Safety and Security Window Film

Letting the facts speak for themselves…

• Protect people

• Retain shards of glass to reduce the number and severity of injuries

• Protect property

• Blast/Storms: maintain building envelope, further isolate interior from elements
• Theft: time deterrent = prevent or slows entry

• All the benefits of both types of films

• Reduce energy consumption
• Slow fading process
• Improve aesthetics
• Increase privacy

• Film will not appreciably strengthen the glass
• Film will keep the glass together when it breaks
• It will hold it in the frame up to a wind load of 75 MPH
  • Unanchored 4 mil film on tempered glass

• Tough polyester film(s)

• High tensile
• Good elasticity
• Superior optics

• Acrylic mounting adhesive

• High molecular weight, chemically crosslinked
• Impact absorbing; optimized peel, shear and tack

• Inside Surface of Glass
• UV Absorbing Mounting Adhesive
• 7 Mil Clear Polyester Film
• Special Laminating Adhesive
• 2 Mil Clear Polyester Film
• Special Laminating Adhesive
• 1 Mil Metallized Polyester Film
• Protective Scratch Resistant Surface

• Glass shards remain attached to safety film; minimizing personal injury and building damage
• Post-glass breakage performance
• “Membrane Action” of film/glass composite (anchored)
• Maintain building envelope; wind, water, looting . . .

• Over 25 years of proven field performance
• Worldwide utilization & acceptance
• Dozens of independent tests including:

• American National Standards Institute; ANSI Z97.1
• Code of Federal Regulations Title 16 Consumer Product Safety Commission Part 1201 Category and II (CFR Title 16 CPSC Part 1201)
• ASTM F-1642 / GSA criteria for air-blast loading
• British, South African, Australian, New Zealand, Japanese, German, and Canadian safety standards

• A. P. Murrah Federal Building
• ANFO bomb exploded

• killing 169 people
• 19 of those were children

• T. McVeigh later stated “targeted the building… amount of glass.”
• 258 buildings broken glass
• Broken windows 10 blocks away

Conducted by John Culbertson

“The Murrah building lacked a simple security measure, safety window film…This film acts like a barrier between an explosion and a victim…it contains the glass — holding it together…you don’t have the sharp-edge projectiles that caused massive loss of life. Measures like this would have saved countless lives.”

• Hazard level dependent
• Safety / Security film

• Typically 4 to 14 mil (1 mil = 0.001″)

• Daylight
• Attachment Systems

• Mechanical
• Wet Glaze

• Most common retrofit
• Installed to inside surface of window

• viewing area only
• max. 1/8″ edge

• Most economical method
• Effective for low level risk

 Daylight = Flexibility

Broken Tempered Glass Leaves Little for Film to Grip After Breakage

• Annealed or HS
• Tempered
• Tempered after Breakage

• Film Is installed on inside of glass, then “attached” to the window frame.
• Especially useful with tempered glass and in high risk environments.

• Mechanical or “Batten Bar”

• Safety film Installed with overlapping ‘tails’
• Aluminum bar placed over ‘tails’ and screwed into existing window frame

• Chemical or “Wet Glazed”

• Daylight safety film installation
• Structural silicons bead connects film to frame

• Film installed to overlap the frame up to 1″
• Metal affixed to window frame
• Film Sandwiched

• Film installed as a daylight application
• Secures the film to the frame with structural sealant

• Human Impact
• Missile Impact (Hurricane)
• Airblast (Bomb)

• Responsible for developing the test methods
  • ASTWI

• American Society for Testing Material

• Where Federai Reguiations are stored
  • CFR

• Code of Federal Regulation

• The testing organizations that a film manufacturer has to interact with for the type of testing we do are many.
• Each one of thee organizations has developed standard test procedures that we or an independent third part must follow meticulously.

• Responsible for regulations and enforcement
  • ANSI
    – American National Standards Institute
  • CPSC
    – Consumers Product Safety Commission
  • SFBC
    – South Florida Building Code
  • SBCCI
    -Southern Building Code Congress International
  • Dade County

• The testing organizations that a film manufacturer has to interact with for the type of testing we do are many.
• Each one of thee organizations has developed standard test procedures that we or an independent third part must follow meticulously.

• Ensuring the “Break-Safe” characteristics of glass
• Tempered glass is break-safe

• Requires:

• Standardized testing methods
• Groups who develop the standard of performance the product must meet
• Enforcement of the standards

• Developed in the late ’60’s early ’70’s to address sliding glass doors
• Address the break safe characteristics of glass

• Tempered glass passes
• Annealed or heat-treated glass must have film to pass

• ANSI Z 97.1

• American National Standards Institute

• CFR1201

• Code of Federal Regulations, Consumer Product Safety Commission

• ANSI Z 97.1 and CFR 1201 differ in the force of the impact

• ANSI Z 97.1 and CFR 1201 use the same test structure
• Difference is the drop height of the impactor
• Height determines the foot pounds of force hitting the glass

