Hybrid vacuum insulating glass
A vacuum insulating glass unit (VIG) is two lites separated by a 0.3 mm evacuated gap held apart by micro-pillars. With no gas to conduct or convect, its center-of-glass performance rivals a triple-glazed unit at a third of the thickness. GlasFëns builds every glazing unit as a hybrid: the VIG on the inside, protected by an outer lite and an argon cavity.
6 mm
18 mm
6 mm
0.3 mm
6 mm
Typical hybrid stack: 6 + 18 Ar + 6 + 0.3 V + 6 (also 5 + 18 Ar + 5 + 0.3 V + 5). Argon cavity with Kodispace 4SG thermoplastic spacer; VIG with a welded one-piece titanium-alloy edge seal for deformation resistance and wind-pressure strength.
How packages are named
The badge is the number
Badge number = center-of-glass U-factor in US units × 100, in even steps. ZERO 08 is U 0.08 Btu/h·ft²·°F, the tested configuration that anchors our certified claims. ZERO 10, ZERO 12 and so on follow the same rule.
Cold and mixed climates
Low-E coatings on surface #2 (cavity side of the outer lite) and surface #4 (vacuum side), chosen for heating-dominated buildings. Clear or low-iron substrates per configuration.
Hot climates
Solar-control coatings and low SHGC for cooling-dominated regions, specified with the A-Series in impact zones.
Why not bare vacuum glass?
Bare VIG is thin, light and remarkably insulating, but the evacuated edge seal and the pillar array are exposed to the weather and to the frame's movement. GlasFëns never sells a monolithic vacuum unit. The hybrid stack puts the VIG on the warm side, uses the outer lite and argon cavity to carry the coatings and take the weather, and gives the assembly the stiffness and impact behaviour of a conventional IGU.
Whole-window, not center-of-glass
Codes and NFRC labels use the whole-window U-factor, which includes frame and edge-of-glass. That is why the frame matters as much as the glass: a fiberglass profile with a 42 mm glazing pocket around a ZERO package is how the flagship system reaches a whole-window U-value of 0.045 (R-22). More on U-factors →