Did you know that the polycarbonate glass competition is the building industry’s equivalent of a World Cup matchup or an Olympic medal bout? For a long time, glass ruled when it came to popularity, both from its longstanding heritage as a traditional material and also, in contemporary times, for its positive environmental qualities. But even though glass is attractive, and even though it can be continually recycled, glass makes a poor showing when it’s competing against polycarbonate. Isn’t it time you learned more about this remarkable building material and how well it fares in the polycarbonate glass competition?
Polycarbonate, Glass, and Impact Resistance
Unless you’ve taken up residence in a tree house, it’s pretty much guaranteed that you’ve been inside a building that uses polycarbonate as one of its structural components. Schools and hospitals, in particular, include polycarbonate in their construction because it’s 200 times stronger than glass. Polycarbonate is especially popular in greenhouses. The polycarbonate glass struggle for supremacy isn’t even much of a struggle, because polycarbonate can match the ability of glass to transmit natural light indoors while maintaining superior strength. If you’re looking for a material that’s durable and resistant to weather while still offering the esthetic features of glass, you’re looking for polycarbonate.
Maybe you’re still leaning toward glass for your construction project, and you’ve heard that polycarbonate scratches easily. That’s true, but that’s not the end of the story. Because clear polycarbonate surfaces need to be protected from scratches, the solution is to coat the sheeting with a layer that’s scratch-resistant.
What About Polycarbonate Glass And Heat?
The insulating properties of a building material matter more than ever in today’s energy efficient consumer climate. People don’t want their homes and workplaces to contribute to the ongoing climate change crisis. As far as insulating ability goes, glass is far inferior to polycarbonate. Polycarbonate supports a constant indoor space temperature because of its superior thermal efficiency. In the cold days and nights of winter, it reduces some of the need for heating; in the warm weather, it reduces the need for air conditioning. At the same time as it’s making a building more energy efficient, it’s reducing the structure’s carbon footprint.
The polycarbonate glass contest isn’t much of a challenge when we’re considering transparent roofing. That’s because polycarbonate, which totally blocks ultra-violet radiation, is a much better choice than glass, which does not have this ability.
There’s another bonus for a polycarbonate glass battle. Because polycarbonate is a thermoplastic, it’s capable of enduring temperatures that reach 155 degrees Celsius before it melts. But even if it does melt, it can be cooled, re-heated, and reformed.
Transporting Polycarbonate Glass
Not only is polycarbonate the better building material choice when it’s installed onto a structure, but it’s even superior before installation! Its light weight makes it easy to transport to the construction site, and its flexibility makes it easy to customize to suit architectural designs. Glass, on the other hand, is heavier, and not flexible at all.
Consumers sometimes have the wrong impression that a heavier, more solid material is the stronger option for a building, but as you can see from this information, the polycarbonate glass matchup only has one champion: polycarbonate. Its flexibility and durability make it the stronger of the two building choices. What does this mean for a consumer? Count the windows in your home or even workplace. Now think about how often they might need to be replaced. With polycarbonate windows, a longer life span means fewer windows being replaced. This moneysaver is also more convenient.
There you have it; in the polycarbonate glass battle, there’s only one victor and it’s polycarbonate.