Glas Trösch: We are Green for Generations

Our goal is clear: we want to reconcile social benefits, the environment and the economy in the best way possible thereby also protecting future generations. This is also what our motto 'Green for Generations' represents.

Our growth may be dynamic, but our attitude to sustainability is consistent.

We have chosen to focus on four core areas:

• We develop glass that reduces the energy consumption of buildings
• We produce our glass using ever less energy over time
• We do everything in our power to maintain a clean environment and to protect it
• We support our customers in constructing sustainable buildings

Innovations are the driving force behind our success. We acknowledge that we can only achieve this with motivated employees, who we support in achieving their goals, such as at our Glas Trösch Academy, for example, or within the context of our LIFT career programme.

We’re confident that each and every one of us can make a big difference. As a result, we’ll stay 'Green for Generations' for centuries to come.

We focus on sustainable products

We’ve been passionate about glass for over 100 years.

We’ve been passionate about glass for over 100 years. Not only is it timeless in its beauty, it’s also incredibly eco-friendly. After all, glass is a natural product and its raw materials, such as quartz sand, soda and dolomite, are abundant resources.

Manufacturing insulating glass requires a lot of energy. However, once installed in a building, its energy-saving potential is so high that it quickly pays for itself. Based on the average lifespan of around 30 years, the energy balance of our window and façade glass is clearly positive.

Our glass not only reduces energy consumption

Our glass not only reduces energy consumption during the colder months of the year. At a time when hot spells are becoming more frequent, another important feature is its ability to provide heat protection in the summer. In this way, our solar protection glass ensures comfort indoors even when outside temperatures are high. It's also able to reduce, sometimes even completely eliminate the need for air conditioning systems.

With our special SILVERSTAR CONTROL glass, it’s even possible to remotely control sun exposure using a blind integrated into the gaps between the panes – thereby regulating energy and managing daylight as needed.

Energy generation with SWISSPANEL SOLAR

We’re not just focussed on glass solutions that reduce resource consumption – we also develop solutions that generate energy. The best example of this is our SWISSPANEL SOLAR, which brings colour to the otherwise rather dull design of solar panels. Using a special process, individually designed images can be printed on the front glass of the modules without having a significant impact on their effectiveness.

We help save heating energy

Heating energy consumption without triple glazed insulating glass from Glas Trösch

Heating energy consumed by a 1975 detached family home with 30 square metres of old double glazed insulating glass and oil heating. Double glazed insulating glass: Ug value 2.9

Heating energy savings with triple glazed insulating glass from Glas Trösch

Heating energy saved by a 1975 detached family home with 30 square metres of old double glazed insulating glass and oil heating. Triple glazed insulating glass: Ug value 0.6 W/m2K

We produce efficiently

Manufacturing flat glass is an energy-intensive process. That’s why we’ve been working to make it as efficient as possible for decades now. In our float glass plants, we use local raw materials to minimise hauling distances. Thanks to our patented system for reusing glass fragments, we also reduce the need for raw materials.

Energy recovery

Around a quarter of the electricity used by our float glass plants is recovered energy

For all other types of energy, we opt for the most environmentally friendly combination possible to minimise our impact on the environment. We have also designed our melting furnaces in-house which has helped us ensure that our float glass factories are amongst the most efficient and environmentally friendly in the world.

Certifications

We are audited and certified by independent institutes

Be it the international standards ISO 14001 (environmental management) or ISO 50001 (energy management), we voluntarily join initiatives by the Swiss Energy Agency and have pledged to continuously improve our CO2 emissions in line with our motto 'Green for Generations'.

We’re your partner for green buildings

Certification systems have been developed worldwide that allow for the sustainability of buildings to be ssessed and compared in order to promote climate-friendly construction.

Certification systems

Minergie, LEED, BREEAM, etc.

Whether it’s Switzerland's Minergie Standard, Germany's Sustainable Building Certificate (Gütesiegel Nachhaltiges Bauen), the US's LEED or the oldest and most well-known of them all - the UK's BREEAM certificate, each system has its own set of criteria with environmental, economic and social considerations, which are weighted differently and relate back to national regulations.

We help architects, planners and building owners achieve the best result for their preferred certification system with our glass solutions.

The individual footprint of construction products plays a major role in all systems. Environmental Product Declarations (EPD), which we provide for our basic glass options, form the basis for calculating ecological sustainability.

Active environmental protection is an important part of our sustainability strategy

We protect our environment

Waste prevention

Specifically, this means that we do as much as we can to avoid waste in all areas and recycle it wherever we can.

Environmental protection

For us, environmental protection also means keeping emissions to an absolute minimum. Electric filters allow us to reduce the emissions of particulate matter and sulphur dioxide from our float glass plants, keeping them below the statutory requirements. In addition, we have been purifying production waste gases with the help of DeNOx systems for years.

Logistics

We’re also constantly improving our ecological footprint in logistics. Our own truck fleet only uses vehicles with economical engines and the latest exhaust filters. Since 2021, we have also been switching to tractors that run on environmentally friendly fuels.

Product innovations

Last but not least, our product innovations also focus on the environment. Take BIRD PROTECT, for example – we developed this special glass together with the Swiss Ornithological Institute in Sempach to effectively prevent birds from colliding with windows. And our SILVERSTAR BIOELECTRIC is a solution tartgetting the growing number of electrosensitive people, by providing reliable protection against excessive external radiation.