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USA Today says laminated glass makes for safer homes

Window units fitted with SentryGlas^® were the first to meet stringent building codes passed in Dade and Broward Counties, Florida during 1994 to protect homes and commercial buildings from hurricane damage. In late 1995, it was proposed that Dade County's hurricane legislation be extended to the entire South-Eastern USA. Although the proposal was defeated this time, it seems that public opinion in the US will ensure that such legislation will be passed in the future.

The US coast-to-coast daily newspaper, USA Today, lamented the defeat of the proposal, commenting: "Our view is that builders are foolish to oppose making homes more hurricane-resistant. The extra cost (US$2000-US$4000 for a medium-sized house) is well worth it. Too often, in previous storms, doors and windows have proved to be vulnerable in otherwise well-built structures. Smart consumers have proved that they are willing to pay for better protection. The sooner the building industry realizes this, the safer we'll all be.

SentryGlas^® is an engineered, three-layer shield that can be factory-laminated to a single lite of ordinary window glass. Since just one lite of glass is used in conjunction with the SentryGlas^® composite, the result is therefore half the weight and thickness of regular laminated glass – which uses two lites – but with significantly higher barrier properties than standard window glass. As an added plus, glass treated with DuPont^™ SentryGlas^® composite can be cut to size like standard glass and used with metal, vinyl or wood window and door systems.