Modern buildings use glass increasingly in their construction, so inevitably glass security features have become more and more important. Safe glass units can have laminated, tempered, or armoured glass floats.
Laminated glass – this is glass made of two or more glasses panes glued with film (polyvinyl butyral, or PVB) at a specific temperature and pressure. The bonded glass looks like ordinary glass, but if it is broken into pieces it stays in one piece, thus dramatically reducing the risk of injury from broken glass.
Tempered glass – this is a single sheet of glass which is toughened using a quickly cooling heated glass plate. This increases the strength of the glass 5-6 times (much more resistant to thermal and physical loads). Most types of glass can be tempered. In most cases, the glass is tempered to prevent people from being injured when it gets broken. Broken tempered glass shatters into many small pieces with round edges, which are not sharp. This type of glass should be used in rooms where the glass can be easily damaged as a result of everyday human activities.
Armoured glass – the resistance of glass is increased by using a wired grid. Wire mesh holds broken glass in place. This glass is used where good fire protection is needed. This glass was designed to deter fire, toxic gas and smoke from spreading through the window.