American Commercial Glass installs glazed aluminum curtain wall systems across Florida and the Southeast. Stick-built for mid-rise commercial, structural-silicone glazed (SSG) for high-design facades, and unitized systems for fast-track schedules. Florida HVHZ-compliant configurations standard. ASTM E330, E283, E331 testing documentation available for every system.
Field-assembled aluminum extrusion curtain wall. Verticals and horizontals shipped to site and assembled in place. Ideal for irregular-shaped buildings, projects with limited crane access, and mid-rise commercial where unit cost matters more than installation speed. ACG's primary system partner for stick-built curtain wall is ESWindows.
Factory-assembled panel units shipped to site and hung floor-by-floor on anchor brackets. Faster field installation, tighter factory quality control, better suited for high-rise and fast-track schedules. Higher factory cost but reduced field labor. ACG coordinates unitized systems through custom-engineered supply partners appropriate to the project scale.
Glass bonded directly to aluminum framing with structural-grade silicone — no mechanical glass-stop bite. Results in a flush, shadowless exterior face with maximum glass visibility. Requires a weather-seal secondary silicone bead at panel perimeters and UV-stable primary sealant specification. ACG has SSG installation capability for commercial and hospitality facades.
The design principle underlying most modern high-performance curtain wall. The cavity behind the glass is pressure-equalized to atmospheric pressure so no pressure differential drives water inward. Water that enters is drained back out through weep paths rather than sealed out entirely. ACG understands the distinction between pressure-equalized and barrier wall — a critical design check on Florida coastal projects.
Curtain wall framing members — particularly horizontal transoms — must deflect within limits that prevent glass-to-frame contact under design wind load. The industry standard for glazed aluminum curtain wall is L/175 for members supporting glass, where L is the unsupported span. Some codes and specifications tighten this to L/200 or absolute limits of 3/4". ACG reviews deflection limits in the curtain wall shop drawings and cross-checks with the glass bite dimensions to confirm the IGU will not contact the aluminum under full design load. Failure to check this produces glass breakage in the first hurricane season.
A barrier wall attempts to create a continuous seal at the exterior face — every joint must be sealed to prevent water ingress. This approach works until a seal fails, at which point water enters and has no drainage path. A pressure-equalized rainscreen wall accepts that some water may enter the outer chamber and manages it through a drained cavity. The vast majority of aluminum curtain wall systems specified today are designed as pressure-equalized systems. ACG confirms the design intent in the spec and confirms that the installation — drainage, backer rod, weeps — matches the intended drainage path. Florida coastal conditions make this distinction consequential.
Insulating glass units (IGUs) in curtain wall applications are specified to meet energy, optical, structural, and in Florida — impact — requirements simultaneously:
| Standard | Test | Florida HVHZ Relevance |
|---|---|---|
| ASTM E330 | Structural load testing — applies positive and negative uniform static air pressure to the curtain wall assembly. Confirms the framing and glass meet the design wind pressure without exceeding deflection limits or permanent deformation. | Required for Florida Product Approval on commercial curtain wall. Design pressures in HVHZ are among the highest in the continental USA. |
| ASTM E283 | Air infiltration testing — measures air leakage through the closed curtain wall assembly at a fixed test pressure differential (75 Pa). Result expressed in cfm/sf. Typical spec limit: 0.06 cfm/sf max at 75 Pa. | Required for Florida Product Approval. Also used in energy modeling compliance documentation under FBC Energy Code. |
| ASTM E331 | Water penetration testing — sprays water at the assembly while applying a pressure differential. Pass/fail: no water penetration into the interior at the test pressure. Typical test pressure: 10% of design wind pressure, minimum 6.24 psf. | Required for Florida Product Approval. Florida coastal conditions produce driving rain at high wind velocities; E331 performance is a real field-condition predictor. |
| ASTM E1996 | Impact resistance — large missile and small missile testing. Glass must withstand a 9-lb 2x4 at 50 ft/s without penetration (large missile, HVHZ) or similar criteria for small missile. | Mandatory in HVHZ. Non-HVHZ Florida uses E1996 small missile in certain wind zones. All HVHZ ACG curtain wall installations use impact-rated IGUs meeting this standard. |
Sources: ASTM E330 · ASTM E283 · ASTM E331 · Florida Building Code 8th Edition, Chapter 16.
ACG's primary product partner for stick-built curtain wall in Florida is ESWindows. ESWindows produces aluminum curtain wall systems with Florida Product Approvals covering both HVHZ and non-HVHZ applications. ACG holds a direct authorized-dealer relationship with ESWindows, which provides:
ESWindows curtain wall products carry Florida Product Approval numbers covering the performance requirements for commercial curtain wall installations across all Florida wind zones. ACG cites the product approval number on permit applications and has the full test documentation on file.
ESWindows' pre-glazed capability extends to curtain wall applications. Glass can be factory-installed in the curtain wall frame, reducing on-site glass-handling risk and improving installation pace. ACG coordinates pre-glazed delivery scheduling with the GC's weathering-in milestone.
ESWindows provides design-assist support for complex curtain wall conditions — curved elevations, non-standard panel sizes, custom pressure-plate profiles. ACG manages the design-assist process between the architect of record and the ESWindows engineering team.
For unitized curtain wall scope, ACG sources through custom-engineered supply partners appropriate to the specific project scale and profile. System selection is driven by the project's performance spec, height, schedule, and crane access constraints.
Miami-Dade and Broward County curtain wall installations require Florida Product Approval or Miami-Dade NOA for every component. ACG's HVHZ curtain wall process:
Send the curtain wall elevation drawings, spec section, and wind zone. ACG returns a qualified bid with system selection, ASTM test documentation status, and HVHZ compliance confirmation included.
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