From Wired Glass to Clear Solutions: Designing with Fire Rated Glass Today

This white paper provides readers with a solid understanding of fire rated glass (FRG) based on the two types of FRG recognized in the IBC – fire protective and fire resistive glazing. The discussion includes the advancement of FRG from traditional wire glass to technologically advanced clear solutions, recent code changes, the updated 2012 IBC Chapter 7 Tables outlining the requirements for FRG applications, and fire-rated framing considerations. The white paper is intended to give readers the ability to specify the correct, code-approved FRG product for particular applications based on the most up-to-date version of the IBC.

White Paper

Advances in glazing materials and glass building systems offer a seemingly unlimited horizon for not only glass performance, but also for the size and extent of these light, transparent forms. Both for enclosures and for indoor environments, novel products and assemblies allow for more glass and less opaque structure—often in places that previously limited their use.

Treating Glass as a Canvas

In the world of fine art, a master painter begins with canvas selection. A linen canvas is nearly always selected over cotton because nothing delivers the artist’s authentic vision quite like linen. Similarly, with glass.

True Clarity for Ambitious Design

Clear glass is extremely common and is popular for a variety of architectural design applications, including vision glass, spandrel glass, storefronts, entryways and other exterior uses. It is specified repeatedly due to its versatility and ability to serve as a substrate for solar control, low-emissivity (low-E) coatings. However, when specifying glass to achieve a desired aesthetic, design professionals know that clear glass isn’t completely clear.

Glass and Glazing | Oct 26, 2021

Façade design for cost, performance, and delivery [AIA course]

HOK Technical Principal David Frey outlines best practices for designing building envelopes that live up to the aesthetic vision of the project while being cost-effective, high-performing, and quick to install.

Fire-Rated Products | Oct 21, 2021

Safti First Fights Through Assertions Made By Plaintiffs Ely Holdings Limited And Greenlite Glass Systems That Safti First’s Fire Rated Floor System Infringed On Their Patent

In a summary judgement dated February 3, 2021, Chief Magistrate Joseph C. Spero of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the patent infringement claims filed by Ely Holdings Limited (Ely) and Greenlite Glass Systems (Greenlite) against SAFTI FIRST, a USA fire rated glass and framing manufacturer, could not proceed to trial, finding that the SAFTI FIRST’s fire resistant floor does not violate Ely’s patent.