The main types of architectural glass include float glass, safety glass, patterend glass, and special glass.
The main variety of architectural glass is flat glass, which has the advantages of crystal clear surface, transparency, sound insulation, thermal insulation, wear resistance, climate change resistance, and material stability. It is mainly made from quartz sand, sandstone or quartzite, limestone, feldspar, dolomite and soda ash as raw materials, through processes such as crushing, screening, batching, high-temperature melting, forming, annealing, cooling, and processing. The function of architectural glass is no longer just to meet lighting requirements, but to have features such as adjustable light, thermal insulation, safety (bulletproof, anti-theft, fireproof, anti radiation, anti electromagnetic wave interference), and artistic decoration. With the continuous development of demand, there have been new developments in the molding and processing methods of glass. Nowadays, new technologies such as interlayer, tempered glass, ion exchange, glazed decoration, chemical thermal decomposition, and cathode sputtering have been developed, which have rapidly increased the use of glass in construction and become the third largest building material after cement and steel.