AAMA American Architectural Manufacturers Association. A national trade association that establishes voluntary standards for the aluminum window, door, and skylight industry.Absorptance The fraction of incident radiation that is absorbed.
Acrylic A non crystalline thermoplastic with good weather resistance, shatter resistance, and optical clarity; sometimes used for glazing.
Adhesion The ability of a coating or sealant to stick or bond to the surface to which it is applied.
Adhesive Failure Failure of a compound by pulling away from the surface from which it is in contact (see cohesive failure).
Alloy A metal to which another element has been added, generally another metal.
Annealed Glass Standard sheet or plate glass.
Annealing To heat above the critical or recrystallization temperature, then controlled cooling of glass or other materials to eliminate the effects of cold-working, relieve internal stresses or improve strength, ductility, or other properties.
ANSI American National Standards Institute. Clearing house for all types of standards and specifications.
ASHRE American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers.
BOCA Building Officials and Code Administrators.
Bronze An alloy of copper and tin.
BTU - British Thermal Unit The amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water one degree fahrenheit.
CABO Council of American Building Officials.
CCF An abbreviation for one hundred cubic feet. A unit of natural gas consumption. Equivalent to 100,000 Btu's (105.5 MJ) of energy or heat.
Cloudiness Index The percent of extraterrestrial radiation that reaches the earth's surface when measured on a horizontal plane.
Cohesive Failure Splitting and opening of a compound resulting from over extension of the compound (see adhesive failure).
Compatibility The ability of two or more materials to exist in close and permanent association for an indefinite period with no adverse effect of one on the other.
Condensation When water vapor, which is present in all but the driest air, comes in contact with a surface that is below what is called the "dew point temperature", the vapor becomes liquid and is called condensation.
Conduction Process of heat transfer through a material from a warm surface to a cool surface.
Conduction Factor The difference in the "U-Values" before and after film application to glass multiplied by 24 hours a day. This factor is used in calculating heating energy savings.
Convection Heat transfer by the movement of fluid or air.
Cooling Days The number of days in a year that the air conditioning equipment is used.
Corrosion The deterioration of metal by chemical or electro-chemical reaction resulting from exposure to weathering, moisture, chemicals, or other agents or media.
CRF (Condensation Resistance Factor) Gives an indication of a windows ability to resist condensation. The higher the CRF, the less likely condensation is to occur.
Curtain Wall An exterior building wall which carries no roof or floor loads and consists entirely or principally of metal, or a combination of metal, glass, and other surfacing materials supported by a metal framework.
Degree-Day A unit that represents a 1 degree F deviation from some fixed reference point (usually 65 degrees F) in the mean, daily outdoor temperature.
Desiccant An extremely porous crystalline substance used to absorb moisture from within the sealed air space of an insulating glass unit.
Double Glazing In general, any use of two panes of glass, separated by an air space, within an opening, to improve insulation against heat transfer and/or sound transmission.
Edge Clearance The distance between the edge of a unit of glass or panel and its surrounding frame, measured normally to the edge of the plane of the glass or panel.
Elasticity Pliability, ability to take up expansion or contraction; opposite of brittleness.
Emissivity This is a measure of the ability of a surface to emit room temperature radiant heat energy. It is also a measure of the ability of the surface to reflect room radiant energy since, for window systems, the emissivity and the reflectivity of room radiant energy add up to unity. A low emissivity means a high reflectivity of room radiant energy.
Exterior Glazed Glass set from the exterior of the building.
Fenestration An opening in the building.
Float Glass Glass which has its bottom surfaces formed by floating on molten metal, the top surface being gravity formed, producing a high optical quality of glass with parallel surfaces and, without polishing and grinding, the fire-finished brilliance of the finest sheet glass. Float glass is replacing plate glass.
Fogging A deposit of contamination left on the inside surface of the sealed insulating glass unit due to extremes of temperatures. Usually happens with failed sealed insulated glass.
Glare Reduction This is the ratio of the difference in visible transmission of the glass before and after installing film to the visible transmission of the glass with no film. It is expressed as a percentage and is determined by the respective visible transmission values of the glass with and without film.
Glass A transparent, brittle substance formed by fusing sand with soda or potash or both; it often has lime, alumina or lead oxide.
Glass Edge Stress An amount of force in pounds per square inch experienced by the edge of the glass pane.
Glass Thermal Stress An applied force, caused by absorbed solar heat, that tends to strain of deform glass.
Glazing The work of installing glass in a frame.
Glazing Bead A molding or stop around the inside of a frame to hold the glass in place.
Glazing Compound A soft dough-like material used for filling and sealing the space between a pane of glass and its surrounding frame.
Heat Gain The transfer of heat from outside to inside. Both heat loss and heat gain are measured in terms of the fuel consumption required to maintain a comfortable indoor temperature.
