Safety Certifications
Safety Glazing Materials in Buildings
The purpose of safety glazing standards is to determine the break safety properties of safety glazing materials used for all building and architectural purposes in hazardous locations.
Blast Mitigation
These test standards are intended to evaluate the performance of the complete glazing systems ability to mitigate the hazards of flying glass and debris when exposed to various blast pressures.
The following test reports summarize the performance condition of various film and glazing combinations achieving a minimum GSA performance condition of 3b as outlined in the GSA Leasing Desk Guide.
The following test reports summarize the hazard rating of various film and glazing combinations achieving a minimum ISO “C” hazard rating.
The following test reports summarize the hazard level of various film and glazing combinations achieving a minimum “No Hazard” level.
Intrusion Resistance
The purpose of burglary resistance testing is to determine the resistance capabilities of glazing materials under various forms of impact or attack.
Solar Gard, with the assistance of a third party accredited lab, has demonstrated security films ability to delay unwanted intruders from gaining entry through standard commercial glazing.
The EN 356 European Standard assesses security glazing products to the resistance of attack from various forces identified by levels P1A to P5A.
Fire Rating
The purpose fire testing is determining a building materials reaction to a fire which may include the rate at which a flame spreads, the ignitability when exposed to heat, the amount of heat, smoke, toxic gases, and/or flaming droplets/particles, etc. Building materials must often be tested to these types of standards to evaluate the performance of these materials when exposed to heat and fire.
The ASTM E84 (ASTM International) test standard is used to determine the relative burning behavior of a material by observing the flame spread along the specimen.
The ASTM D1929 (ASTM International) test standard is used to measure and describe the response of materials, products, or assemblies exposed to heat and flame.
Glass Retention
Glass retention refers to a films ability to contain broken glass within the original opening preventing glass fall out specifically in non-impact related incidents. Nickel sulfide inclusions is a good example of non-impact related incidents which affects tempered glass all over the world. While no formal test standard exists for this application, Solar Gard, with the assistance of a third party accredited lab, has demonstrated Sentinel Plus 4 mil safety film’s ability to contain the broken glass and resist applied pressures in the event of spontaneous breakage.
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)
VOC emissions testing identifies both the type of VOC compounds emitted from a product into the air we breathe and the amount of those emissions. VOC emissions testing incorporates the ANSI/BIFMA and California Department of Public Health (CDPH) testing protocols.
Bird Control
American Bird Conservancy (ABC) partners with the Bird-Safe Building Alliance (BSBA), a group of architects experienced in bird-friendly design, conservation biologists, and other collision experts have developed a method of classifying glazing products by Threat Factor (TF). The TF is a score given to a glazing product based on a tunnel test where the effectiveness in deterrence of birds is observed. The lower the value the more effective the product.
ABC defines “bird-friendly” materials conservatively, as having a threat factor ≤30, corresponding to a reduction of collisions of at least 50% under real world conditions.
Natural Disasters
The purpose of these tests is to evaluate the performance of glazing systems when subjected to various forms of impact, cycling and/or racking.
Currently, there are no codes specifying the performance of glazing systems affected by seismic events. There has been testing done to measure the performance of glazing during these events and they mainly consist of “racking” the glazing systems and then determining the fallout of the glass. The following report details one particular set of tests and the performance of the films on page 72
The ASTM 1886 test method covers the performance of exterior windows, curtain walls, doors, and impact protective systems impacted by missile(s) and subsequently subjected to cyclic static pressure differentials.
CAUTION: This product is NOT approved in the State of Florida as an impact-resistant glazing product approved for use as protection from wind-borne debris from a hurricane or windstorm.
This product may NOT be advertised, sold, offered, provided, distributed, or marketed as hurricane, windstorm, or impact protection from wind-borne debris from a hurricane or windstorm unless it is approved pursuant to this section or s. 553.8425
Environmental & Quality Management Certificates
ISO 14001:2015 specifies the requirements for an environmental management system that an organization can use to enhance its environmental performance. ISO 14001:2015 is intended for use by an organization seeking to manage its environmental responsibilities in a systematic manner that contributes to the environmental pillar of sustainability.
ISO 9001:2015 is defined as the international standard that specifies requirements for a quality management system (QMS). Organizations use the standard to demonstrate the ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and regulatory requirements. It is the most popular standard in the ISO 9000 series and the only standard in the series to which organizations can certify.
