3M VHB Tape Makes Its U.S. Debut for Exterior Curtain Wall Glazing

Already used for this application in thousands of buildings in Asia, Europe and South America, 3M VHB Structural Glazing Tape is an alternative to structural silicone for glazing. Unlike silicone, it requires no curing time, saving weeks of delay and precluding the requirement for costly curing-time space. It also needs no spacer tape, further simplifying and shortening the assembly process.



Moreover, because 3M VHB Structural Glazing Tape serves as both the adhesive and a secondary weather sealant, it reduces waste and clean-up at the application site.



“For these and other reasons, including clean, unimpaired sightlines and the energy-absorbing nature of the acrylic foam, which reduces stress at the bonding line, we feel that the tape is ready to make an impact on the U.S. market,” says Mark Jennings, 3M’s Market Development Manager. “It has certainly proven itself around the world.”



3M VHB Tape already has received its first application for interior curtain wall glazing in the U.S., having been chosen for the recent remodeling of the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri. The Memorial includes the new National World War One Museum, situated underground and encircled by a dramatic glass-drum wall, 300 feet in diameter. 3M’s acrylic foam tape was selected for the glazing because of its ability to deliver crisp sightlines and maintain the “invisibility” of the structure holding the glass.



In its first U.S. exterior curtain wall glazing applications, 3M VHB Structural Glazing Tape has been used on a new five-story structure on 38th Street in the Boro Park section of Brooklyn – a building developed by the Jewish community services organization Yeled V’Yalda – which will provide medical and educational services there and use the property as its administrative home. In addition, a few miles away, in the Williamsburg community, the tape is in use on the 18-foot-high arched windows of a new synagogue nearing completion. And Brooklyn’s Salem Missionary Baptist Church is scheduled to remodel shortly with 3M VHB Structural Glazing Tape for its windows.



In each case, the impetus for using the tape is coming from the Brooklyn-based window company, Westside Windows & Doors, which is importing the glass and specially made aluminum frames from Israel, one of the many countries where the acrylic foam is commonly used for glazing.



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