The increasing use of glass in construction, in both residential and commercial buildings, means that manufacturers and other stakeholders in the construction industry must pay due attention to the role that glass plays in construction projects.

Energy efficiency and noise pollution must be addressed in the design phase.

Fortunately, there are products capable of addressing a wide variety of specific challenges, and numerous suitable solutions are available.

This gains added value when the right products are implemented in the best possible way, as seen in the Province of Treviso.

Let’s take a closer look at three special products Pilkington Eclipse Advantage™ Blue-Green, Pilkington Optiphon™ and Pilkington Optiphon™ Therm which have been used to ensure energy efficiency, quiet and safety at the San Giuseppe Business Centre in Conegliano.

Pilkington Eclipse Advantage™ is a low-emissivity solar control glass with a pyrolytic coating. Consequently, using this glass provides effective thermal insulation, reducing heat gain inside buildings in summer and preventing heat loss in winter.

In this particular example, the designer opted for 8 mm thick toughened Pilkington Eclipse Advantage™ Blue-Green T glass panes to ensure an aesthetically pleasing result.

In some areas, Pilkington Eclipse Advantage™ Blue-Green T toughened glass has been assembled into a double-glazed unit with 8.5 mm-thick Pilkington Optiphon™ Therm S3 glass panes to provide the necessary sound insulation and improve energy efficiency. This combination achieves a Ug value of 1.1 W/m²K, a solar factor of 22%, and a sound reduction of 42 dB (Pilkington Eclipse Advantage™ Blue-Green T 8 mm - 16 mm argon - Pilkington Optiphon™ Therm S3 8.5 mm).

In short, Pilkington Optiphon™ is a high-performance noise control product that is thinner and lighter than standard glazing whilst offering the same sound-absorbing capacity. The Pilkington Optiphon™ Therm S3 version has an additional magnetron-type low-emissivity coating to provide thermal insulation.

For the fixed glazing, however, Pilkington Eclipse Advantage™ Blue-Green T (toughened) was combined with Pilkington Optifloat™ Clear T 8 mm (toughened and enamelled in RAL 7035), again with a 16 mm air gap.

These carefully considered choices resulted in an architecturally efficient project with the highest standards of thermal and acoustic insulation performance. The various glazing combinations make optimal use of the building's varying exposure to sunlight and noise pollution by using the most appropriate product in each location.