Glass News For The Discerning Window Cleaner

The miracle spray-on glass that stops the bugs: Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool is coating the toys in its wards with a revolutionary form of "liquid glass" that has proven in trials to reduce the number of disease-causing bacteria living on the surface of objects. Severely ill children being treated at Alder Hey are often not allowed to play with the hospital's pool of toys because of fears that infections will be passed between patients, some of whom may have suppressed immune systems resulting from their life-saving treatment. The liquid glass, which is safe and completely inert, forms an invisible, flexible coating on the surface of an object and repels dirt and grime. More importantly, it is believed to prevent the build-up of hospital-acquired infections such as the superbug Staphylococcus aureus, which is resistant to many antibiotics.
Alder Hey is testing the experimental coating on the toys in its children's wards because these shared objects come into intimate body contact and could easily become a source of a hospital-acquired infection spread between the children. "We have an awful lot of toys and many of them are difficult to clean. We even have to remove some of them because they are so difficult to keep clean, yet they are so important for the children," said Pauline Bradshaw, operational director of infection, prevention and control at Alder Hey."We view toys in the same frame as any other medical device that has to be cleaned and decontaminated. Once the toy is coated with the liquid glass you cannot see any difference whatsoever. I think it's got great potential not just for toys but for other hospital settings," Ms Bradshaw said.
Tests of the liquid glass in another nearby hospital, Southport and Formby District General, have shown that coating surfaces such as floors, bedside tables, washbasins, toilet handles and lift buttons, can reduce bacterial growth by between 25 and 50 per cent. The three-month trial at Southport compared surfaces coated with the liquid-glass, made by a German company called Nanopool, against untreated surfaces. Hospital staff followed their usual cleaning routines and were not told which surfaces had been coated. Scientists took swabs of different hospital areas every week for the 12-week period and the final results demonstrated a clear, statistical difference in bacterial load between the treated and untreated surfaces, according to the official evaluation of the trial. "These initial results suggest that the Nanopool coating would be effective in reducing levels of contamination on a range of surfaces in hospitals and could potentially improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the cleaning regime," the report says.
"The evaluation also confirmed that the Nanopool coating can be applied in a busy hospital setting with relative ease and with minimal disruption," it says. The liquid glass, a form of silicon dioxide in solution, was originally developed as an anti-graffiti coating for the outside of buildings but scientists soon realised that it had the potential to act as an anti-bacterial barrier. Nanopool said that it has conducted tests at a meat-processing plant in Germany and found that cleaning treated surfaces with hot water was just as effective at killing bacteria as cleaning untreated surfaces with a bleach solution.
Neil McClelland, Nanopool's UK project manager, said that the liquid glass coating is just a few millions of a millimetre thick and the electrostatic forces on the nanoscale film repel water and dirt. They also prevent bacteria from replicating in the way they would normally do on an untreated surface, he said. "The tests show that we can reduce bacterial loading by between 25 and 50 per cent at a stroke and I suspect it may be higher with a bespoke cleaning method we are developing. As soon as the data on the trial was released we got a request from the same hospital in Southport to coat 150 toilets," Mr McClelland said. Brent Dunleavey, the managing director of Radal Technology, which is subcontracted by Nanopool, is working with Alder Hey and other NHS hospitals interested in using liquid glass to coat surfaces at risk of spreading superbugs. The trial on the Alder Hey toys will involve a new cleaning method that does away with the usual caustic, bleaching agents and instead uses a "skin-safe, food-safe biocide", said Mr Dunleavey. Conventional cleaning products used in hospitals often leave a residue that could interfere with the anti-bacterial properties of the liquid glass, he said. Previous blog on nanopool here.

Volvo sues Pilkington over 'price-fixing': The claim by Volvo could run into millions of pounds and will pit the car maker's new Chinese owner, Geely, against Nippon Sheet Glass (NSG), the Japanese company that bought Pilkington for £2.2bn in 2006. In December 2008, the European Commission found Pilkington and three rivals – Asahi, Saint-Gobain and Soliver – had breached competition law by conspiring to fix prices and allocate markets for car glass products between 1998 and 2003.

