Glass Types for Aluminium Doors & Windows Singapore

Home › Blog › Glass Types Guide Glass Technology Complete Guide to Glass Types for Aluminium Sliding Doors & Windows in Singapore By EZZO.SG Editorial · 1 August 2025 · 10 min read · Glass Technology When architects and homeowners specify aluminium sliding doors and windows for Singapore projects, framing system and hardware receive most of the early attention. Yet in a tropical climate where the sun delivers over 900 W/m² at midday every day of the year, the single largest determinant of thermal comfort, energy efficiency, acoustic performance, and occupant privacy is not the aluminium frame — it is the glass. Choose the right glass and your air-conditioner runs less, your rooms stay cooler, your sleep improves, and your interiors are protected. Choose the wrong glass and no frame system, no matter how well-engineered, can compensate. This guide is the definitive reference for every glass type available in Singapore's aluminium door and window market, with worked specifications, real-world scenarios, and EZZO.SG catalogue references throughout. How Glass Is Specified — Reading the Numbers Before comparing glass types, it helps to speak the notation fluently. When a glazing specification is written as 5mm+20A+5mm , each segment describes the unit cross-section from exterior to interior. The convention is consistent across manufacturers and glaziers worldwide: The first number is the thickness (in mm) of the outer glass pane. The middle segment is the cavity width plus a letter indicating the fill gas: A = dry air, Ar = argon, Kr = krypton. The last number is the thickness of the inner glass pane. PVB indicates a laminated interlayer (e.g., 0.76mm PVB), not a gas cavity. 5mm + 20A + 5mm 5mm outer tempered + 20mm dry-air cavity + 5mm inner tempered. Standard double-glaze. Total unit: 30mm. Used in EZZO TY120, E127, E190, PRO110, E-120. 5mm + 27Ar + 5mm 5mm outer + 27mm argon-filled cavity + 5mm inner. Wider cavity for better acoustic mass; argon improves thermal performance. Total: 37mm. Used in EZZO TY150 sliding doors and standard skylights. 5mm + 0.76PVB + 5mm 5mm glass + 0.76mm PVB interlayer + 5mm glass. Laminated safety glass — no air gap. Holds together on breakage. Used in EZZO skylight laminated option. 5mm + 22Ar + 5mm + 0.76PVB + 5mm Three panes: outer tempered, 22mm argon cavity, central tempered, 0.76mm PVB, inner tempered. Triple-layer acoustic IGU. Maximum noise attenuation. Used in EZZO skylight acoustic specification. 5mm LOW-E + 27Ar + 5mm The recommended EZZO specification for west- and south-facing openings. LOW-E coating on Surface ② (inner face of outer pane), sealed in argon cavity. Best SHGC performance. 6mm + 1.52PVB + 6mm Thicker laminated safety glass with 1.52mm PVB — used in security-sensitive, high-impact, or hurricane-rated applications. Ground-floor doors and balcony barriers. Clear Tempered Glass — The Baseline Every glass type in EZZO's catalogue starts from a tempered safety baseline. Tempering involves heating the glass to approximately 620 °C in a furnace, then rapidly quenching it with high-pressure air jets. This creates a pre-stressed surface compression layer and a tensile core. The result: a pane roughly four to five times stronger than annealed glass of the same thickness, and one that shatters into small, blunt fragments (dice-like pieces) rather than large, knife-edged shards when it breaks. For sliding doors, low-level windows, and any glazing accessible to persons, tempered glass is the safety-code minimum in Singapore under BCA guidelines. Clear tempered glass on its own — the 5mm+20A+5mm or 5mm+27A+5mm configuration without a coating — transmits approximately 78–82% of visible light and has an SHGC of 0.70–0.76 for the IGU assembly. This is a meaningful improvement over single-pane clear glass (SHGC ~0.82–0.86) simply through the insulating effect of the sealed cavity, but it falls well short of what LOW-E coatings or solar control coatings can achieve. Clear IGU is the starting point and an acceptable specification for north-facing openings with limited direct sun — or where budget is tightly constrained. For any opening with significant solar exposure, it leaves a large portion of available performance on the table. Baseline Clear Tempered Glass The safety foundation for all EZZO glass specifications. Available as single pane or as the clear pane within any IGU assembly. Maximum visible light transmission, no solar control coating. VLT 78–82% SHGC 0.70–0.76 (IGU) U-value 2.6–2.9 STC ~30 dB LOW-E Glass — Single, Double & Triple Silver LOW-E (Low Emissivity) glass is the most important glass technology for Singapore's climate. A microscopically thin metallic coating — typically silver-based, applied by vacuum magnetron sputtering — is deposited on one surface of the glass. This coating reflects long-wave infrared radiation (heat) while remaining largely transparent to visible light. In Singapore's context, the coating is positioned on Surface ② (the inner face of the outer pane, sealed within the IGU cavity), where it reflects incoming solar radiation back outside before it can enter the room — without degrading the view or turning windows into mirrors. The number of silver layers in the coating stack determines the performance tier: Single-Silver LOW-E One silver layer delivers SHGC values of 0.27–0.40 and U-values around 1.6–1.9 W/m²K with a 20mm argon-filled cavity. Emissivity drops from the standard glass value of ~0.84 to approximately 0.10–0.15. This is the workhouse specification for most Singapore residential projects — meaningful solar heat rejection at a cost premium that typically pays back through air-conditioning savings within five to seven years. VLT is maintained at 60–70%, preserving natural daylight and the sense of openness that large glazed facades are chosen for. Double-Silver LOW-E Two silver layers push SHGC below 0.25 while maintaining VLT above 62–72%. The selectivity ratio (VLT ÷ SHGC) reaches 2.5–3.0 — meaning the glass admits roughly three times as much visible light per unit of solar heat gain as standard clear glass. Double-silver is the specification of choice for west-facing living rooms, large corner glazing, and any installation where maximum transparency must be balanced against Singapore's intense afternoon sun. EZZO's 5mm LOW-E double silver + 27mm argon + 5mm configuration is the recommended standard for TY150 sliding doors on west and south exposures. Triple-Silver LOW-E Three silver layers achieve SHGC values as low as 0.15 and U-values below 1.0 W/m²K — performance that exceeds Singapore's regulatory requirements by a significant margin. In practice, the additional cost of triple-silver over double-silver is rarely justified for residential applications in the tropics, where heating-season performance is irrelevant. However, large commercial curtain-wall projects targeting Green Mark Platinum certification, or passive-house-standard landed homes, may specify triple-silver on critical south-facing facades to maximise ETTV compliance headroom. LOW-E Tier 1 Single-Silver LOW-E One metallic silver layer. Best-value solar control for most Singapore residential applications. Strong SHGC reduction with acceptable VLT. VLT 60–70% SHGC 0.27–0.40 U-value 1.6–1.9 LOW-E Tier 2 — Recommended Double-Silver LOW-E Two silver layers. Premium solar control at high selectivity — more daylight per unit of heat gain. EZZO standard for west-facing TY150 sliding doors. VLT 62–73% SHGC 0.17–0.26 U-value 1.1–1.5 LOW-E Tier 3 Triple-Silver LOW-E Three silver layers. Passive-house grade thermal performance. Reserved for large commercial facades and Green Mark Platinum targets. VLT 60–68% SHGC ≤0.15 U-value <1.0 Coated & Reflective Glass — Solar Control Coatings Reflective and solar control coatings offer an alternative path to solar heat rejection, distinct from LOW-E soft-coat technology. Where LOW-E sputtered coatings are applied in a vacuum chamber and must be sealed inside an IGU for