We offer to your attention the so-called suspended glass facades (glass curtain walls). Different types of these are known. The installation principles are the same for anyone of the used types. Double-glazed window packages are hung on a special aluminum or steel structure. The load-bearing structure consists of vertical and horizontal profiles, which are mounted with special heels to the reinforced concrete elements of the buildings. The drainage of this type of facades is specific. They are practically placed in front of the reinforced concrete silhouette of the building. The horizontal elements play the role of gutters, and the vertical ones of drainage pipes. In this way, if water enters behind the glazing, it reaches the horizontal elements, from there it is led to the vertical ones and then down in front of the building.

The most common division of the types of glass facades is according to how the joint between the individual glazing units is made :

• Cap covered facade.

With this type of curtain walls, the weight of the glazing is borne by the horizontal profiles and through them it is transmitted to the verticals. The fastening of the double-glazed windows is done with the help of aluminum strips, with pre-mounted on them rubber seals 50-60 mm wide. These strips are fastened with screws to the supporting structure and are usually covered with decorative caps with special geometry. These are the most common suspended glass facades. This is due to their relatively low cost and high level of security.

• Facade of dry joint.

With this type of curtain walls, the double-glazed windows are mounted to aluminum frames and the cassettes thus obtained are mounted to the supporting structure. Along the perimeter of the aluminum profiles of the cassettes there are rubber seals, which are a barrier against the penetration of water. There are two ways to mount the glazing to the aluminum frames. One is through the special geometry of the profiles themselves, which cover the glazing, where part of the profiles remain visible on the perimeter of each glazing. The other way is by gluing the glazing to the frames. This is done with a special two-component silicone. This system has the lowest degree of security because it relies only on silicone to hold the glazing. Of course, silicone manufacturers give a long-term warranty, but unfortunately do not say what happens after its expiration. Another disadvantage of this suspended facade is that the rubber seals are inward from the plane of the outer glass and this allows collection of dust and dirt, and cleaning is quite difficult.

• Silicone joint facades.

When the facade is on a silicone joint, the double-glazed windows are usually produced either with a special spacer / as in the case of “Schuco”/, or during their production a special aluminum profile is installed, which covers the inner glass. This is the case with Etem and

Alumil types. In this way a kind of cavity is formed in the area of ​​the silicone filler. This cavity includes special elements, which are screwed to the supporting horizontal and vertical elements. Thus, these elements press the inner glass of the glazing to the structure, and the outer glass hangs in front only thanks to a special two-component silicone. The joint between the individual glazing units is filled with silicone.

This type of suspended facade consists of a steel, aluminum or wooden structure, and different types of cladding. Technologically it is built in the following sequence:

The cladding can be very different: etalbond, stone, ceramics, asbestos, wood and others. The interesting thing about these facades is that there is a distance of 3-4 cm between the cladding and the insulation. In winter the air there is at least a few degrees warmer than outside. Therefore, this air moves upwards and carries with it the water vapor leaving the building. Due to this movement of air, the thermal insulation is always dry. The most important feature of this type of suspended facades is that they are breathable and do not allow moisture to remain inside the building.