About What is Intercept®?
Vitro Architectural Glass (formerly PPG Industries) developed the Intercept® warm-edge spacer concept to answer a long-standing need in insulating glass: stronger edge construction and improved thermal performance—without compromising quality or manufacturability. Vitro brought the concept to GED Integrated Solutions to engineer an in-house fabrication platform for window and door manufacturers.
Intercept spacers feature a unique, one-piece, tin-plated or stainless steel U-channel design that creates an effective thermal barrier to help reduce conducted heat loss through the window. Its sealed, one-piece design makes Intercept spacers stronger and better at retaining insulating gas than many conventional designs.
Today, Intercept is a family of warm-edge spacer options designed to let fabricators match performance to the application—while staying on a proven U-channel platform:
- Good: Intercept® ThinPlate — original warm-edge performance and value
- Better: Intercept® Ultra — U-value improvement with stainless construction
- Best: Intercept® Extreme™ — best thermal performance in North America, enabled by a next-generation thermal break design
Intercept spacers maintain the Intercept hallmark: a durable, one-piece U-channel architecture that supports strong corners, robust gas retention, and long-term reliability.
Introducing Intercept® Extreme™
Intercept® Extreme™ builds on the Intercept platform with a thermally broken U-shaped spacer engineered for the highest thermal insulation performance in the competitive market.
What makes it Extreme™?
- Thermal break construction: stainless-steel side walls with a polymer bridge in the base to decouple thermal energy transfer
- Best performance: designed to deliver the best edge-of-glass thermal results within the Intercept family
- Built for the Intercept 2.5 platform: the hybrid material is designed to process on the Intercept®2.5 machine platform
One Machine. Three Options
The Intercept platform is built to support a “Good / Better / Best” product strategy on a single proven fabrication ecosystem—helping you standardize operations while expanding your performance portfolio.
This flexibility is designed to align with modern high-performance window packages and evolving energy-efficiency expectations.
Meet Glenn the Glass Guy
Glenn is a window and glass enthusiast. He’s here to help you understand that every component that goes into making a window is important. This includes what type of window spacer is used to separate the panes of glass.
- Stainless Steel vs. Foam: Join Glenn in his lab as he puts the Intercept Stainless Steel Spacers to the test against foam spacers.
- Strength and Aesthetics: Glenn tests the strength of Intercept Stainless Steel Spacer against a typical foam spacer and explains why one looks better than the other when installed in a double-pane window.
- Durability and Gas Retention: Glenn illustrates how the Intercept Stainless Steel Spacer’s durability helps it retain a window’s insulating gas using a microscope and a very common household toy.
- Thermal Performance: Glenn examines thermal images of windows with Intercept Stainless Steel Spacers versus those with foam spacers and sees something that may surprise you.
Intercept is #1 Worldwide.
Now available in Good/Better/Best options, including Intercept® Extreme™.
With over 15 billion feet of Intercept Spacer performing every day in more than 900 million windows throughout North America and Europe, and six times fewer callbacks than any other system, it is no wonder Intercept® is #1 worldwide.
- Most durable spacer system: Patented U-shaped design offers superior flexibility with no load on sealant, virtually eliminating seal failures.
- Superior warm edge performance: Meets or exceeds all U.S. Energy Star® and European EN-1279 requirements.
- Best Argon retention: The ultimate in argon retention. Loss of less than .1% per year. Results from the prestigious Rosenheim test. (The Window Technology Institute (RAL) of Rosenheim, Germany)
- Longest MVT: The longest moisture vapor transmission path of any spacer available, providing the most durable seal.
- Most favorable aesthetics: Marketing studies show that consumers prefer the look of Intercept over other spacer systems at the sight line.
- Strongest corners available: Intercept patented Corner+ 4th corner integrity identical to first 3 corners.
What is Warm Edge?
Windows with insulating glass are far more energy efficient than those with single-pane glass. For years, window producers have offered double-paned insulating glass units as part of their product offerings. Traditional spacer material consisted of an aluminum box spacer, desiccant, and sealant. Over the years, technological and mechanical advances have enabled more efficient insulating glass spacer options, known as “warm edge”.
A warm-edge spacer is made from materials that are less conductive than the typical aluminum box spacer. In addition, spacers with unique profiles can reduce energy conduction. These types of spacers reduce condensation and produce higher R-Values. The end result is a window that thermally outperforms other windows, helping to keep buildings warmer in cold weather and cooler in the summer.
Intercept® Spacer System offers remarkable performance and durability as the leading warm edge solution. Contact your GED Regional Sales Manager for details on how you can take advantage of this superior warm-edge system, all the while keeping an eye on your profits!
Designed & Manufactured in the USA