PPG Exterior Solar Control Window Film, 2024

Project at a glance

• Client: PPG, Northern Illinois facility
• Year: 2024
• Glass treated: about 3,546 square feet, 256 panels, in offices, the café and a connecting hall
• Glass type: 1/4 inch plus 1/4 inch double pane clear insulated glass, no Low-E coating
• Film: Solar Gard Sentinel Plus DX 5, applied to the outside of the glass
• Edge seal: clear protective film strips along the film edges
• Site requirements: strict OSHA safety rules and PPE requirements, with major restrictions on interior access
• Schedule: normal business hours, working from outside the building
• Result: very high solar heat rejection, and daytime privacy the PPG team loved

PPG’s priority was very high solar heat rejection on large areas of double pane glass in its offices, café and connecting hall. Inside the building, access was heavily restricted and every worker had to follow strict OSHA safety rules and PPE requirements, which made a standard interior film installation difficult.

In 2024 AAA Glass Tint installed Solar Gard Sentinel Plus DX 5 on the outside of about 3,546 square feet of glass, 256 panels. Working from the exterior kept our crew out of the restricted interior and let us work during normal business hours without disrupting the building. In our experience, an exterior film also does a better job of rejecting heat, because it stops the sun’s energy before it enters the glass.

Exterior film needs its edges protected from weather, so we edge sealed every panel with clear protective film strips.

Solar Gard’s published figures for Sentinel Plus DX 5 installed on the outside of 1/4 inch plus 1/4 inch double pane clear glass, the glass at PPG:

• Total solar energy rejected: 91 percent
• Solar heat gain coefficient: 0.09
• Glare reduction: 95 percent
• Visible light transmitted: 4 percent
• Visible light reflected outside: 60 percent, which gives the glass its mirrored daytime look
• Ultraviolet light blocked: more than 99 percent
• Fade reduction: 94 percent, as rated by Solar Gard; actual fading depends on the materials and their sun exposure

We do not subcontract installation; our own crews do the work.

PPG got the very high solar heat rejection it was after, and its team loved the daytime privacy the film added. With 60 percent of visible light reflected outside, the film’s mirrored exterior gives strong daytime privacy whenever it is brighter outside than inside. The work was completed from outside, during normal business hours, under the site’s OSHA and PPE requirements.

Photos show Sentinel Plus DX 5 on other AAA Glass Tint projects. PPG did not permit photography at its facility for security reasons.