High-end technical glazing for villas and residential properties
and commercial projects in Spain

The saving comes mainly from cooling rather than heating: on the Málaga coast, air conditioning is the dominant summer load. With solar-control glass (g-value between 0.25 and 0.35) and thermally broken frames, the heat gain through a south- or west-facing opening drops to less than half of what an untreated glazing lets in. We calculate the exact figure for your property in the preliminary study, opening by opening, using the real orientations and areas.

Uw is the thermal transmittance of the complete opening — frame, glass and spacer — calculated to UNE-EN ISO 10077-1; it is not the figure for the glass on its own. As a reference: thermally broken aluminium with low-e double glazing and argon sits between 1.3 and 1.8 W/m²K, while 82 mm PVC with triple glazing goes down to 0.8–1.0 W/m²K. The value you must meet depends on the municipality's climate zone (A3 on the Málaga coast) and is justified against CTE DB-HE 1: we supply that calculation for each opening type.

PVC insulates better, while aluminium allows larger sashes with narrower frames. An 82 mm PVC system reaches a better Uw with the same glass, whereas thermally broken aluminium (Cortizo, Reynaers, Schüco, Aluprof MB-77) is what carries large-format lift-and-slide units and panoramic façades without deflecting. In villas with large glass planes and sea views the choice is usually aluminium; in bedrooms and service areas, PVC. Both materials can be combined in the same house.

A standard 4-16-4 double glazed unit stops at Rw 30–32 dB, while acoustic laminated glass with an asymmetric cavity reaches Rw 42–47 dB. Every 10 dB of reduction is perceived as halving the loudness, so that gap is the difference between clearly hearing traffic and a barely noticeable background. The final result also depends on the frame's air permeability class (UNE-EN 12207, class 4 being the best) and on the quality of the perimeter seal: good glass badly installed does not perform.

With external solar shading, which stops the radiation before it passes through the glass; an internal blind or curtain only acts once the heat is already inside. We combine low g-value solar-control glass with motorised screens, vertical awnings or adjustable louvres, and size the solution opening by opening according to its orientation. West façades are the hardest, because they take the low evening sun: there, glass alone is almost never enough.

It must resist a horizontal load of 0.8 kN/m in private housing and 1.6 kN/m in areas of public use (CTE DB-SE-AE, table 3.3). The protection height is 0.90 m for drops of up to 6 m and 1.10 m above that level (DB-SUA 1), and the glass must be laminated and classified for pendulum impact to UNE-EN 12600 (DB-SUA 2). We hand over the structural calculation of the glass and the fixings together with the site documentation.

It is a system in which turning the handle raises the sash a few millimetres, lets it run on a track, and then sets it back down to seal against the frame. It pays off above roughly 1.2 m of sash width, where a casement stops being manageable and sealing well, and at terrace or pool openings, because it does not intrude into the room when open. In exchange it needs deeper frame sections, a lintel able to carry the load, and a carefully resolved threshold to keep water out.

Yes: through actuators on the sashes and on the solar shading, driven by an app, by scenes, or by rain, temperature and air-quality sensors. They are normally integrated into the automation system the house already has (KNX or equivalent) so that the building ventilates and shades itself without the user intervening. The practical condition is to plan it during construction: every automated opening needs a power supply and a cable route, and adding it later means opening up finishes.

Yes as far as visibility goes: the PDLC film switches from clear to opaque in milliseconds, and from outside nothing of the interior can be made out. It is not tinted glass — it still lets light through — and on its own it adds neither thermal nor acoustic insulation. Worth knowing: it needs a permanent power supply to stay clear, so in a power cut the glass turns opaque, not the other way round.

Almost always because the house has become airtight without the ventilation being rethought: the vapour generated indoors no longer escapes and condenses at the coldest point of the envelope. It is solved with controlled micro-ventilation — activPilot Comfort hardware maintains a constant air flow with the window closed — and with an installation that leaves no thermal bridges in the reveal. That is why we fit with vapour-control tape inside and weatherproofing tape outside around the whole perimeter, not with polyurethane foam alone.

It is specified by resistance class RC to UNE-EN 1627, from RC1N to RC6: RC2 is the sensible level for a detached house, and RC3 for ground floors or poorly overlooked entrances. An RC class is not given by the glass alone: it requires mushroom-head locking cams, a drill-resistant cylinder, reinforced profiles and laminated security glass (UNE-EN 356, P4A or higher) set in a reinforced glazing system. If the assembly has not been tested as a complete unit, the class does not hold.

The CE marking and the manufacturer's Declaration of Performance (DoP) for each system, to UNE-EN 14351-1 for windows and pedestrian doors and UNE-EN 13830 for curtain walling. To that we add the Uw calculation per opening type justified against CTE DB-HE, the classes for air permeability (UNE-EN 12207), watertightness (UNE-EN 12208) and wind load resistance (UNE-EN 12210), plus fabrication drawings and anchoring and sealing details. This is the set the site architect normally asks for at handover.

One team covers the full cycle: calculation and system selection, site measurement, manufacture, installation, sealing and final handover. The critical phases are not subcontracted, so whoever signs the engineering calculation also answers for the execution. Installation is carried out with weatherproofing and vapour-control layers around the whole perimeter of the opening, which is what allows the window to deliver on site the performance stated on its data sheet.

With a technical audit: an engineer visits the site, reviews the drawings and delivers a fixed written quotation within 5 working days, with no obligation. That review brings out the points that inflate costs later — lintels that cannot carry a lift-and-slide unit, badly resolved thresholds, openings with no cabling allowed for automation. You can request it on +34 637 72 95 96 or at safe.smart.energy@gmail.com.