California’s Low-e Auto Glass Regulation to Help Curb Emissions

Earlier this summer, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted unanimously to require auto manufacturers to install low-e glass on all new cars sold within the state starting in 2012.

This type of glass is manufactured by many customers of Applied's Glass Coating Products division and is designed to help keep the interiors of vehicles cooler during the summer months, reducing the need for air conditioning, boosting fuel efficiency and reducing carbon emissions at the same time.

Testimony by representatives of Applied Materials and several of its glass customers before CARB was pivotal in persuading the agency to accelerate the requirement from 2016 to 2012.

California has also passed one of the most aggressive carbon emissions bills in the U.S., known as the Global Warming Solutions Act (CA AB 32). This requires reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles to 1990 levels by 2020. The low-e glass regulation is among several strategies the state is pursuing to reach those goals.

The CARB initiative opens up an opportunity for Applied’s customers to expand their coating technologies to the automotive market, in addition to providing coated glass solutions for buildings that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from heating and cooling.