It might seem obvious, but a glazing system must be fit for purpose. Anything less and you put building occupants and your own reputation on the line.
But how do you know if a glazing system is up to the job?
There's more than one answer, of course. You can check the supplier's accreditations. You can look for online testimonials. You can visit sites that use the supplier's specific systems. You can look for data on airtightness, thermal performance and the rest.
But none of this is completely compelling without knowing that the glazing system has been thoroughly and compliantly tested.
Here at Wrightstyle, we test all our steel-and-glass glazing and curtain wall systems using physical, real-world experiments rather than computer or laboratory simulations.
Put simply, that means we send our systems to specialist testing labs. There, they're blown up, set on fire or attacked with real weapons.
Why do we go to the trouble? It's primarily to give ourselves and our customers peace of mind that our glazing systems meet and exceed expectations.
In this guide, we look in more detail at the ways we test our
high-performance glazing systems. But first: why is real-world testing so much better than computer simulations?
Why real-world testing beats simulations
The real world is unpredictable. And while computer and laboratory condition simulations can model unpredictability to an extent, they simply can't beat good old real-world testing.
Three unpredictable factors are wind, rain and heat. Simulations often test these three things separately, whereas real-world tests can test all at once.
Simulations also often assume the glazing system will be perfectly installed. Real-world testing, by contrast, reveals how the system performs under less-than-ideal installation conditions.
Similarly, real-world testing can reveal hidden flaws – such as water-pooling paths and acoustic bridging – that aren't built into digital models.
At the end of the day, it's about testing glazing systems in the conditions they'll be installed in – not a virtual simulation.
As our former marketing director
once wrote:
"A lot of similar test data is computer-generated. Instead, we wanted to test our system against real bombs. That reflects our approach to any of our products. We can guarantee the quality of everything we make because our testing is absolutely thorough."
So, how do we do it? It all depends on the nature of the glazing system. This determines the tests we subject them to in the field.
Fire-resistance testing
We extensively test our fire-resistant glazing systems to European and British standards, including BS 476 and EN 1364. They can withstand fire and smoke for 30 to 180 minutes, depending on the product.
In the video below, you can see our F1 door, screen and window system tested to the American ASTM E119 requirements. These are the standard test methods for fire tests of building construction and materials.
