Tag: car windscreen

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4 Inspiring Ideas for Your Kitchen Space

The evolution of kitchens is quite significant. Today’s kitchens are required to be as aesthetically appealing as functional, and to blend with the overall design of the house while retaining its unique look as the heart of the home. This dynamic shift in the way we design kitchens has also a lot to do with the availability of multi-functional and innovative architectural materials such as processed glass.
Modern glass suppliers such as AIS are already leading the way in creating aesthetic glass variants such as AIS Décor lacquered glass and frosted glass which are aiding in the imagining of creative and functional kitchen spaces like never before.

Given the fact that kitchens are usually smaller in size than other spaces and areas in most homes and apartments, using a material such as glass in cabinets, shelves or even countertops helps in adding the illusion of space. Glass’s inherent property of reflecting light helps in creating a well-lit, airy and lively environment in a kitchen, thus allowing inhabitants to experience more joy in cooking.
In this blog, we take a look at four inspiring ideas powered by glass to design or recreate your dream kitchen space:

  1. Create window cabinets

If you’re wondering what they are, then prepare to be excited. If your kitchen wall space is majorly covered with windows, then you can elevate the look of your entire space while also adding more storage to the kitchen with the help of window cabinets. As the name suggests, these cabinets are constructed on top of existing windows, thus providing them with two walls of glass. This can be a unique addition to your kitchen without preventing the external scenery or natural daylight getting obstructed!

  1. Install frosted glass shelves and lacquered glass panel pantry doors

For heightened aesthetics, why stick to simple clear glass? Visually appealing glass types such as frosted privacy glass can add style to your kitchen cabinets while also concealing what they store – if you wish so! On the other hand, if your kitchen has a pantry door, then you can install lacquered glass panels on it to compliment the wall colour or the theme of the kitchen.

  1. Turn your kitchen island into a glass base cabinet

If you have a modular kitchen with a counter in the middle of the floor space, called the island, why not experiment by adding a glass cabinet to its sides? This can be the perfect location to store collectibles, cookbooks or fancy kitchenware. Since this is a base cabinet prone to impact by foot, we recommend opting for tempered security glass for the same.

  1. Add colour to your countertops and backsplashes

Glass kitchen countertops have become very popular, offering a lot in terms of colour, size, and shape. Combining countertops with lacquered glass backsplashes and cabinets creates a stylish and colourful ambience for a kitchen.
Apart from the aesthetic reasons, using glass in kitchens is beneficial since it is a material that it is stain-resistant, easy to clean and maintain, and easy to replace. Time to give your cooking space a well-deserved glass makeover!

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Breathing Life Back into an Old Office Building: A Case Study on Retrofitting Glass


Architecture, today, is exceeding the limits of imagination with the help of science and technology. Where once glass was a mere brittle material for windows now lies a plethora of possibilities in manufacturing and processing extremely functional glass for sound reduction, security, privacy, aesthetics, and most importantly, heat reduction. But the buck doesn’t stop here.
It is also possible to optimize the dysfunctional glass systems of existing and functioning buildings with a special variant of glass such as the AIS Renew which completely transforms the energy consumption scenario of the space. Retrofitting buildings is a specialty at AIS, and it is precisely what we achieved for the 6-storied office building which is the focus of our case study.
Problem
It is no doubt that solar and thermal control glass products are any architect’s go-to solutions for creating an energy efficient space. And energy efficiency is the primary requirement of an office where creating the most comfortable and sustainable environment for employees is paramount for productivity.
A six-storied office building featuring glazed windows prominently was facing issues due to increased energy consumption. The requirement was to convert the windows into more energy efficient envelopes, thus enabling visual and thermal comfort. However, converting an old/existing building built with a low performance glass by the traditional method of pulling down the existing glass façade and building afresh is very expensive.
Solution

In order to tackle this problem without disturbing and interfering with the day-to-day functioning of the building, the AIS technical team proposed our retrofitting solution, AIS Renew, as part of the AIS 4G solutions. AIS Renew is a unique product which is attached on top of an existing glass window and converts it into an energy saving insulated glass window – all in no time at all.
In order to do this, a particular AIS Renew glass model (Ecosense Exceed as mentioned in the table above) was compared against pared with clear 6 mm glass used in the existing building. An analysis was done on the basis of shade, visible light transmission, solar heat gain coefficient, and U-value.
Further, a building-specific climate simulation was also performed for the existing glass and AIS Renew glass. The results of this analysis are mentioned below.