Heat Loss Reduction This is the ratio of the difference in heat loss through the glass after installing film to the heat loss through the glass with no film. It is expressed as a percentage and is determined by the respective "U" values of the glass with and without film.
Heating Days The number of days in a year that heating equipment is used.
Heating Degree-Day Heating and cooling engineers have found a way to relate the typical climate conditions of different areas to the amount of energy needed to heat and cool a building. The term they use is "Degree-Days" using a base temperature of 65F (18C). A heating degree-day is counted for each degree below 65F (18C) reached by the average (between the highest and lowest) daily outside temperatures in the winter. For example, if on a given winter day the high is 40F (4C) and the low is 20F (-1C). This is 35F (19C difference) below the base temperature of 65F (18C). So, on that day, you would have gone through 35 (19) heating degree-days.
Heat Loss The transfer of heat from inside to outside by means of conduction, convection, and radiation through all surfaces of the building.
Heat Strengthened Glass Glass which is reheated, after forming, just below melting point and then cooled. A compressed surface is formed which increases its strength. Often used for spandrel glass.
Hermetically Sealed Unit An insulated glass unit made up of two lites of glass, separated by a roll formed aluminum spacer tube (at the full perimeter) which is filled with a moisture absorbing material. The unit is then completely sealed, creating a moisture free, clean, dead air space.
Humidity, Relative The percentage of moisture in the air in relationship to the amount of moisture the air could hold at that given temperature. 100% relative humidity would be rain.
HVAC An abbreviation for Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning equipment.
ICBO International Conference of Building Officials.
Infiltration (air) The movement of outdoor air into the interior of a building through cracks around windows and doors or in walls, roofs and floors.
Insulating Glass Insulating glass refers to two pieces of glass spaced apart and hermetically sealed to form a single-glazed unit with an air space between. Heat transmission through this type of glass may be as low as half that without such an air space. it is also called Double Glazing.
Interior Glazed Glass set from the interior of the building.
Interior Stop The removable glazing bead that holds the glass in place when it is on the interior side of the lite, as contrasted to an exterior stop which is located on the exterior side of a glass panel.
Jalousie The jalousie window is made up of a horizontally-mounted, louvered glass that abut each other tightly when closed and extend outward when cranked open.
KWH An abbreviation of kilowatt-hour. A unit of electric power consumption. Equivalent to 3413 Btu's of energy or heat. (1 KWh = 3.60 MJ)
Laminated Glass Two or more sheets with an inner layer of transparent plastic to which the glass adheres if broken. Used for overhead, safety glazing, and sound reduction.
Lite Another term for a pane of glass used in a window. Frequently spelled "light" in the industry literature, but spelled "lite" in this text to avoid confusion with light as in "visible light".
Low-Emissivity Glass Glass which restricts the passage of radiant heat, in and out; a metal or metal oxide coating applied to the glass to provide low emissivity.
Maximum Heat Gain The maximum per hour amount of solar heat coming through one square foot of glass. Measured in units of Btu/hr/sq.ft. (W/m squared).
MCF An abbreviation of one thousand cubic feet. A unit of natural gas consumption. Equivalent to 1,000,000 BTUs (37,300 Kj/m cubed) of energy or heat.
MLB An abbreviation for one thousand pounds. A unit of steam consumption. Equivalent to 1,000,000 Btu's (2330 Kj/kg) of energy or heat.
Moisture Control The use of humidifiers, air conditioners, or ventilation to keep the humidity of the home at acceptable levels. Also refers to vapor barriers.
Monolithic A single piece of glass.
Mullion An intermediate connecting member used to "marry" two or more windows or patio doors together in a single rough opening without sacrificing air or watertight performance. A mullion also can give added strength to the connection for structural stability.
Muntins A decorative design in cut-ups of glass lites.
Neoprene A synthetic rubber having physical properties closely resembling those of natural rubber but not requiring sulfur for vulcanization. Extremely good weather resistance, both heat and cold, with ultraviolet stability.
NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Non-Ferrous Metals Metals or alloys that are free of iron, such as aluminum.
Obscure Glass Mainly used for decoration, diffusion, or privacy. The design is pressed into the glass during the rolling process. There are many patterns available.
Organic Coating A coating such as paint, lacquer, enamel, or plastic film in which the principal ingredients are derived from animal or vegetable matter or from some compound of carbon (which includes all plastics).
Passive Solar Heat Gain Solar heat that passes through a material and is captured naturally, not by mechanical means. For example, large windows facing south will take advantage of passive solar heat gain in the Northern Hemisphere.
Payback Savings from reducing energy cost and seeing this reflected in your heating/cooling bills.
Permeability The quality of permitting passage of water through openings without causing rupture or displacement.
