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17 Jun 2002
Global glass manufacturer Pilkington, headquartered in St Helens,Merseyside, UK, will invest GBP 16 million to expand the production of its energy-saving glass in Sweden.
The company will replace the existing glass-coating facilities in Halmstad with both a new and an upgraded plant, alongside its float glass plant. The new operation will primarily serve Nordic markets with low-emissivity and solar-control products and will deliver higher-specification products in response to new legislation and demand from window manufacturers. The company expects this market to grow by up to 50% over the next three years.
Windows made from Pilkington's coated glass control the climates within offices and cars by modifying the amount of heat and light passing in and out of them. The low-emissivity (Low E) coatings stop radiated heat from escaping into the cavity of the sealed unit within a window, while the solar control glass allows daylight to enter but blocks the transmission of solar radiant heat into the building. The special glasses are produced by depositing extremely fine layers of metal onto glass using an electromagnetic process under vacuum. The most advanced coatings exhibit the properties of both solar control and low emissivity in a single product.
The new production line, which will begin operation next year, is expected to produce about 5million square meters of vacuum-coated glass products with high insulating properties each year.
Windows based on this technology have recently been installed in a German bank (see New windows control climate in bank).
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