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Tag Archive for: opaque glass

Tunable glass goes opaque instantly

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Tunable glass goes opaque instantly

Tunable glass goes opaque instantly

Tunable glass – glass that can transition from clear to opaque – isn’t new. This special type of glass is composed of nano-sized crystals and metals that work together when jolted with electricity. The current production method for tunable glass involves vapor deposition, a painstaking process that is neither rapid nor cheap.

New approach to tunable glass

Two Harvard researchers have developed an inexpensive alternative that converts glass from transparent to opaque in less than a second. Better still, the production methodology promises to be much less expensive to manufacture.

According to the researchers, their approach is based on a physical reaction rather than a chemical one, so it allows the glass to make the transition much more rapidly. The tunable glass consists of a sheet of glass sandwiched between two sheets of a soft elastomer. The elastomeric layers have been coated with silver nanowires and are transparent in the absence of electrical current.

Once a current is applied, the nanowires are attracted to each other and deform the elastomeric layers. The deformation causes transmitted light to scatter, rather than pass through the window. The opacity of the layer increases as the current increases. Sufficient current will cause the windows to become completely opaque.

Currently, the researchers’ approach to tunable glass is still in the tweaking stage. The researchers hope to create an even thinner layer of silver nanowires, which would allow the technique to use less current. They’ve also applied for a patent in the hope that their technique can soon be brought to market.
Being able to control light as it approaches glass is a key component of energy efficiency in modern construction. Opaque glass can also create privacy in urban areas, where dense construction is the norm.

Glassprimer™ glass paint offers the opportunity to do both affordably. Glassprimer™ glass paint is highly UV-resistant, which means it can be used to coat glass in a way that allows light to penetrate, but rejects the heat-producing UV-radiation. Glassprimer™ glass paint can be applied permanently to glass to create an opaque effect for about $1 per square foot. That’s less expensive than using traditional frosted glass. And unlike frosted glass, Glassprimer™ glass paint comes in virtually any color.

If you’d like more information about decorating with Glassprimer™ glass paint, or about its UV-resistance, please check out the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: tanakawho, via Flickr.com

Bird friendly building design a priority

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Making bird-friendly building design a priority

Making bird-friendly building design a priority

In the last three decades, glass building designs have achieved a popularity never before seen. Thanks to improvements in glass and glass coatings, glass has become a standard component of energy efficient building designs. But the use of glass in architecture comes with a price, and groups like the Audubon Society and other nature advocates, the adoption of bird friendly building design could significantly reduce bird mortality.

Bird friendly building design can reduce bird deaths

The American Bird Conservancy (ABC) attributes the death of hundreds of millions of birds in the United States annually to glass building design. According to ABC, collisions with glass are the second largest source of bird mortality, behind predation.

Just as glass is transparent to human beings and other animals, it’s also transparent to birds. Humans have learned to detect the presence of glass through subtle visual clues like reflections, dirt and window frame construction. Because of the way a bird’s eye works, birds cannot interpret these clues correctly and do not realize that a window is not an open space.

For the most part, birds are daytime feeders, but what many people don’t know is that birds migrate at night. While the vast majority of collisions with buildings occur during the day, nighttime artificial lighting interferes with a bird’s ability to navigate at night, and can cause changes in birds’ migratory patterns and habits.

In 2011, the US Green Building Council (USGBC) added bird friendly building design guidelines. The standard requires building designers to quantify the threat level a design poses to birds, taking into account the building’s construction materials and design details.

Bird friendly building design takes into account such elements of glass as its transparency and reflectivity. It also measures the impact of landscaping around the building that may inadvertently draw birds into close proximity with glass. Tall glass buildings pose a particular problem for birds because they reflect open sky and distant landscaping. Since birds cannot detect the difference between actual open sky and a reflection of open sky, tall glass buildings tend to cause a higher proportion of fatal bird collisions.

The principles of bird friendly building design include minimizing the use of glass; placing glass behind screens or lattice work that helps birds identify solid surfaces; and the use of netting, screens, grilles, shutters and exterior shades. Other techniques, such as the use of angled glass. UV-patterned glass, opaque or translucent glass, or silk screened patterns on glass can also help birds detect glass.

How well can these solutions work? A study done on the glass-and-steel Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City in 2009 showed that the building had one of the highest bird mortality rates in the city. Following a 2014 redesign that took bird mortality into account, bird mortality has been reduced there by more than 90%.

Glassprimer™ glass paint is ideal for creating bird friendly opaque and translucent glass. In addition, Glassprimer™ glass surface molecular activator can help create permanent bonds between ink and glass. If you’d like more information about Glassprimer™ products, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Tim Hickok, via Flickr.com

Opaque glass paint does exist!

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Opaque glass paint does exist!

Opaque glass paint does exist!

It’s no secret that glass is transparent, so you may be concerned that truly opaque glass paint doesn’t exist. With Glassprimer™ glass paint, you can not only achieve a true opaque coating, but once the paint has cured, you can mount your painted glass using silicone or mirror mastic without fear that your bonding agent will show through the paint.

The secret to achieving opaque glass paint coatings

In many glass paint applications, the opacity of the coating doesn’t matter, but for those applications where you need truly opaque glass paint, look no farther than Glassprimer™ glass paint. You can order Glassprimer™ glass paint in any paint color. In fact, we can match any paint color from any major paint manufacturer. This means you can count on getting the color and the coverage you want for your glass paint application.

Depending upon the color you choose, you can improve the opacity of your glass paint project by applying additional coats of paint to the glass surface. When you want an opaque result, it’s tempting to use a thick coat of paint. With glass paint, the best strategy to use to achieve good opacity is to apply a number of thin coats of paint.
Apply your first (thin) coat and allow it to dry. Glass paint will be dry to the touch in about two and a half hours, and you can safely handle the painted piece in about four hours. After the first coat has dried sufficiently, apply a second thin coat.

You apply as many as 8 thin coats of glass paint to achieve an opaque glass paint coating. Be sure to let each coat dry completely before applying additional paint. If you apply more paint to a surface that’s not completely dried, you will not only increase the drying time of the second coat, but also the curing time for the project. You’ll also increase the amount of time needed before you can safely handle the painted piece.

If you’re working with a light shade, you’ll need to apply more coats of paint to your glass to achieve an opaque glass paint finish. If you’re working with a darker color, you may be able to achieve sufficient opacity with fewer coats of paint. In any case, the trick to producing opaque glass paint coatings is to apply thin coats to your glass surface, allow the paint to dry completely, and reapply the paint in thin coats until you achieve your desired opacity.

If you would like more information about opaque glass paint, please look at our FAQs. If you would like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store.