Limo Tint?

All of us in the glass industry know how energy-efficient our products can be, right? There's tons of glazing options, from the reflective coatings to warm-edge technology. So how come there are still places--high-temperature locations--that have not grasped this concept?

A few years ago I was in San Francisco for an industry conference. It was during one of those rolling black-out summers, and everyone everywhere was concerned about the energy crisis. So while there for the conference I was in my hotel room and I did the one thing we all do in hotel rooms--I checked the glass in the window. And lo and behold! What did I see? A single-glazed window. I could not believe it.

I had a similar experience while vacationing a couple of weeks ago. I was in Hawaii and while having dinner one night, I saw all the windows there were also single-glazed. We asked the manager about it, and he responded that the windows had a tint on them that "reflected more heat and light than limo tint." Hmmm ... Of course, this guy was the restaurant manager, not a glass shop or film shop owner, so of course he's not likely to be as aware of all the many advances in energy-efficient technologies that are available for windows.

And I guess I'm still a bit confused as to how "limo tint" is really the best fit for restaurant windows. Seems to me there may be some better options here. I'd be curious as to what you think about the matter. Send me an email with your thoughts.