Plate Glass Polished plate glass is a rolled, ground, and polished product with true flat parallel plane surfaces.
Polycarbonate Any of a family of thermo-plastics characterized by a high softening temperature and high impact strength (Lexan).
Polysulfide Polysulfide liquid polymers are mercaptan terminated, long chain aliphatic polymers containing disulfide linkages. They can be converted to rubbers at room temperature without shrinkage upon addition of a curing agent. Used for exterior sealant and sealed insulating glass sealant.
PSF Pounds per square foot - Abbreviation of pressure notation, used to describe wind pressure, barometric pressure.
PSI Pounds per square inch as above.
Psychrometer An apparatus used to determine the relative humidity by determining the wet bulb temperature of the air. It is a very accurate means of determining relative humidity.
Radiation Transmission of heat through space by wave motion; passage of heat from one object to another without warming the space between, such as sun light.
Reflectance The fraction of the incident light that is reflected.
Relative Heat Gain The amount of conduction heat gain plus solar heat gain, measured in terms of energy units per hour per square (compare U-Value). (Btu/hr/sq. ft. or W/m squared)
RFI An abbreviation for Radio Frequency Interference
ROI Return on investment.
"R" Value A measure of resistance to heat gain or loss (insulative ability). "R" Values rather than thicknesses can be compared for different materials, since 6" (152mm) of fiberglass (R-19 [R-34]) might compare with 12" (305mm) of wood or 18' (15.5m) of stone. "R" value of some common substances of 1" (25mm) thickness:
Concrete 0.1 (0.018) Stucco and Brick 1.2 (0.21) Plywood 0.1 (0.18) Fiberglass batts 3 (0.54) Concrete 0.1 (0.018) Polystyrene 6.25 (1.10) Polyurethane foam 7.7 (1.36) SBCCSouthern Building Code Congress International.
Sealant An elastometric material with adhesive qualities that joins components of a similar to dissimilar nature to provide an effective barrier against the passage of the elements.
Shading Coefficient The ratio of the solar heat gain through a given glazing system to the solar heat gain under the same conditions for clear, unshaded double strength window glass (DSA). Shading coefficient defines the sun control capability of the glazing system.
Sheet Glass A transparent, flat glass whose surface has a characteristic waviness. There are three basic classifications of sheet glass:
- Single Strength, 3/32" thick.
- Double Strength, 1/8" thick.
- Heavy sheet which has three available thicknesses: 3/16", 7/32" and 1/4".
Shelf Life The length of time that packaged materials such as adhesives and sealants can be stored under specific temperature conditions and still remain suitable for use.
SIG Sealed Insulated Glass.
Solar Energy Spectrum Solar radiation is typically divided into three categories, namely, the ultraviolet, the visible and the near infrared portions of the spectrum. All three portions result in heat when the solar radiation is absorbed. At the earth's surface, approximately 3% of the solar energy is in the ultraviolet portion, 44% is in the visible portion and 53% is in the near infrared.
Solar Heat Gain The amount per hour of solar heat coming through a square foot of glass. Measured in units of Btu/hr/sq. ft.
Solar Heat Reduction This is the ratio of the difference in total solar energy entering before and after installing film on the glass to that entering through the glass with no film. It is expressed as a percentage and is determined by the respective shading coefficients of the glass with and without film.
Spandrel Glass Heat-strengthened float glass with a colored-ceramic coating adhered to the back by a heat-fusing process. It has double the strength of annealed glass of the same size and thickness; enabling it to withstand greater uniform loads and thermal stresses. Spandrel glass cannot be re-cut after heat strengthening. It is used as fixed opaque colored glass on buildings in front of floor slabs and columns. It is available in a wide array of colors.
Spectrophotometer An instrument for measuring the transmittance and reflectance of surfaces and media as a function of wavelength.
Sunlight The portion of solar energy which is detectable by the human eye. It accounts for about 44% of the total solar energy.
Tempered Glass As with heat strengthened glass, it is re-heated to just below the melting point but suddenly cooled. When shattered, it breaks into small pieces. It is approximately five times stronger than standard annealed glass. It must be used as safety glazing in patio doors, entrance doors, sidelites, and other hazardous locations. It can't be re-cut after tempering.
Tensile Strength Also called ultimate strength. The breaking strength of a material when subjected to a tensile (stretching) force. Usually measured by placing a standard piece in the jaws of a tensile machine gradually separating the jaws and measuring the stretching force necessary to break the test piece. Tensile strength is commonly expressed as pounds (or tons) per square inch of original cross sectional area.
Therm 1,00000 Btu's (105.5 MJ) of energy or heat.
Tinted Glass A mineral admixture is incorporated in the glass, resulting in a degree of tinting. Any tinting reduces both visual and radiant transmittance.
