Since its debut in 2006, Solarban® 70 (formerly Solarban® 70XL) solar control low-emissivity (low-e) glass by Vitro Architectural Glass has reshaped how architects and designers think about sustainable construction by permitting them to meet today's ever-growing and increasingly stringent building energy codes without altering daylighting or the natural connection to the outdoors.
The Moody Center on the University of Texas at Austin campus boasts a sweeping 360-degree curtainwall design featuring Solarban® 70 glass from Vitro Architectural Glass. (Photography: Tom Kessler)
The introduction of Solarban® 70 glass marked a significant moment in architectural glass history as it was the first product to integrate a third layer of silver into the coating, enhancing glass performance to an unprecedented level.
Today, Solarban® 70 glass remains the most proven, commonly-specified triple-silver-coated low-e glass on the market, with more than 700 million square feet – about the area of Cleveland, Ohio – shipped since its inception.
“For nearly two decades, Solarban® 70 glass has stretched the limits of solar control and transparency, enabling architects and designers to include large sections of transparent glass in their building designs,” said Fernando Diez, Vice President of Marketing, Vitro Architectural Glass. “In addition to its optimal clarity and energy performance, Solarban® 70 glass maximizes daylighting, enhances aesthetics and increases efficiency, making it an ideal choice for sustainable design.”
Lick-Wilmerding High School in San Francisco, California, specified Solarban® 70 glass to introduce more transparency and daylight. In 2022, the school earned an AIA COTE® Top Ten award for sustainable design excellence. (Michael David Rose Photography)
Solarban® 70 glass provides excellent energy efficiency without making the glass too dark or reducing the visible light transmittance (VLT) too much. This balanced combination of clarity, consistency and solar control performance is why Solarban® 70 glass is the industry’s most specified triple-silver-coated low-e glass. In a one-inch insulating glass unit (IGU), Solarban® 70 glass provides a VLT of 64% and a solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) of 0.27.
Vitro continues to refine its triple-silver coating technology, as evidenced in products like Solarban® 72 glass and Solarban® 70 Optiblue® glass (formerly Solarban® z75 glass). Solarban® 72 glass was designed explicitly for Vitro low-iron glass substrates, Starphire Ultra‑Clear® glass, and Acuity® low-iron glass. Solarban® 70 Optiblue® glass has a steel blue-gray appearance that controls glare while offering superior solar control properties that support sustainable design.
Solarban® 70 glass can also be combined with a full range of performance-tinted glasses from Vitro to give architects a virtually unlimited palette of color and performance options.