Glass Pool Walls See Increasing Popularity in Australia: Glass and glazing trends vary from country to country. In Europe, for example, double-glazed facades are quite common, while in Australia, glass railings and balustrades can be seen on many homes, condos and hotel projects. In addition to balcony and patio railings, glass walls surrounding pools are also growing in popularity in Australia. “[Large-scale], frameless, glass pool walls are at the top end of the affordability scale,” said Vince Bianchini with Cooling Brothers, an Australian glass company located in High Wycombe, Western Australia. “There is an increasing trend for glass pool windows, which our company engineers, supplies and installs on a regular basis.”

Glass or metal? That could become an increasingly important question for developers of concentrating solar power projects. A growing number of companies, from 3M to Abengoa Solar, are working on mirrors made of metals and polymer that aim to be lightweight and cheaper than the glass variety. 3M is doing a pilot-stage launch of its Solar Mirror Film, and it’s planning for a full commercial launch by the end of the year, said Daniel Chen, business development manager of 3M’s renewable energy division. “Saving time and material costs are the big advantages,” Chen said during a recent poster session at 3M’s headquarters in Minnesota. Metallic films “also are easier to transport – you can pack them densely and use aluminum locally” for project construction.
Like GE and other titans in their industries, 3M is keen on winning a fat slice of the growing renewable energy market. The use of metal film, which is then laminated onto an aluminum backing, isn’t a new concept, and 3M launched a similar product in the 1980s. It lasted for 4-5 years before the entire market disappeared, Chen said. The company restarted the research in this area about two years ago, when the solar industry began to revive in earnest. Proponents say metal mirrors are suitable for all types of solar thermal power plant designs, including parabolic trough, power tower and stirling dish. But replacing glass, a durable and highly reflective material with a long history of surviving the outdoors, won’t be so easy. Investors and utilities tend to prefer well-proven technologies over novel ones. The largest solar thermal power complex in the world, the 354-megawatt solar field in the Mojave Desert, was built between 1984 and 1991 with glass mirrors.



Glass-bottomed hot air balloon takes its maiden flight: These stomach-churning images capture the moment the world's first glass-bottomed hot air balloon took its maiden flight today. The traditional wicker four-man basket has a completely transparent floor which provides passengers with heart-stopping views of the scenery below. The balloon took to the skies over Bath, Somerset, to mark the start of the 2010 Bristol International Balloon Fiesta. The basket was the brainchild of Christian Brown - a pilot with 18 years experience flying balloons - who admitted the flight was a 'terrifying experience'. He said: 'We've done tethered trials before, which usually end with passengers shrieking and screaming in fear, but this is the first time we've actually taken to the skies unaided. 'Ordinarily, you would look over the edge of the basket to peer at the ground below but there is something very disconcerting about seeing it right beneath your feet. The traditional wicker-sided basket carries up to two passengers and two pilots who stand on two-inch thick glass. Christian, 44, travelled the world in a balloon with tycoon Richard Branson and currently holds the tethered altitude world record after flying at 10,000ft on a mountain in Chile. Click pictures to enlarge.

The CEO of Molded Fiber Glass Companies, a distinguished international composites manufacturer, has earned additional recognition while serving as honorary president of the recent JEC Composites tradeshow in Paris. Richard Morrison opened the global show and served as a host for the awards ceremony. He also presented an overview of the fast-growing U.S. wind energy market, which Molded Fiber Glass (MFG) supports by manufacturing blades for wind turbines. During the global show, MFG was cited as one of the most “innovative advanced composite enterprises in the United States.” “As in other sectors, composite processors are currently under pressure, squeezed between raw material suppliers, who are hiking up their rates, and customers, who are holding out for better prices,” said Frédérique Mutel, president and CEO of the JEC Group, which promotes the use of composites worldwide.

Pilkington owner Nippon Sheet Glass expects profits: Pilkington owner Nippon Sheet Glass (NSG) is now expecting to go back into the black this year as the global recovery is increasing demand for its products. The company had forecast that it would make a loss of £29m in the year to March, 2011, as its key markets in construction and the automotive sector remain depressed. But improvements in both those markets mean it is now predicting a net income for the year of £7m. Its annual sales forecast remains constant at £4.4bn, thanks to the effects of the strong yen. In another sign that its markets are strengthening, last month Pilkington announced it was to restart one of its St Helens float lines in a move that will create up to 130 jobs. The decision was attributed to strong demand in South America.

