If you’re in the early stages of building your dream home, you’ve probably got ‘choose windows’ on a never-ending checklist of things to do, which can understandably be a bit daunting. Don’t worry, we’ve got some awesome tips to help you in making the right choice.

What’s the point?

Glass has different purposes depending on where it is situated. For example, there’s a substanital difference between the glass requirements in your bathroom compared to your living room. The bathroom needs beautiful natural light, but it’s also important to maintain privacy, so a frosted or tinted glass that obscures vision from outside the home might be way to go. A living room glass set up, on the other hand, will often employ large areas of glass to capitalise on views and create a flow between inside and outside areas.

A (comfortable) room with a view

There’s nothing more stunning than using glass over a larger area, however, the drawback is that it can expose your home to temperature extremes and UV glare. When selecting glass for your home, you should keep in mind that you’ll want to be comfortable all year around. You might want to consider one of the many glazing, double glazing or low-emissivity products available, which will not only drastically improve the energy efficiency of your home, but keep your home from getting too hot or cold.

Maximise views, minimise noise

Windows not only open up your home to gorgeous views and natural light, but can, at times, also open you up to unwanted noise and visitors. Luckily, there are products that can remedy against that. Acoustic glass is designed to minimise outside noise, a great feature for people living in high density, urban environment who want a little break from the boisterous natural of city living. For those who love glass, but are concerned about potential break-ins, security glass is an attractive option. It is harder to break than normal glass and will give you peace of mind that your home and belongings are that little safer. Glass allows us to create a relationship with the outdoors from the comfort of our homes. We understand that it can be intimidating choosing windows when you don’t have that much experience. However, if you follow the above tips, you’re going to find the process much easier.

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But have you ever considered glass that does more than those basic functions? Well that’s where double-glazed glass comes in.

So, first things first. What is double-glazed glass?

Put simply, double-glazed glass (also known as Insulated Glass Units) comprise of two or more panes of glass, separated by an air (or gas) filled cavity that is completely sealed -forming a transparent insulating barrier between the interior of your space and the outdoors.

Once the glass is double glazed it provides a myriad of benefits, that a standard single glazed window just can’t compete with.

So what exactly are these benefits?

1/ Illuminate Your Space

Allows for larger window spaces, opening your home up to more natural light and vaster views.

2/ Year-round Comfort

Double glazing provides superior insulation by limiting the transfer of hot or cold air through windows – making your home cooler in summer and warmer in winter. This allows you to have expansive glazing whilst still achieving an energy efficient home.

3/ Reduce Outside Noise

The double glazing provides enhanced acoustics, creating a seamless transmission of light through your windows while restricting the amount of external noise reaching inside. No noisy neighbor problems here!

4/ UV protection

The sun can glare down on double glazed glass and your items inside including your lounge will not fade, the glass offers UV protection against the suns harsh rays! Amazing.

5/ Enhanced Security

Because there are not one but two layers, double glazed glass is built tough. Due to its thick nature when subjected to force the glass won’t crack or shatter easily like normal glass.

Who knew all this could be achieved by the humble window?

Our leading double glazing product for residential spaces is Lightbridge – a high performance double glazed unit perfect for keeping you and your family comfortable all year round.

Want to know more about Lightbridge? Click here: /products/energy-efficiency/lightbridge

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Glass’s greatest power is that it lets natural light in and opens up a living space to the outside world while still keeping out the unwanted elements such as noise, intruders and damaging UV light.

Natural light also creates a sense of space which is one of the greatest luxuries in housing. The magic of natural light is that it can transform a room from a dark, uninviting place to feel like a more expansive area in which we love to live.

In order to help Australians create incredible living spaces and achieve their dream homes, Viridian has developed a range of glass options with different performance features including noise reduction, privacy screening, safety, security and protection of furniture and flooring from UV fading.

For example, Viridian’s LightBridge range provides year-round comfort through superior insulation that limits the transfer of hot air through windows, reflecting heat out of the house in summer and reflecting the home’s internal heat back inside in winter.

The LightBridge range is also configured for three standard make-ups which address different home design needs including noise reduction, security and UV-control. Homeowners also have the option of choosing different glass tones to help vary the degree of sun and glare coming into their home. Being able to pick and choose different glass make-ups really puts the power in the hands of the homeowner to create the exact window they want so they don’t have to compromise on anything.

