Frozen silicate liquid — windows, bottles, fibres and a Euroclass A1 skin that still shatters and melts in fire.
Also called: soda-lime glass · float glass · silicate glass
Glass is one of 32 materials in this atlas, grouped under ceramics: history, structure, measured properties, process routes, uses, safety and market — not a product catalogue.
Scores compare Glass with the rest of the atlas on strength, heat, fire behaviour, insulation, workability and circularity. They are editorial, not certificates.
Seven chapters follow. Fire and insulation claims name test families (Euroclass, ASTM E84, ISO 5660, KS F) rather than inventing a single safety number.
Deep introduction
Glass (SiO2–Na2O–CaO (typical soda-lime)) is a family of grades whose density ~2.5 g/cm³, heat band softens ~500–700 °C, and fire letter A1.
Glass is sold as grades, not as a single substance. Chemistry SiO2–Na2O–CaO (typical soda-lime), density ~2.5 g/cm³, heat band softens ~500–700 °C.
This atlas treats Glass as a system: mill route, coatings, tests and the cavity it sits in.
Conductivity note: ~1 W/m·K. Insulation score 28/100 is relative to 32 entries — metals lose, VIPs and aerogels win.
Fire letter in editorial use: A1. Do not equate A1 with “safe in a blaze” or E with “illegal”. Assemblies decide.
Origin: Mesopotamia / Egypt; float 1959, Near East → St Helens. The process chapter follows feedstock → conversion → forming → finish → install.
Uses span buildings to defence / safety. Pairings matter: technical-ceramics.
Producers below are landmarks, not an endorsement ranking. Prices are bands, not live quotes.
Circularity mark 70/100. Ask which scrap, which certificate, which year.
United Kingdom · 1959
Pilkington float is a reference point in the public image of Glass.
Italy · Roman
Portland Vase is a reference point in the public image of Glass.
United Kingdom · 1851
Crystal Palace is a reference point in the public image of Glass.
United States · 1903
Owens machine is a reference point in the public image of Glass.
Global · 1980s–
Low-e IGU is a reference point in the public image of Glass.
United States · 2007–
Gorilla Glass is a reference point in the public image of Glass.
Europe · medieval
Stained cathedral is a reference point in the public image of Glass.
US / DE · 1930s–
Glass wool cousin is a reference point in the public image of Glass.
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Same family or rival physics — pick a duel.
Closest neighbours on the six atlas axes — strength, heat, fire, insulation, workability and circularity.
Chromium passive films that keep kitchens, chemical plant and façades from rusting like carbon steel.
Overall 64 🔶The first industrial conductor — wiring, heat exchangers, roofs that go green.
Overall 57 🏠CaSO4·2H2O panels that buy fire time by calcining — the everyday A2/A1 lining of interiors.
Overall 59 🥫Light structural metal from Hall–Héroult cells — aircraft skins, cans and façades.
Overall 59Crystalline oxides and carbides for heat, wear and electronics — not the mug on the desk.
Overall 64 🏗️The hydraulic ceramic of cities — cement, water, rock and usually steel, with a fire story better than exposed steel.
Overall 57 🌲Anisotropic cellulose composite grown as trees — carpentry, mass timber and a combustible story that codes still manage.
Overall 57