Commercial

ADS are the leading Commercial Window Film installers in the Southwest!

Here’s why having window tints in your office space is essential:

In today’s modern architecture having a window friendly environment is a main focus during the design process of building a new structure. We all love windows in our lives it is the connection with the outdoors that makes us want that window seat on an airline or a restaurant, working in an office with no windows is not something most people want, most people strive for that corner office with windows.

We all want glass but unfortunately we have many issues with structures made with a lot of glass:

1. Large windows increase the sun entering a structure causing a rise in temperature inside a structure
2. Glare becomes a problem at certain times of day making it hard to see a computer screen or TV
3. When the suns UV rays enter your office they damage wood floors, woodwork, walls, artwork, carpeting, curtains and even your skin.

The solution to the problems modern architecture creates is Commercial Window Film. Using Commercial
Window Tinting Film will:

1. Reduce the temperature in a large glass structure by up to 15º
2. Allow your employees to be more efficient because glare can be reduced by up to 85%
3. Reduce damaging UV rays from entering your structure by 99.9%
4. Prolong the life of air conditioning units due to the reduction of its use
5. This is a “Green” technology that will save you money and protect the environment

ADS Window Films Ltd, supply and install a range of world class window films and WHEN IT COMES TO COMMERCIAL FILM:

WE MEAN BUSINESS

With years of experience in the supply and installation of commercial window film, ADS Window Films Ltd. has a track record for helping thousands of commercial customers with their solar related glazing problems. Ranging from opaque films that provide maximum privacy and solar control to spectrally selective films that maintain on unobstructed view while rejecting tremendous amounts of heat, there is an ADS Window film for every potential application.

ULTIMATE ENERGY EFFICIENCY
With the goal of achieving the ultimate in energy efficiency, ADS Window Films Ltd supplies many window films utilizing specialty metals.

Available in a wide range of shades and light densities, these films are spectrally selective, that is, they allow considerable amounts of visible light to penetrate the film while excluding much of the sun’s heat. Commercial building owners substantially reduce utility bills by simply applying solar control window films.

Most solar control films pay for themselves through the energy savings they create in approximately two year’s time, and carry 10 year warranties. Levels of efficiency are so high that many utility companies offer incentives or rebate for the application of window film. Productivity in the workplace increases as glare is reduced and hot and cold spots are eliminated. In many cases privacy increases and the buildings facade acquires a uniform, aesthetically pleasing look.

Our window films eliminate up to 99% of ultraviolet light, greatly reducing the fading of furniture, rugs, and other fabrics..

Our window films are the result of outstanding quality standards and technical initiative. ADS Window Films use the most optically clear polyester film available and superior pressure sensitive adhesives. These are continually researched and refined, producing a high-temperature, high-shear formulation that will not peel, bubble, or delaminate due to heat or age. A durable scratch resistant coating (SCR) protects the film surface against scratching caused by dirt, dust, and everyday wear and tear.

Our commercial window films are the most durable and attractive films available today. Each product is backed by an extensive manufacturers warranty that guarantees the replacement of any window film that does not perform to product specifications.

Laminated Glass & Window Film.

Information on Thermal Fracture.

Laminated glass is a great product as both a safety glazing material and as a considerable deterrent to forced entry through a window. Unlike toughened glass, it can actually break very easily but stays in one piece because of the plastic interlayer (polyvinyl butyl – PVB) holding the glass on either side. Toughened on the other hand is very hard to break (unless you know how) but then breaks into thousands of small pieces.

This information is fairly well known but I mention the two types specifically because I want to draw attention to an important matter relating to risk. The edges of any glass sheet have a significant bearing on its strength. Glass is as a product, brittle by nature and holds together under immense stress. Toughening involves a heating and cooling process that creates even greater stress. No sheet of glass will get through the toughening process unless it has good smooth edges. The glass will crack.

Laminated glass is usually two sheets of regular (annealed, but toughened can be used) glass with a PVB layer between. When cut by glaziers the process used usually damages the edges of the glass thereby making it up to 50% weaker than it would be with good flawless edges.

When window film is applied to glass, the necessary pressure applied with the squeegee can flex a large pane to quite a degree. This on its own can precipitate an existing crack on the unseen edge to become evident. This can even sometimes occur with ordinary float glass that is badly cut.

Once properly applied, solar film on glass will both reflect and absorb heat from the sun. Depending on the type of window frame and the method of retention of the glass, heat that is absorbed will be conducted from the edges of the glass to the frame making the edges cooler than the middle. This creates more thermal stress in the glass, which can promote a fracture from an unseen weak edge.

Because those of us in the window film industry are unable to check the glass edges, we try to give best advice to building owners and managers when solar control film is being considered. We can never guarantee that glass will not break.

Any glass that is toughened, either as single layer or multi-layer laminated is most unlikely to suffer from thermal stress. The edges are always very good. Most regular annealed glass is usually not a problem, but larger panes of thicker glass are difficult to cut and can have poor edges. Laminated that you will most often encounter will 6.4mm which means the glass sheets are only 3mm thick – very breakable on its own! Cutting involves scoring both sides, hopefully along the same line unless done by computer, snapping, and then usually pouring mentholated spirits along the crack to ignite and melt the plastic interlayer. This fractures the glass edges.

Installing solar film on the external surface reduces the amount of heat absorbed and therefore the temperature differential between the middle and edge of the glass is less. The thermal stress is reduced in this situation and the possibility of breakage is reduced. Consideration should also be made of the type of frame and glazing retention system used and the size of the pane. I would be much more happy advising you to install film on laminated glass that was installed in a UPVC frame with rubber gaskets especially say only 1.0 metre square than a 3.0 metre square sheet of laminated glass installed with putty in a steel frame. Heat would conduct much quicker in the latter case and therefore cool the edge of the glass more. A larger pane holds more heat in the middle than a small pane.

Another significant factor is the orientation of the windows and any partial shading. North Face windows would probably escape any extremes in temperature. Whereby East, South & West facing windows would at some point be exposed to high temperature change and any form of shading on the glass can create temperature differential within individual panes heightening the probability of thermal stress.

Oakley Petts

Bekaert Speciality Films Ltd. January 2002