For example, homeowners concerned about noise can choose an acoustic performance glass such as Viridian’s ComfortHush which reduces noise levels entering a home by up to 34 per cent compared to ordinary 3mm glass.

ComfortHush is also a Grade A safety glass, meaning it will enhance your home’s security giving you that extra peace of mind. Viridian’s other laminated glass products also provide enhanced security so you can sleep soundly at night knowing your windows are safeguarded against intruders.

As a parent, one of my main considerations is safety, so choosing a laminated glass product also provides peace of mind that my children are protected in the event of an accident. The magic of laminated glass is that if the window gets broken, the glass fragments will stick to the interlayer and stay in one place.

In addition to safety and security, laminated glass products can provide other performance features including UV protection to ensure your interior furnishings and finishes are shielded from UV damage. A home should be a sanctuary that offers a feeling of comfort and safety. It’s about building an environment that you can trust to protect your most treasured things in life – your family. The brilliance of glass is that it can help you achieve all those things.

For more on Viridian’s range of glass products for your home visit at www.viridian.com.au

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A recent CSIRO survey highlighted the desire for modern homeowners to incorporate ‘good natural light’ into their home. It was the most important feature from a set list of top priorities for a home.¹

Large areas of ordinary glass lose too much heat and don’t comply with energy regulations, leaving homeowners to face the challenge of achieving adequate natural light levels and maintaining an energy efficient home. As a result of this many six star houses are often built with smaller windows to achieve the required NatHERS star rating.

Viridian’s solution to this is the introduction of their innovative LightBridge™ range. These high performance insulating glass units (IGU) are developed for residential buildings, and allow you to enjoy abundant natural light levels in your home without compromising energy efficiency.

The LightBridge™ range offers the opportunity to more than double the glazed area in your home as opposed to using ordinary glass, without also doubling the price tag.

“This is because choosing high performance double glazed windows like LightBridge™ means the permissible window area can be much larger whilst still achieving the same NatHERS star rating.  This provides consumers with exactly what they want: a comfortable energy-efficient home with light, views, and a sense of space,” explains Viridian’s Home Comfort General Manager, Daniel Black.

“High performance glass allows homeowners to enjoy a healthier, more comfortable, light filled, better quality and better valued home with an enhanced indoor outdoor connection,” Daniel added.

Choosing LightBridge™ helps you to facilitate increased natural light levels as well as offering you the freedom of choosing different glass tones to help vary the degree of sun and glare coming into their home, as well as offering you the choice to elect glass to accommodate your privacy needs.

With an exceptionally low U-value, LightBridge™ is a market-leading performer in residential insulation and glazing – and is suitable for windows and doors capable of accommodating a double glazed unit.

Experience all the benefits natural light has to offer in your home with LightBridge™ by Viridian.

¹CSIRO EnergyFit Homes Initiative focus groups research

For more information on Viridian’s LightBridge range please visit the website: /Products/lightbridge/default.aspx?ProductType=GlassTrade

The Living Space is brought to you by Viridian New World Glass.

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Using steel work crowned with high performance self-cleaning glass, the project has helped to convert a tangled and uninspired site, into a piece of public transport infrastructure that sees the light.

Project Background

Using a glass solution for the canopy was a given, almost a preconception, because it was absolutely the right answer. “The Seraphic Glass from Viridian produces a quite beautiful tree-like, dappled shade”, said Project Director, Michael Davies. “It was designed to allow daylight to penetrate to the shop-fronts and beneath the awnings and yet there was a requirement for shade and for these reasons we chose the seraphic pattern to provide a filtered light. A solid awning would have imparted a very different character to what we now have”.

There has been a tendency for visual clutter in projects of this type, with patterned paving, bulky shelters, bins and seat furniture. In contrast, the Bankstown redevelopment speaks of high visibility. Even the glass panels on the back of the shelters are subtlety incorporated by means of a cantilevered steel angle set into the paving and once again they enable the full width of the footpath to be apparent visually, providing a sense of security and enclosure for travelers.

“The benefit of using self-cleaning glass for the canopies is self evident”, added Michael “and it was one of the arguments I used in support of the Viridian product”.

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