The versatility of glass

That glass is a popular product within interiors is not surprising: it can make a statement or, on the contrary, have an unobtrusive presence. The possibilities are unprecedented. Interior Glassolutions possesses the knowledge of both glass properties and fastening systems. It offers diverse glass: fire-resistant, soundproof, kit-free and fully customized.

Glass is a rewarding product. It has a very low carbon footprint, lasts a very long time and is easy to reuse and recycle. By Interior Glassolutions is often combined with aluminum, which is another sustainable product. The standard range already offers quite a bit of choice, yet the company does mostly specials. Director Geurt Roelofsen explains: "On customer request we engineer, draw, produce and construct, including the related constructions. We work with aluminum, steel and wood: the complete process. Interior Glassolutions' specialty is fire and sound."

Fire and sound resistant

The fire-resistant walls and doors provide 30, 60 or 120 minutes of escape time. The soundproof walls and doors go up to an R-value of 60 and 50 dB, respectively. They contain an acoustic film that does not affect the transparency of the glass at all. At the same time, walk-through and fall-through protection is provided. In terms of appearance, the walls and doors look normal, but in terms of safety and sound, they make all the difference.

Acoustically, glass is a difficult material because it is so hard. This creates a long reverberation time. If you use a lot of glass in an office, you have to take measures to reduce that reverberation time. There is soundproof glass for this, but also acoustic panels, says Roelofsen. "We supply cloths and other materials for that. So we don't just deal with glass walls, doors and floors; we do the construction and solutions as well." A combination of features is also possible. The products naturally comply with European safety standards and Dutch guidelines.

Reusing glass

Interior Glassolutions is one-third part of Saint Gobain. The company may draw from that knowledge and, moreover, it is always working on new products. Doors are being perfected acoustically, fastenings are being improved and the glass is becoming leaner and slimmer. Colors and pictures in the glass are also possible. "Those techniques are going very fast," says Roelofsen. "You can print the film, but also the glass. The images are almost at print quality." Where he would like to see more improvement, however, is in the reuse of glass rather than remelting and recycling. "We would like to see architects design buildings where materials are reused more. When the building is demolished, materials like glass, in particular, can be taken back just fine. This is the most sustainable, but it must be taken into account when designing. Glass does not wear out and scratches are easily polished out. We are currently doing a lot of work on Life Cycle Analysis. There is still a way to go in that."