47-inch touchscreen machine launched: No one has embraced the technological revolution quite like the Japanese. And when we say embraced, we mean produced a number of impressive, hi-tech gizmos and gadgets that could definitely be classified as exorbitant. And this latest bit of futuristic kit, without doubt, falls into that category. Because Japanese firm JR East has developed a vending machine that does away with the old fashioned method of simply looking through the glass and choosing the actual product you want, and instead gives the user a digital representation of what's on offer via a 47-inch touchscreen display. The display is also fully customised for the user, based on their age and gender, (it scans them using an embedded camera) and can also use its WiMAX capabilities to store buyers' purchase history.

Soladigm to Build $130 Million Factory, Create 300 Jobs in Mississippi: Soladigm, a developer of high-tech materials for energy efficient glass windows, announced that it will invest $130 million to build a factory in Olive Branch, where it expects to create about 300 jobs that will pay between $18 to $25 an hour. To attract the company here, the State of Mississippi is providing a $40 million loan and another $4 million of incentives for project improvements. Founded in 2007, Soladigm is currently operating a pilot production line at its headquarters in Milpitas, Calif. The company is backed by around $40 million of venture capital investment from Khoshla Ventures and Sigma Partners. In June, the U.S. Department of Energy also provided Soladigm with a $3.5 million stimulus grant.
Soladigm’s products include recent advancements in glass, optical coatings, and semiconductor technologies. Its glass can change from clear to tinted on demand, controlling the amount of light and heat that enters a building, resulting in energy savings. “The combination of Mississippi’s dedication to manufacturing, the proximity of our new plant to Memphis, the nation’s logistics and distribution hub, and Governor Barbour’s tremendous support were key factors in us determining to locate our first high volume manufacturing facility in Olive Branch,” said Rao Mulpuri, CEO of Soladigm.

Spanish glass-maker for solar plants to build $50 million US headquarters in Phoenix suburb: SURPRISE, Arizona. - A Spanish manufacturer of glass for commercial solar plants announced Wednesday that it will build a $50 million U.S. headquarters in the Phoenix suburb of Surprise.
Rioglass Solar said the 130,000-square-foot facility will employ more than 100 workers. An additional 130,000 square feet of manufacturing space is on the drawing board. The company makes curved glass sheets used in solar plant parabolic concentrators. It is a subsidiary of Rioglass Solar Holdings.

Construction of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts this week entered an important phase with the installation of the first of nearly 1,400 exterior glass panels. The glass will form the dramatic transparent canopy enclosing the southern face of the arts center and what will be its four-story-tall grand lobby. Each glass panel, fabricated in China, is affixed to a complex, intricately engineered network of masts and cables.



28 'gorgeous' windows given new life: As a teenager growing up in Germany, Paul Winter was given two career options: organ builder or stained-glass expert? "I really wanted to be a civil engineer building airplanes, but that wasn't possible in Germany in 1946," he said. "So I chose stained glass, because I thought there would be fewer costs than organs." More than 60 years later, Winter is still working at his colourful craft, using his talents to brighten up an Edmonton religious institution.
Winter, 80, is considered a master in stained glass, a job that requires the technical skills of a tradesperson and the vision of an artist. He trained for several years in Germany before moving to Edmonton in the late 1950s. Despite the fact his field has relatively few clients, he has maintained a busy career travelling all over the world designing, fixing and installing stained glass for virtually every Christian denomination.
"Sometimes you do one window, and sometimes the whole church," said Winter, who seemed destined for such a profession considering he was born in a church near Cologne and his father worked in one. "I don't think there is anybody else in Alberta right now who can do this kind of work."
The job is highly specialized and can also be dangerous. Winter remembers one project when a piece of falling glass sliced through his shoe and pinned his foot to the floor. "I couldn't move. I had to yell for help." His son, Andre, said there has been a fair amount of blood on the current seminary job. "These windows are one-inch thick. They're very heavy and very sharp, so there were a lot of cuts," Andre said. "I think Dad and I averaged about two to four Band-Aids per window."

1962 glass invention poised to become multi-billion dollar seller: In the 1960s, an ultra-strong glass was invented but it contained no purpose. Nearly a half a century later, Corning Inc. is expected to sell a multi-billion dollar product by installing the glass to face of touch-screen tablets and plasma televisions. Corning Incorporated is expected to rake in billions of dollars over the next little while a 1962 invention of an ultra-strong glass – Gorilla - is poised to be the face of touch-screen computers and plasma televisions