Guardian expands UK plant with addition of high technology glass coater

Guardian Industriesofficials announced that the company is expanding its Goole, England, float glass plant with the addition of a new coating machine for the manufacture of energy efficient glass for residential (ClimaGuard) and commercial (SunGuard) applications. Construction has already begun on the $48 million project that is expected to create 50 new jobs when it is complete in the fourth quarter of 2012.

According to a release, the coater allows the plant to produce low-E glass that provides high levels of thermal insulation, and solar-control glass that prevents buildings from overheating. These high performance products are able to meet or exceed new energy standards.

“The drive by the UK government to save energy has resulted in raising energy efficiency standards for both new and replacement windows for residential and commercial buildings,” said Scott Thomsen, president of the global Guardian Glass group, in the release. “Further improvements are already planned through 2020 that will demand even more energy efficient glass.”

The Goole plant services window customers and commercial fabricators throughout the United Kingdom. The coater expansion follows the 2008 addition of a state-of-the-art glass laminating line at the Goole plant, an investment of nearly $10 million. The company built its Goole float glass plant in 2003. It is one of 28 such plants that Guardian operates around the world.