general, the more lead present, the easier it is to solder, and the least amount of heat needed. The temperature required to do this is usually between 500 degrees and 700 degrees. This is why you need a good soldering iron, and not one from the hardware store meant to solder tiny circuits. You should also solder in a well-ventilated area and never solder in flip flops or sandals (drips of melted metal- ouch!) The technique to get a nice smooth bead is to have a clean soldering iron tip, achieved by cleaning it with a salamoniac block or brass brush, and lots of practice. In general you want to tack all your pieces in place so nothing moves, tin the area if using copper foil (thin coating), then build up to a nice rounded bead. Remember what we discussed earlier about tiny pieces? Beware! You cannot hold the soldering iron in one spot for too long or you will crack the glass. Get in, solder, and get out! If you need to fix a splotchy area, come back to it later.
You have to set the value for your refraction very low in the glass window material. The default works for wine glasses etc. But not for flat windows.
I find this tutorial helpful. He has some more about glass on his channel.
Window systems are comprised of glass panes, structural frames, spacers, and sealants. In recent years, the variety of glass types, coatings, and frames available for use in window systems has increased dramatically, as has the opportunity to fine-tune and optimize window selection on a project-by-project basis.
Coatings, usually in the form of metal oxides, can also be applied to glass during production. Some of these coatings, called "low-emissivity" or "low-e," help reduce radiant heat transfer between panes of glass by blocking some or all of the IR wavelengths. These coatings can dramatically lower the window U-factor.
When specifying windows performance, take care to specify "whole product performance values" for U-factor and SHGC. Use of "glass-only" U-factors should be avoided as they can be 10% to 40% better than the whole product value.
Glass causes a major threat to birds due to its transparency and reflectivity. When vegetation is reflected in the glass, birds are not able to distinguish between a real tree and its image.
See how Walker Glass can help you to prevent birds from hitting windows.
The reports we receive from staff and occupants of bird-friendly projects are unanimous: AviProtek patterns drastically reduce bird strikes, or eliminate them altogether.
See for yourself: The effectiveness of AviProtek bird-friendly glass.Frequently asked questions about bird-safe glassWhat is bird safe glass? Bird safe glass or bird friendly glass has a pattern or design on the glass itself. Since glass is invisible to birds, the pattern is there to alert them of the solid barrier. This pattern or design is ideally on the exterior surface of the glass and is know as visual markers.
The number of cities adopting bird safe laws is growing rapidly. We suggest that you communicate with local authorities to see which ones are most relevant to your projects. You can also reach out your local Walker Glass Architectural Manager to assist you in finding the right bird friendly glass legislation.
The Cathedral is full of religious symbols, but also secular icons and representations. Our stained glass window that depicts the signing of the U.S. Constitution, for example, does not contain religious imagery, yet we believe God desires the promises of freedom and equality for all people.
For birds, glass windows are worse than invisible. By reflecting foliage or sky, they look like inviting places to fly into. And because the sheer number of windows is so great, their toll on birds is huge. Up to about 1 billion birds die from window strikes in the U.S. each year, according to a 2014 study.
There are two main types of window collisions: daytime and nighttime. In daylight, birds crash into windows because they see reflections of vegetation or see through the glass to potted plants or vegetation on the other side. At night, nocturnal migrants (including most songbirds) crash because they fly into lighted windows.
Enhanced comfort, enhanced efficiency, enhanced design. An extra pane of glass helps keep more heat in and cold air out, making this our most energy-efficient glass option. Select Renewal by Andersen windows with Enhanced Triple Pane glass have been designated as one of the Most Efficient ENERGY STAR certified products in 2021.