37º IAHS World Congress on Housing: - Universidad de Cantabria

XXXVII <strong>IAHS</strong><strong>World</strong> <strong>Congress</strong> on HousingOctober 26 – 29, 2010, Santander, SpainCODE: 117NON-TRADITIONAL SOLUTIONS FOR THE USE OF GLASS INBUILDINGSFaustino, M., Costa, R., Godinho R., Henriques D.FDepartment of civil engineeringInstituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, Portugal.e-mail: marisa_faustino88@hotmail.com, rjviolantecosta@gmail.com , ricardogodinhof@hotmail.comKey words: Glass in buildings, Technical properties, Construction ProcessesAbstractThe use of glass in the building industry, apart from its classic use to fill spans; has been littleexplored and its properties are unknown to most people within the industry.This text is the result of technical research undertaken within the scope of the undergraduatedegree in Civil Engineering. It aims to inform about the diverse non-traditional applicationsfor which glass can be used in construction, its main characteristics, technical specifications,standardization and CE conformity marking.It makes a general presentation of the glass most often used in buildings and analyses glasstiles, glass mosaic tiles, glass bricks and glass with transparency control.Special attention is paid to the technical properties of each product considering the aims of theproject, application and final usage. The text contains summary information on constructionprocesses, quality tests and tabulated project values.All materials presented are shown withtheir various forms and sizes. An explanation of the functioning of regulating light glass isalso presented.Being of high quality in terms of dimensional stability, impermeability, aesthetics, hygieneetc; glass should be as well-recognized as other coating and covering materials in buildings[1,2]. This text aims to provide a small contribution to that end.37º <strong>IAHS</strong> <strong>World</strong> <strong>Congress</strong> On Housing Science 70