School District Security Window Film, 9 Buildings, 2020 to 2025

Project at a glance

• Client: a Northern Illinois public school district (not named for security reasons)
• Years: 2020 to 2025, phased, with most of the work in 2023
• Buildings: 9, plus mobile classrooms: a high school and its addition, two middle schools, four elementary schools, the district office, and the transportation and maintenance building, with mobile classrooms at four schools
• Glass treated: about 9,000 square feet of exterior glass, 1,205 panels
• Film: Solar Gard Armorcoat 8 mil clear security film
• Attachment: DOWSIL 995 structural silicone on every panel, more than 13,000 linear feet
• Schedule: summer breaks only
• Why phased: the district spread the work over several budget years

The district wanted the exterior glass at its schools and support buildings to hold together and stay in the frame longer if someone tried to break through it: entry doors, classroom doors and windows, ground-floor elevations facing parking lots, and office windows. It needed a plan that fit its budget one year at a time, and work that never overlapped with students in the buildings.

From 2020 to 2025 AAA Glass Tint installed Solar Gard Armorcoat 8 mil clear security film on about 9,000 square feet of exterior glass, 1,205 panels in all, across nine district buildings and the mobile classrooms at four schools. Every panel was attached to its frame with DOWSIL 995 structural silicone, more than 13,000 linear feet of attachment. The film holds broken glass together, and the attachment keeps the filmed glass in the frame, so creating an opening takes more time and effort.

We surveyed every building and built the project as separate phases, so the district could fund one group of buildings at a time and still end up with one consistent system across the district. Each phase used the same film and the same attachment.

Solar Gard’s published figures for Armorcoat 8 mil clear:

• Break strength: 240 pounds per inch
• Puncture strength: 140 pounds force
• Safety glazing tests: ANSI Z97.1 Class A, B and C, and CPSC 16 CFR 1201 Category I and II, as reported by Solar Gard
• Visible light transmitted: 88 percent on 1/4 inch clear glass, so classrooms keep their daylight and view

All work was done during summer breaks, which also gave the silicone time to cure before students returned. Dow lists DOWSIL 995 curing time at 7 to 14 days and full adhesion at 14 to 21 days, at 77 degrees Fahrenheit and 50 percent relative humidity. We do not subcontract installation; our own crews do the work.

By the end of 2025 the district had one consistent security film system, 8 mil clear film with a structural silicone attachment, on the exterior glass of nine buildings and its mobile classrooms. The district added buildings in phases over six years as its budget allowed, and none of the work took place while students were in the buildings.