Prefabrication, security and lighter, more energy-efficient glass are among the innovations on display at GlassBuild America 2026 as manufacturers target two persistent industry challenges: labor and building performance. The show, underway at the Las Vegas Convention Center, features new technologies designed to reduce onsite labor, simplify installation and improve security and energy efficiency.
Kingspan Light + Air is using prefabrication to address several of those challenges. The company is showcasing its newly available pre-assembled KlearSky skylight options. The sklights are custom-engineered to meet project-specific requirements, with standard configurations including single slopes, pyramids, polygons, ridges and segmented barrel vaults.
“Traditionally, all the metal framing would come in parts and pieces,” explains Mark Mitchell, Kingspan Light + Air’s marketing communications manager. “It would be screwed together onsite and set up, and then the glass would be brought in, lifted into place and fully glazed onsite. Especially on the glass side, it takes more effort and time to install some of the larger skylights. We’re trying to simplify that.”
Mitchell says that now, all that work can be done in a controlled environment, so there’s less chance of installation issues.
“You remove some of the environmental issues you can have on a jobsite: dirt, dust and things like that,” he adds. “The material and workmanship side is on us because we’ve done it in the factory. They can pick it up, drop it onto the building and be done.”
Thin Glass, Big Gains
Glaston Corp. and Corning have teamed up to tackle increased global building codes and energy efficiency regulations that demand better insulation. At GlassBuild, the companies highlighted technology that automatically manufactures, using Glaston’s ULTRA TPS, thin triple and thin quadruple insulating glass units (IGUs) with Corning Enlighten ultra-thin glass center lites as thin as 0.5 millimeters.
Glaston officials say the thin triple IGUs can provide up to 20% better insulation than a traditional double IGU while maintaining roughly the same thickness and weight. Corning officials add that its Enlighten glass can reduce the glass weight of an IGU by up to 50%, depending on the configuration.
Storm Meets Security
United States Bullet Proofing (USBP) unveiled a new window and door system (USAW 650 FEMA Window and USAD FEMA Door) designed to meet tornado and hurricane protection criteria (ICC 500-2023 and FEMA P-361-2024), as well as UL 752 ballistic protection against high-powered rifles.
Brian Hanson, marketing director of the Specialty Fenestration Group, explains that a major difference with the new system is the impact testing.
“With hurricanes, for example, you might typically test with a 9-pound 2-by-4 at around 50 miles per hour,” he says. “This is tested with a 15-pound 2-by-4 at 100 miles per hour, so you’re testing for a much stronger storm. It’s also tested for high pressures. There’s nothing else on the market that’s tested for FEMA and Level 5 that also has a Type 2 ballistic rating.”
Hanson says the system is ideal for commercial applications or storm shelters. Schools are a good example, he notes, stating that if there’s a tornado warning, students usually have to go into a secure area. Now, they can have a secure area with windows.
“It doesn’t have to be something that’s completely closed off,” says Hanson. “You could incorporate glass, such as ribbon windows, in a gym and actually get daylight coming in while still having the level of protection that’s required.”
For more information throughout GlassBuild, be sure to follow us on social media or at usglassmag.com.