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Wachenhut cuts insurance premiums by choosing windows of SentryGlas^® for headquarters in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

U.S. Security firm Wachenhut will save hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in insurance premiums by installing window systems fitted with DuPont™ SentryGlas® in its corporate headquarters in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Well-known U.S. security firm Wachenhut will save hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in property and casualty insurance premiums by installing windows fitted with DuPont^™ SentryGlas^® intrusion-resistant multilayer in its new corporate headquarters in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, inaugurated in March 1996. As a result of the insurance savings, the SentryGlas^® fitted throughout the building will pay for itself within the first year of installation.

Installing SentryGlas^® made good business sense

It is significant that while Palm Beach county had not made the use of laminated glass in commercial buildings mandatory by legislation at the time of Wachenhut's decision to install SentryGlas^® , the US security firm based its decision to use the DuPont advanced glazing product on good economic sense; the saving of insurance premiums and the fact that, during an emergency situation such as a hurricane, business could continue as usual.

General contractor for the Wachenhut headquarters was Catalfumo Construction and Development, one of Florida's largest construction companies. The laminator was Romag while the glazier was Sasser Glass Works Inc. Factory Mutual was the insurance agency involved.

Following extensive damage due to hurricanes in Florida, construction experts there have concluded that the protection of window and door openings is crucial to maintaining a building's envelope and preventing winds from entering and destroying a home.

Laminated glass selected over alternative protection systems

Bruce Sasser, President of Sasser Glass Works Inc., decided to install SentryGlas^® rather than alternative hurricane-protection systems such as stick-on window films or shutters.

"When Wachenhut first mentioned that it was looking to save money by way of business interruption insurance the alternatives to laminated glass – rolldown panes or shutters – were never really considered," explained Bruce Sasser. "Rolldown panes are extremely expensive to install and the large size of the Wachenhut building excluded hurricane shutters which have to be fixed in place at the time of a hurricane warning which usually only happens hours before the hurricane hits."

"It would have taken a team of 40 or 50 people working full time several hours to fix shutters in place and that kind of manpower is rarely available in times of hurricane alert! In addition, the shutters have to be measured, fitted and stored in order to be on-hand in times of inclement weather which presents a logistical hassle," he explained.

Passive 24-hour protection from storms, vandalism and crime

Unlike shutters, which must be put into place with every threat of inclement weather, windows with SentryGlas^® composite offer 'passive' 24-hour personal and property protection not only from storms but also from vandalism and theft and, as Bruce Sasser noted: "As a security company, Wachenhut appreciated the value of that protection!"

SentryGlas^® provides the low weight and thickness preferred by architects, engineers and builders and, when the window design allows for annealed glass, it offers the additional benefit of being cut to size. SentryGlas^® also keeps broken glass fragments intact when a window is shattered.

Impressive qualifications of SentryGlas^®

Bruce Sasser continued: "When it came to choosing which form of laminated glass to use, DuPont^™ SentryGlas^® was the obvious answer. It has passed more state safety tests than any other hurricane window system, so that was a relatively easy decision for us."

SentryGlas^® composite combines an interlayer of Butacite^® PVB and an exterior layer of clear, strong polyester film. Once laminated to a sheet of annealed glass, SentryGlas^® gives laminated glass characteristics to a single piece of glass.

Businesses and homeowners worldwide are increasingly seeing impact-resistant windows as a solution to protecting their homes with a 24-hour security system against both hurricanes and crime, allowing custom-designed windows to remain shutter-free and not interfering with architectural and building aesthetics.

While the Wachenhut building was an early indicator of the way U.S. businesses are choosing laminated glass for passive protection systems, many of the firm's neighbors will be soon following suit as Palm Beach legislated in February 1996 that all new buildings in the county should henceforth be fitted with laminated glass.