Glass Selection

Whether

building or renovating, the type of glass you chose in your

windows and doors

will impact how your home functions, and ultimately your lifestyle. Factors such as energy consumption (ie. lighting, cooling and heating costs), comfort (ie. light transmission, glare, heat and sound control), safety, security and fading can all be influenced by glass.

The problem

with advising a 'best type of glass' is that each home is different in design, orientation & location. In addition, home owners place varying degrees of importance on the factors mentioned above in line with their budget & past experiences, how they want the house to look and council building regulations. All of this makes glass selection an individual process.

As a guide

to price, generally the more the

glass

has to offer with respects to features and performance, the more it will cost. However bear in mind that your window and door costs should be considered not in isolation but in relation to the total cost of your home. For example, a $2500 increase in the price of your windows (now with a better performing

glass

) translates to only a 1% increase in the total cost of say a $250,000 house - well worth the investment. Also you can reduce costs by only nominating better performing

glass

on certain elevations.

Following

is a brief point summary on some of the more common

glass

types used in homes. It is always recommended that you contact your nearest G.James Branch to discuss your individual requirements prior to finalising your plans. Also refer to the G.James Guide to Glass PDF

473Kb where a range of glass options are further compared on the basis of performance and features.

Clear Float Glass:

Base Glass

Tinted Float Glass:

Benefits: Reduced heat & glare, reduced cooling costs and improved aesthetics
Tints Available: Grey, green, bronze and blue
Considerations: Visible light transmitted to the inside will be lower than provided by clear glass

Clear Laminated Glass:

Benefits: Sound insulation, fade reduction and improved safety & security
Considerations: Provides a cost effective alternative to double glazed units for sound insulation / noise reduction. Does not reduce heat & glare

Tinted Laminated Glass:

Benefits: As per clear laminate glass plus reduced heat & glare and improved aesthetics
Tints Available: Grey, green, bronze and blue
Considerations: Visible light transmitted to the inside will be lower than provided by clear glass. Provides a cost effective alternative to double glazed units for sound insulation / noise reduction

SOLECT^® Clear Laminated Glass:

Benefits: Reduction in heat gain (during the summer and compared to standard clear laminated) & heat loss (during the winter), lower energy consumption & costs, sound insulation, fade reduction and improved safety & security
Tints Available: Grey and green tints available
Considerations: May only be required on certain elevations (eg. southern elevation). Care to be taken when cleaning 94Kb

SOLECT^® Tinted Laminated Glass:

Benefits: As per SOLECT clear plus significantly reduces heat gain (during summer)
Tints Available: Grey and green tints available
Considerations: May only be required on certain elevations (eg. western elevation). Lower visible light transmission with the SOLECT Grey. Care to be taken when cleaning 94Kb