The megatopic of climate change hovers over this year's glasstec focus topics of decarbonisation, the circular economy and digital technologies. The glass industry is discussing the reduction of CO2 emissions in production and the recyclability of its products.
"In all developments, we must continue to think from the customer's perspective. Products such as insulating glass must be optimised with the buildings of the future in mind," says Joachim Stoss, Vice President International Sales at Edgetech Europe/Quanex Inc. "And this future will be hot in the truest sense of the word due to the increasing number of hot days and tropical nights. In the coming decades, we will be thinking more and more about how to keep our rooms cool in an energy-saving way. Insulating glass windows installed today will have to fulfil the requirements for energy efficiency, sustainability, durability and comfort of a building in 20 years or more. The thermally separated edge seal is a small but irreplaceable detail. At glasstec, we will be highlighting why our Super Spacer warm edge spacer makes the difference in solving these challenges," continues Joachim Stoss.
The T-shape of the Super Spacer® ensures the integrity of the edge seal
Thanks to its unique shape and 100% resilience, the spacer system made of T-shaped silicone foam can withstand the pumping movements of insulating glazing countless times. The spacer structure has a lot of advantages for architects, specifiers and IG manufacturers: substantial reduction in tension levels on the butyl cord and secondary seal, the butyl cord is not pressed into the visible area of the glass unit, the spacer can be applied automatically and manually and is suitable for both flat and free-form glazing.
Super Spacer® ensures low thermal conductivity
Psi values make it possible to compare the different spacers in terms of their thermal performance. According to a rule of thumb, a difference of 0.04 W/mK in the Psi value means an improvement of 0.1 W/mK in the Uw value. The PSI values of the Super Spacer® spacers are at best 0.029 W/mK. This means that the warm edge efficiently prevents the formation of thermal bridges at the edge of the insulating glass through which valuable energy is lost. "Our most popular products also have the passive house certificate. Manufacturers, architects and project managers are opting for a mature, future-proof product and can save themselves the trouble of comparing PSI values down to the third decimal place. All Super Spacer products contribute significantly to low U-values and therefore lower heating and cooling costs as well as an improved indoor environment. With automated production and the warm edge as standard, insulating glass manufacturers and glass processors are positioning themselves for the future," continues Joachim Stoss.
Exact parallelism also ensured with XXL glazing
Up to an edge length of 3.5 metres, a deviation of the spacer from the straight glass edge of 4 millimetres is permitted; for larger edge lengths, the maximum deviation is 6 millimetres. Setting the spacer in an insulating glass line therefore requires precision work, not only for normative but also for visual reasons. "With the increasing size of the insulating glass units, rigid spacer frames are increasingly difficult to handle due to their lack of tensile strength and tendency to bend," says Stoss. In contrast, the flexible Super Spacer® spacer bar is applied from the roll on partially or fully automated lines with robotic support and outstanding precision and ensures immediate stability even with oversized glazing thanks to its good adhesive strength.
Super Spacer® is also flexible with the spacer colour
For structural glazing facades in particular, architects and specifiers attach great importance to an edge seal that is as invisible as possible and whose colour blends seamlessly with the glass facade. Super Spacer® products are available in black and grey as standard, and blend seamlessly with the frame colour they are installed into. As the demand for coloured accents in window and facade design is also increasing, the flexible spacer can also be produced in a variety of other colours, including white, light grey, and even strong colours such as ruby or green.