How does glass size affect curtain wall price in the market?

Many clients have a concept of the general curtain wall price based on the average construction materials in the current market. However, in many cases, same glass combination has quite different prices, due to a few factors, such as order quantity, glass size, glass shape, holes & notches on glass panel, specific processing requirements and etc. Today, we’d like to talk about why glass size can affect curtain wall price.

1. Glass Size Is Too Big.
As a rule, glass material quotation generally depends on glass size as 2440*3660mm. If glass size is too big, like some over-sized glass panels used in point support curtain wall, the curtain wall price would be considered a little higher than other regular size in the market, for the factory has to bespoke raw materials from float glass manufacturers.
2. Glass Size Is Too Small.
If glass panels size below 0.5sqm, factories will charge it as 0.5sqm.Why? Let’s take insulated glass as example, the silicon sealant consumption is calculated by the glass perimeter, not the glass size. If one glass size is 1000*1000mm, and the other one is 330*3000mm, the later silicon consumption is around 60% higher than the former. In that case, it will cause a higher price. And tempered glass, 5 pcs 500*500mm glass has same area as 1 pcs 1250*1000mm, while the labor costs is almost 3 times as that of the later one.
3. Glass Size Is Irregular.
In curtain wall construction, any building project has its unique shape and design requirements, which means some irregular glass size would be required in the market..
4. Glass size Is Custom Type.
We can image that if the building project needs large glass size ,this will bring about much extra labor expenses during processing, including handling, cutting, and etc. Especially when processors has to bespoke special size float glass to increase the glass cutting ratio and avoid wastage, it will generate different produce costs in a factory. Furthermore, if the order quantity is very small or the delivery time is very urgent, it tends to have a higher purchasing price in the market.