PPG Industries has posted a new video about specifying glass to accommodate wind and snow loads to the PPG Glass Education Center, a comprehensive website that helps architects, specifiers, students and construction industry professionals learn more about designing, specifying and building with glass.

The five-minute video is divided into three segments that can help architects and designers more effectively specify glass to fulfill wind- and snow-load requirements.

The first section covers the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) E1300 standard, the prescribed industrywide procedure for determining the right glass thickness and type to meet a building project’s anticipated wind and snow load. Factors in the ASTM E1300 procedure that impact load capacity include whether the glass is annealed or heat-strengthened and whether it is monolithic, laminated or part of an insulating glass unit (IGU). The number of glass edges supported within the framing system, the length of time the glass must carry a load, and how far the center of glass deflects when it sustains a specific load are among the other variables covered in the segment.

The second portion of the video reviews five key concepts that determine load resistance. Two of the most important concepts are the multiplying factors for different types of glass – such as laminated glass or IGUs – and the relative strength of glass as determined by its thickness, width, height and the number of supported edges within the framing assembly. Others include the glass type factor and the load-share factor, which are multipliers for calculations related to glass type and load-sharing between two lites of glass, respectively.

The third section of the video briefly describes basic design procedures, such as how to formulate a trial design using a project’s specified glass dimensions, load resistance and other calculations derived using ASTM E1300 procedures.

Launched in 2013, the PPG Glass Education Center is an objective, user-focused online resource that helps glass and building industry professionals enhance the safety, attractiveness and energy-efficiency of buildings constructed with glass. Content is updated regularly based on the most frequently-asked questions PPG fields on its website, during sales calls and through its call center.

To watch the video on the PPG Glass Education Center, visit www.educationcenter.ppg.com.