• ANSI Z97.1

• Generally residential
• 100 lb impactor, at 1 ft. drop height
• Develops 400 ft. lb. Impact
• Annealed glass with 4- mil passes

• CPSC, CFR1201, category II

• Generally commercial
• 100 lb impactor, at 4 ft. drop height
• Develops 400 ft. lb. impact
• Annealed glass with 7- mil or greater passes

• Impact resistance of glass to flying debris
• Addresses keeping a building “tight” in weather related incidents

• Protect life and property
• Reduce Liability
• Reduce further damage caused by wind and rain entering through broken windows

•  Based and Australian standards  written following cyclone trycy in the ‘70’s

• Greatest devastation not from single-gust but -sustained, turbulent winds carrying debris
• Building must resist the breaching of the building envelope from debris.
• Glass is the weakest link in the building envelope

•  The majority of insurance claim after Hurricane Andrew were from damage caused by wind and rain that  damaged the contents of a dwelling…not the dwelling

• Areas affected by glass breakage from natural disasters

• Dade and broward counties developed adopted and enforced the first U.S.
• Lacking alternative the “Dade County” code began mean approved devices for impact glazing
• This was overkill for most other areas impacted by hurricanes

• Other code organization look at test more appropriate for the southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions

• History said the reason did not receive the same wind speed

• Test were developed for slower wind speeds

• Lower speed also means smaller debris

• Effective only new construction
• SBCCI

• Covrer the southest

• FBC

• Florida Building code
• Cover State of Florida

• Dade County

• Effects Dade and Broward Counties
• Most Stringent of the impact glazing codes

• Each code/enforcement body sets different standards

• SBCCI — latest severe
• FBC — Middle Ground
• Dade County — most Severe

• Standard determine the impact the glazing must withstand
• NONE of these address retrofit, they are system requirements for new construction

• For “product approval” test must be done on

• Entire assembled unit, frame,and anchorage as supplied for installation
• Fastener for mounting, identical, to what what use in field.

• Film as a retrofit application, has not control over the unit as assembled

• Think of it as a six part test
  • Missiles and cycling and adding

• Large

• 2″×4″ stud to simulate ground level debris up to 30 fit
• Speed and size varies by code

•  Small

• Steel balls to simulate roof gravel above 30 ft.
• Speed varies by code

• It is likely something impact the windows and possible break the glass.
• Window pushes broken glass out of the frame allowing weather intrusion
• Cycling simulate the wind and shows how film can protect your home through the remaining wind and driving rain of the storm

• The toughest tested protocol of all
• Large missile

• 9 lb. 2”×4” @ 50 ft. per second (fps), (hits at 35 mph)

• Small missile

• 10 ball bearings at @ 130 fps, (hit at almost 90 mph)

• Cycling

• 80 fps (simulates 175 mph sustained wind)

• Other protocols less stringent than Dade

• Large missiles are smaller and slower
• Small missile are slower
• Cycling uses lower pressures

• 8 mil attached (PA210, PA203, SSTD, 12-99)
• 3/16 temp glass with 8 mil clear attached to frame

• (8Mil Attached SSTD 12-99: 4lb 90-100 MB)
• 3/16 temp glass with 8 mil clear attached to s/d frame

• (Post glass breakage performance)
• 4,700 Cycles each direction
• 3/16″ temp. glass with 8 mil clear attached to frame

• No Film – Tempered glass
• With film – Tempered glass

• Options for new construction

• Laminated glass
• Plexiglass or Lexan
• Rolling shutters
• Shutter panels

• For retrofit, all of these are available but the cost of installation can be prohibitive
• Consider window film – the best protection for the money. 

Advantages Over Other Options – Cost

• Strong barrier of passive of protection
• Insurance discounts may be available
• Most cost effective alternative
• Unobtrusive installation
• Any common household cleaner can be used
• Very little loss of film strength or optical quality over time
• Strong Manufacturer’s warranty

• Will retain broken glass
• May stay in window frame when subjected to lower wind speeds up to 85 mph*

• Will retain broken glass
• May stay in window frame when subjected to lower wind speeds, up to 110mph*
• Stronger film, more resident to debris penetration

• Will retain broken glass
• May stay in window frame when subject to higher wind speeds
• Stronger film, more resistant to debris penetrating
• Passed both the large and small missile impact tests and cycling for 100mph wind zone

• To ensure the the protection of people from flying glass of in a blast incident.
• Air blast loading

• GSA – ISC Safety Criteria
• ASTM 1642-96 (Modified)

• Incident Pressure
• Reflected Pressure

• Result of damage assessments of the Murrah bombing
• ASTM-F1642 “Standard Test Method for Glazing and Glazing  System Subject to Airblast Loading
  • level C nominal  (∼600 ANFO /500# TNT @ 188 feet)
  • 4 psi, 14 ms, 28 psi/ms
  • Level D Nominal

• 10 psi, 18 ms, 89 psi/ms

Advantage Over Option – Flexibility

• Flexibility

• Historic windows
• Odd shapes
• Energy options

• Time to protect
• Access to tight spaces
• Concave Glass surface