Results

As is clear from the reference table, AIS Renew with Ecosense Exceed performed better than the clear single glazed units and double glazed units in terms of cooling energy reduction ratio % and radiant temperature.  In brief, selecting AIS Renew for retrofitting would result in:

  1. Reduced solar gain in summer thereby reaching the set temperature sooner, thus reducing the load on AC operation.
  2. Insulation of the building against heat due to its lower U-value by influencing long wave infrared radiation while keeping the space cool in summer and warm in winter.
  3. A shorter payback period compared to extra glass cost which would have been used for replacement.

Thus, with a thoroughly scientific analysis of the retrofit, glass manufacturers like AIS ensure the most ideal retrofitting glass solution for your office building, resulting in substantial energy, cost and time savings.

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3 Laminated Glass Types You Should Know About

In the glass industry, laminated glass is held in very high regard. It is an extremely important type of glass which finds numerous applications due to its properties and benefits. In the field of architecture and automobiles, laminated glass is used almost everywhere: windows, doors, facades, table-tops, bathrooms, meeting rooms, partitions, cabins, car windscreen, etc.
Car Windscreen
For the uninitiated, laminated glass is manufactured by sandwiching a plastic interlayer, usually polyvinyl butyral (PVB), between two or more glass panes. This layer acts like a glue and a buffer zone which provides the glass with many highly beneficial properties like impact resistance, acoustic insulation, temperature control, etc. One very important property of laminated glass is that, if at all it does break, it does not shatter like ordinary glass or tempered glass. The glass sheets crack but do not separate as they remain stuck to the plastic interlayer.
Depending upon their usage and functionality, there are many different types of laminated glass available in the market. Here are the three of them:
1.Laminated Glass for Noise Cancellation
It has become increasingly essential for the interior atmosphere of any building, whether it be a home or an office, to be harmonious and peaceful. This means that all the unwanted external noise and disturbances that might affect people inside need to be eliminated.
In such a scenario, laminated glass varieties that are specifically built to cancel out external noise, such as AIS AcousticglasTM, should be incorporated in the building architecture. This type of glass has a PVB interlayer that dampens sound by up to 90%, and is ideal for not only the building exterior, but the partitions, cabins and meeting rooms inside as well.
2.Laminated Glass for Security & Safety
The primary use for laminated glass comes in the form of reinforcing the safety and security of a building and its interiors. In the architectural segment, high grade specialized laminated glass is used so as to provide not only protection against heavy impact and damage, but also forced entry and intrusion.
Most of these glass types don’t even require grills or shutters, and can be combined with multi-locking systems to safeguard your home, office or retail store. Additionally, laminated safety glass is also highly durable and provides high light transmission as well. Some laminated glass varieties, like the AIS Securityplus TM with Dupont Sentry interlayer, are five times stronger than ordinary laminated glass.
3.Laminated Glass for Automotive Windshields
Cars are incomplete without laminated glass. In order to deliver a high performance glass in the windshield needs to be laminated. This is because windshields are the most prone to accidental damage, which makes the driver and side-passenger vulnerable to critical injury.
Since laminated glass doesn’t shatter in to sharp pieces and is highly impact resistant, it is preferred in the windscreen. Other value-added laminated glass products are also available for automobiles, such as solar control glass, infrared-cut windshields and PET windshield.

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Solar Control Glass: The Ultimate car Windscreen Solution

Introduction:
Over the last few years, summers in India have been quite hot and unbearable. Travelling by car in such uncomfortable conditions can make you sweat. Not only that, you also expose yourself to harmful UV radiation. However, with the advancement of technology, such situations can be drastically lessened. Thanks to AIS solar control glass solutions that is known to reduce the overall interior temperature and block UV radiation. Not only that, this glass solution can create a cooler environment, improve the life of your car’s upholstery.
Importance of car windscreen:
Over the years, the functions of a car windshield have changed. Today, these car windshields are not only designed to keep the occupants within safe but also support the roof from a rollover accident. Even the positioning of the passenger-side air bag depends on the windshield. Modern car windshield also offers better visibility and added security.

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Tips and tricks to maintain your windshield glass during monsoons

Introduction:
Driving during the monsoons can be a challenging task. Your view is constantly blocked by the rains and to make things worse, the dirt kicked off from other cars very easily settles on your windshield. Such situations are likely to block your view while driving that can be dangerous for the driver and the passengers within.

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