SunGuard™ Low-E Coated Glass Helps Elevate Performance, People and Possibilities for 30 Years and Counting
SunGuard™ Glass Helps Elevate Performance, People and Possibilities for 30 Years and Counting
Auburn Hills, United States | January 8, 2025Guardian Glass is pleased to mark the 30th anniversary of our SunGuard™ architectural low-E coated glass product line in 2025. For decades, SunGuard has demonstrated that innovation never gets old, making history with bold strides in solar and thermal performance, energy savings and comfort, aesthetic options and expert support for our partners in architecture, fabrication and glazing.
In its anniversary year, SunGuard is poised to unveil product innovations that deliver enhanced performance, greater efficiencies and unique aesthetics. In addition to product advancements, the Guardian team is committed to driving continued digital transformation, with new tools and services that inform smart decisions on glass and low-E coatings.
In 1995, Guardian Glass launched the SunGuard brand in the United States, bringing our first high-performance glass coater online in Carleton, Michigan, U.S. Today the company operates 16 glass coaters around the world, bringing high-quality commercial glass to every continent.
SunGuard glass helps elevate the look and performance of some of the most ambitious, iconic structures – including the Burj Kalifa, erected in 2004 and still world’s tallest building 24+ years later, a vertical oasis for commerce and culture that manages light and heat in the sunny desert climate of downtown Dubai.
In contrast, SunGuard glass provides a bold look alongside powerful thermal performance in the life science building at 66 Galen Street in Watertown, Massachusetts, U.S., where conditions fluctuate between cold, snowy winters and hot, humid summers. Erected in 2022, the LEED Gold®-certified structure presents a luminous façade featuring SunGuard SNR 50 low-E coating on clear glass. Elsewhere in the structure, SunGuard SuperNeutral™ 68 coating on clear glass pairs with SunGuard IS 20 interior surface coating to support serious thermal insulation while maintaining a clear connection with the surrounding landscape.
In 2018, Guardian Glass installed its first jumbo coater in Carleton, making extraordinarily large SunGuard low-E coated glass available in more places – with 130" x 204" jumbo and 130" x 240" super jumbo coated sheets of glass (compared to standard 96" x 130" coated glass sheets). Guardian Glass jumbo coating capabilities also include the application of coatings on glass lites up to 12mm thick. These developments invite architects to think big, and fabricator and glazier partners to make more of every glass lite.
SunGuard glass also elevates experiences on a smaller, but no less important scale. With its charming three-story treehouse-themed design, the Anna Shaw Children’s Institute, erected in 2019 in Dalton, Georgia, U.S., is clad in SunGuard SNX 62/27 coating on a playful mix of green and clear glass that helps stimulate young imaginations while it creates interior comfort for visiting patients and their families.
People are also big part of the SunGuard brand through the years. In 2007, Guardian Glass introduced its Guardian Select™ Fabricator program – identifying and supporting expert partners capable of achieving the most exacting standards as they temper, drill, bend and otherwise prepare commercial glass for installation. On staff and ready to help, the Guardian Glass team of Architectural Design Managers, Regional Technical Advisors and Territory Sales Managers are equipped with the knowledge and tools to help SunGuard customers and partners bring their projects from concept to completion.
SunGuard glass innovation continues to lead the way on aesthetic trends. In 2023, the brand introduced SunGuard™ SNX 70+ coated glass to a North American market eager for extremely clear, color neutral glass that meets increasingly stringent energy codes. Leveraging the proven success of SunGuard™ SNX 70 coated glass, a product widely available and popular in Europe, SNX 70+ preserves an impressively low solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) of 0.28 and a winter night U-value of 0.28 while achieving an incredibly transparent, neutral aesthetic with low exterior reflectivity. This launch further enhanced “neutrality” as it was known across the industry by providing a more consistent visual appearance whether the glass is viewed directly or at an angle.
“When we say that SunGuard elevates performance, people and possibilities, we really mean it,” said Alan Kinder, Director of Demand Creation. “Commercial glass is our business – and partnership is how we bring it to life. Reach out to your SunGuard representative at Guardian Glass today to get your next project off the drafting table and out there in the world.”
LEED – an acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design™ – is a registered trademark of USGBC. The U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED® green building program is the world’s most widely used and was created as a leadership standard defining best practices for healthy, high-performing green buildings.