A few well placed skylights can be a tremendous boon to almost any commercial building, providing much-needed natural light and improving visibility without compromising on security. While most skylights may be made from conventional window glass, this is not always the best choice for skylights in office blocks, warehouses and other commercial structures.

Skylights made from acrylic sheet are an increasingly popular alternative to glass skylights. They have a number of useful advantages over their more traditional glass counterparts that make them a particularly useful addition to your commercial building design.

What are the advantages of choosing acrylic sheet skylights for commercial buildings?

Highly durable

The toughened, laminated glass used to create modern glass skylights is very durable and long-lasting, but glass is still an inherently brittle material, and the toughest glass skylights are still vulnerable to heavy impacts caused by falling branches, roof tiles and other objects. They can also be smashed relatively quickly by any intruder resourceful enough to reach them, which can be a serious concern if your commercial buildings house particularly valuable manufactured objects or financial documents.

Acrylic skylights have all of the longevity of glass skylights but are significantly more resistant to accidental impact damage. This durability stems from the relative flexibility of acrylic sheet compared to glass, which allows it to flex slightly under heavy impacts and distribute the force of the blow. 

Excellent insulation

Acrylic sheet is also a much better insulator of heat than most types of glass used in skylights, and allow less heat exchange to occur through their panes and frames. This lets them effectively trap cool air inside your building during summer, and warm air during winter. Choosing acrylic skylights can make your commercial building much easier to insulate, keeping heating and air conditioning costs down and improving the green credentials of any business.

Shaded variants available

Most acrylic skylights are transparent, but shaded, translucent acrylic sheet can also be used to create highly effective sun-blocking skylights. These shaded skylights are particularly useful in factories, workshops and other commercial buildings that tend to get very hot inside, as they prevent heat radiation from the sun from entering the building and raising ambient temperatures.

Very cost-effective

Despite all of these advantages, acrylic sheet skylights are very inexpensive and tend to cost significantly less than most types of glass skylight. They are ideal for commercial buildings that need to be constructed to a strict budget and are also inexpensive to replace if they become irreparably damaged by accidents or vandals. Contact us today to have your acrylic cut to size for your skylights.