Ton-Hr A unit of air conditioning consumption equivalent to 12,000 Btu's (3024cal) of energy.
Total Solar Absorptance The ratio of the amount of total solar energy absorbed by a glazing system to the amount of total solar energy falling on the glazing system. Solar absorptance is that portion of total solar energy neither transmitted nor reflected. Since solar transmittance and solar reflectance are measured directly, the following equation should be used in calculating solar absorptance.
Solar absorptance = 1.00- (solar transmittance)-(solar reflectance)
Total Solar Reflectance The ratio of total solar energy which is reflected outward by the glazing system to the amount of total solar energy falling on the glazing system. On filmed windows this reflectance is a function of the side of the film facing the window surface. Value is usually expressed as a percent.
Total Solar Transmittance The ratio of the amount of total solar energy in the full solar wavelength range (300 - 2100 nanometers) that is allowed to pass through a glazing system to the amount of total solar energy falling on that glazing system. Value is usually expressed as a percent.
Triple Glazed Three panes of glass separated by air spaces.
UBC Uniform Building Code
UL Underwriters Laboratory.
Ultraviolet The invisible rays of the spectrum which are outside of the visible spectrum at its violet end. UV rays are found in everyday sunlight and can cause fading or chalking of dark paint finishes. Extreme UV exposure can cause certain plastic materials to distort. Note: On the basis of practical applications and the effect obtained, the ultraviolet region often is divided into the following wavelengths:
UV-A..........315-400 nanometers
UV-B...........280-315 nanometers
UV-C...........100-280 nanometers
UV Reduction This is the ratio of the difference in ultraviolet transmission of the glass before and after installing film to the ultraviolet transmission of the glass with no film. it is expressed as a percentage and is determined by the respective UV transmission values of the glass with and without film.
U-Factor The overall heat transfer coefficient of the glazing system. U-Factor is a measure of the heat transfer that occurs through the glazing system, and its outer and inner surfaces. This value is a function of temperature, and is expressed in BTU per square foot per hour per degree Fahrenheit (BTU/sq. ft./hr Fahrenheit degree). The lower the U-Factor, the better the insulation qualities of the glazing system.
Ultra-Violet (UV) Transmittance The ratio of the amount of total UV solar energy (300-380 nanometers) that is allowed to pass through a glazing system to the amount of total UV solar energy falling on the glazing system. Ultra-violet is one portion of the total solar energy spectrum which greatly contributes to fading and deterioration of fabric and furnishings.
"U" Value The measurement used in determining the ability of different structural components (such as windows) to conduct heat. The "U" Value of a window is measured by the number of Btu's that will pass through each square foot of area per degree of temperature difference from one side of the window to the other. "U" Values can tell you how well your windows will hold in your heated or cooled air. The lower the number the better.
Viscosity The internal resistance to flow exhibited by a fluid. The higher the number, the thicker the fluid.
Visible Light Reflected Visible light is defined as that portion of the solar energy spectrum under average daylight conditions that is visible to the human eye and the values given are based on the response of the human eye. The ratio of that which is reflected away from the surface of the window to that impinging on it is called the percent of visible light reflected.
Visible Light Transmittance The ratio of the amount of total visible solar energy (380-780 nanometers) that is allowed to pass through a glazing system to the amount of visible solar energy falling on the glazing system. Value is usually expressed as a percent. Glare is influenced by visible light through a glazing system.
Visible Radiation The spectrum containing radiation with wavelengths in a narrow band from about 400 nanometers (violet) to 750nm (red). At the earth's surface about half the solar energy is in the visible range.
Wavelengths Wavelength is the distance between two successive points of a periodic wave in the direction of propagation, in which the oscillation has the same phase.
Window Types:
Wire Glass Polished or clear glass 1/4" thick. Wire mesh is embedded within the glass such that the glass will not shatter when broken. The wire pattern is available in many types. it is frequently used in skylights, overhead glazing, and locations where a fire-retardant glass is required.
- Awning A partially movable sash hinged at the top, and opening either outwards or inwards.
- Casement A window sash hung by hinges fastened to the jamb of the window frame.
- Double Hung Consists of a pair of vertical sliding sash, either sash opening independently of the other. Older type double hung sash operate through a system of weights, springs, or pulleys.
- Fixed A single sash fastened permanently in a frame so that it cannot be raised, lowered, or swung open.
- Hopper A partially movable sash hinged at the bottom and opening inwards.
- Pivoted A sash that swings open or shut by revolving on pivots at either side of the sash or at top and bottom.
- Single Hung A window frame containing a pair of vertical sliding sashes in which only one sash is moveable, usually the lower in contrast to a double hung sash.
- Sliding A sash which moves horizontally on a track.
- Storm A full length sash, either fixed or movable, fitted to the outside or inside of a window frame to afford protection during cold or stormy weather.
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