Health & well-being | AGC Glass Europe

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Acoustic insulation with Stratophone

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Noise is an increasingly issue in the modern environment: people are more and more exposed to road traffic, train or airplane noise. Stratophone is AGC Glass Europe’s range of acoustic laminated glass, thanks to a special polyvinyl butyral (PVB) interlayer. Stratophone therefore has the same safety protection as Stratobel, but also absorbs sound and resists noise. The higher the acoustic insulation of the glazing, the higher the comfort level, which positively impacts health and well-being.

Preserving indoor air quality

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On average we spend 90% of our time indoors. For this reason, indoor air quality is an important health concern. Everyone's health can be affected by problems of indoor air quality. These can cause allergies, asthma, lung disease, sinus congestion or skin irritation to name only a few of the symptoms in people exposed to poor indoor air quality.

One of the sources of indoor air pollutants comes from the chemicals released by the building and products used in it. More particularly, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) include a range of chemicals that can have short to long-term adverse health effects. Concentrations of many VOCs are up to ten times higher indoors than outdoors. VOCs are emitted by a variety of products, such as paints, lacquers, silicon, glue, paint strippers, cleaning materials and pesticides.

AGC Glass Europe has tested its interior decorative painted glass products (Lacobel, Matelac and Mirox) according to ISO 16000-9 in order to evaluate their potential VOC emissions. Those products score in the best classes according to the French legislation for indoor pollutants emissions.

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Pyrobel and Pyrobelite
Stratobel
Stratobel PC
Stratophone
Thermobel
Thermobel SunEwat XL

A category for

Lacobel (all colours)
Matelac (all colours, excepted for Matelac Silver that is A+

See also our VOC Declaration on YourGlass

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AGC’s lead-free water-based mirror

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In June 2023, AGC Glass Europe has launched its first lead-free water-based mirror: Mirox 4Green+. This product delivers the same high-quality performance as Mirox MNGE but stands out for its use of lead-free water-based paints and its high opacity, making it ideal for backlit applications. Mirox 4Green+ is ROHS Directive compliant.

Both Mirox MNGE and Mirox 4Green+ are available in four colours: Clear, Clearvision, Bronze and Grey.

Low power WAVEANTENNA

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There are more and more telecommunication networks (2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, Wifi…), and therefore, more and more antennas. Traditional practice is to use high power macro base stations to cover a large area from one location. These traditional solutions are not aesthetically pleasant, emit high electromagnetic fields in close locations, and reach progressively their limits because of the emerging of new technologies like 5G and IoT which require high data and high densification of the network.
AGC developed a glass antenna to support alternative solutions made of a denser network of small cells, with lower power, easy installation and without any camouflage effort. WAVEANTENNA could be seamlessly integrated in the building environment. Antennas are transparent or printed with signage, providing an aesthetic and safe solution.

WAVETHRU glazing: better connectivity indoors and positive for wellbeing

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Insulated houses and buildings attenuate the radio signal from outdoor and create issues for indoor coverage for cell phones. This means that more and more often indoor locations suffer from poor mobile connectivity, which can lead to dropped calls, slow data speeds, and frustrate any occupant of a building. AGC developed WAVETHRU, a laser surface treatment applied to windows that allows mobile signals to enter the building again and recover a good indoor coverage. WAVETHRU is a sustainable and passive solution, not connected, and using no energy. The solution is half the price of traditional signal boosters and is compatible with all national mobile operators, it doesn’t affect aesthetics and performance of the glazing.

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From a health point of view, when the signal is weak indoor, the phone is heating up because the internal antenna needs to compensate the bad signal, using more power. On the other hand, when a user is calling, the biggest impact on health comes from the mobile phone, because electromagnetic waves emitted by the antenna of the phone are very close to the brain. A study, conducted by the Ghent University and IMEC, proved that WAVETHRU is positive for wellbeing as it significantly reduces the quantity of radio waves absorbed by the users inside the building. Having a better signal indoor allows the cellphone to use significantly less power to catch outdoor signal and consequently less power is emitted into the user’s brain.

Blocking electromagnetic radiation with WAVETRAP glazing

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In some cases, it is necessary to block unwanted electromagnetic radiation. There are various scenarios in cybersecurity, electromagnetic compatibility, or healthy indoor environment domains, where such signal barrier is needed. It can avoid digital eavesdropping, mitigate risks or proximity attacks aimed to wireless communication and electronic systems and ensure high quality of electromagnetic comfort indoors by reducing EMF levels.
AGC developed the WAVETRAP glazing, made of glass and advanced shielding layers. It offers all traditional glazing properties as energy insulation, solar control, security, safety, acoustic insulation… while stopping the radiation passing through. It can reach signal attenuation above 60 dB which means signal level is reduced by 99.9%.

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Today solutions are mostly based on non-transparent shielding materials such as metallic and concrete layers which do not allow natural lighting and open views from the workspace or home. AGC’s innovative glass solution WAVETRAP offers highly aesthetic and transparent alternative for windows, glass facades, internal partitions, or doors. It has the unique functionality of Selective Electromagnetic Shielding, which performance in various frequency ranges can be tuned according to specific needs of each project. This allows digital minimalists to choose their level of exposure to the digital world and, to EMF sensitive people can choose a shelter for living, in a healthy place with large windows welcoming natural lighting and views on the natural environment.

Glass for health & well-being