Codes & Regulations

ASTM International Publishes Standard for Laminated Glass Evaluation

A newly-published ASTM International standard presents a set of criteria that can be used to evaluate laminated glass products for durability against radiation and weathering. C1900, Standard Practice for Weathering and Evaluation of Laminated Glass, was developed by Committee C14.08, ASTM BOS Volume 15.02.

“The new standard outlines both natural exposure and accelerated environments to achieve performance results,” says ASTM International member Julia Schimmelpenningh, global applications manager at Eastman Chemical Co. “This standard is needed to allow reference and unification in the testing and evaluation of laminated glass to ensure that equitable comparisons can be made that affect durability, performance and, in some
cases, life safety.”

The standard will provide glass manufacturers with the opportunity to select components that best fit their needs and desired levels of performance, according to the organization. Regulatory bodies will be able to specify the standard to set a minimum performance level for durability based on the results of weathering tests. Laboratories will have proper guidance from the standard that will ensure testing is run according to parameters set
forth by experts instead of having to run tests that vary by product or manufacturers’ desires.

“The practice found in this document stems from weathering requirements that were set forth in ANSI Z97.1,” says Schimmelpenningh. “As these requirements get more complex, the committee decided to bring this section of the safety glazing standard to the ASTM community where many experts in weathering congregated and developed standards. Although the current requirements have been partially referenced for over 40 years,
this is the first time they are put into an easily referenceable document.”

City of Madison, Wis. Passes Bird-Safe Glass Ordinance

The city of Madison, Wis., has unanimously adoptedWisconsin’s first bird-friendly building ordinance. The city-wide ordinance will require new large construction and expansion projects to use modern bird-safe strategies and materials that allow birds to see glass. The new requirements were effective as of October 1, 2020 and are expected to dramatically reduce bird mortalities.

The ordinance was developed by the City of Madison with input from the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) and in consultation with planners from other cities that have implemented similar bird-friendly standards. A coalition of local environmental groups studying the bird-collision problem in Madison also provided strong support for the ordinance. This group, called the Bird Collision Corps, is coordinated by Madison Audubon, University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Facilities Planning and Management Department and Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, the Dane County Humane Society’s Wildlife Center and ABC.

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