AGC to Double Its Production Capacity of Energy-Saving Low-E Glass

The Company will make an investment of approximately three billion yen in the new facilities, and aim at launching their operation in April 2012 with the purpose of actively responding to a surge in demand for Ecoglass (Low-E double-glazing glass) and the need for an increase in product performance/diversification.

Recently, high energy-saving glass is drawing attention as a result of the increasing public awareness towards energy conservation, the introduction of the housing eco-point system and the revision of the Energy Conservation Law. While transparent, double-glazing glass was mainly used in newly-constructed single-family houses, multi-family dwellings and commercial buildings in the past, the demand for Ecoglass with higher energy-saving performance has been rising sharply since the beginning of this year and is expected to expand further in the future. In the meantime, we expect Ecoglass products will undergo performance improvements and there will be an expansion of the product lineup in order to meet the diverse needs of customers, such as the pursuit of higher heat insulation and heat-shielding performance, ensuring increased visibility and rich color variation that suits various settings.

For over a period of ten years, AGC has been manufacturing and selling Low-E glass, a component of Ecoglass, using the high performance inducing sputtering method and currently has the largest share of the domestic market. AGC looked upon the surging demand and diversifying needs with regards to Ecoglass and decided to establish state-of-the-art coating facilities. The features of the facilities that will be newly introduced are as follows.

(1) The largest coating capacity in Japan: Delivers a coating capacity of 6.8 million m2 per year initially in new facilities alone and of 13 million m2 per year when combined with existing facilities.

(2) The largest number of coating layers in Japan: High-performance Ecoglass and a wide range of color variations can be achieved with more advanced multilayer coating, which is created using one of AGC’s specialty area: the sputtering method.

AGC is committed to contribute to solving the global warming issue. Leveraging the expertise in glass and chemicals which has been cultivated over the years, we will provide products and processes that are conducive to energy conservation.

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◎Inquiries: Toshihiro Ueda, General Manager, Corporate Communications & Investor Relations, Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. (Contact: Kenichi Oda; Tel: +81-3-3218-5260; E-mail: info-pr@agc.com)