Dive Brief:

• Building codes inland from traditional hurricane zones and north along the East Coast have begun to require impact-resistant glass.
• The glass comprises two laminated layers with a layer between that keeps broken glass from flying, so the window shatters, but does not come out of the frame.
• Manufacturers are adapting the impact-resistant glass to more and more products because of the wider demand.

Dive Insight:

Glass can make a house beautiful inside and out, providing light a a feeling of space that you would not get from opaque walls in the same places. That glass can raise fears, however, that it will become deadly flying debris in heavy winds, which is why codes require impact-resistant glass in coastal areas prone to such storms. Now, other places have begun to think that keeping glass in the window frame is worth mandating.