Founded in 1962 by our current owners and partners, La Casa de los Cristales® is today one of the most important and prestigious glass distribution and processing companies in the country.
Founded in 1962 by our current owners and partners, La Casa de los Cristales® is today one of the most important and prestigious glass distribution and processing companies in the country.
Pilkington® pyrolitically coated low-emissivity, and cost-efficient glass
Low-emissivity glass is one of the most successful Pilkington® developments from
the end of the 20th century. It is used exclusively as an interior glass for double
glazed units, improving its thermal insulation capacity by 35%. Additionally, it
contributes to reducing solar gain.
LOW-E® is a coated Float® glass that looks almost the same as a colorless Float® glass. One of its sides has a low-emissivity coating applied that allows much of the short-wave solar radiation to pass through the glass and reflect most of the long- wave heat radiation, which is produced, among others, by heating systems, keeping it inside. The low-emissivity coating is applied to the Float® glass while it is being manufactured. Since it is obtained by a pyrolytic process, it can be hardened, bended, and rolled. Pilkington®’s LOW-E® glass offers one of the lowest emissivity values in the international market (E=0.18) and can be laminated with PVB and thermally processed in the form of curved, tempered, or hardened glass.
The thermal insulation capacity of a double glazed product manufactured with a low-emissivity glass is 35% better than when both regular Float® glasses are used. The K value for thermal conductivity for units with a 12mm wide air chamber with normal Float® glass is 2.8W/m2K, while the K for low emissivity Float® glass is 1.8W/m2K.
LOW-E® glass is exclusively applied to double glazing components with the
purpose of enhancing the thermal resistance of its air chamber. One of its main
fields of application is the glazing of houses where clear transparent glazes are
most normally used. When used in double glazed units composed of an exterior
solar control glass, either color or reflective glass, it also enhances their solar
control performance by approximately 15%.
The side coated with the low-emissivity layer of a LOW-E® glass should always be
exposed facing the air chamber of a double glazed unit.
Due to mandatory energy conservation standards, LOW-E® glass is currently the most widely used glass in the USA, Europe and Japan in the manufacture of double glazing components for residential and commercial use. Its isolation capacity exceeds that of a triple hermetic glaze composed of three glasses and two air chambers.
A double glazed unit manufactured with a LOW-E® glass maintains 66% of the energy that would be lost through a single glaze. Financially, it means that the amount of heating required to maintain a comfortable level in an environment with LOW-E® double glazed units is only one third of what would be required to compensate for heat losses with single glazing.
Although LOW-E® glass was originally developed to maintain energy in winter, it also helps to limit the entry of radiant solar heat during the summer through a double glazed unit composed of a colorless outer glass. Combined with an external solar control glass, it reduces almost 10% of the solar factor and shading coefficient of double glazed units, contributing to keep the inner glass colder.
The Pilkington-Lof LOW-E® Glass has one of the lowest emissivity values in the international market (E =0.18) and can be laminated with PVB and thermally processed in the form of curved, tempered, or hardened glass. The side coated with the low-emissivity layer of a LOW-E® glass should always be exposed facing the air chamber of a double glazed unit
