There is a pane of glass thinner than a pencil that outperforms triple glazing. Vacuum insulated glazing was born in a plasma television factory in Japan, refined for the European market in Belgium, endorsed by the world’s most cautious heritage authorities, and it is now being fitted into original timber windows across Victoria and Tasmania, making Australia one of the few places outside Europe where homeowners can access it.
This is the story of vacuum insulated glazing: what it is, why Europe’s biggest names in glass and electronics built it, and how a window renewal company founded in Hobart in 2011 became the way Australian homeowners access it.
Born in a plasma screen factory: Panasonic’s Glavenir
Most Australians know Panasonic for televisions, batteries and cameras. Few realise the company spent years applying its plasma display manufacturing expertise, including precision glass handling, vacuum sealing and hermetic edge bonding, to a completely different problem: making windows perform.
The result is Glavenir, Panasonic’s vacuum insulated glass. Instead of trapping a thick layer of argon gas between two panes the way conventional double glazing does, Glavenir removes almost everything. Two panes of glass sit just a tenth of a millimetre apart, separated by a vacuum. With no air or gas between the panes, there is almost nothing to carry heat from one side to the other. It is the same principle that keeps a thermos flask hot for hours.
The numbers are remarkable. A standard Glavenir unit is just 6.1mm thick, yet achieves a U-Value of 0.7, an insulation performance that equals or exceeds triple glazing units several times its thickness and weight. Microscopic support pillars, almost invisible to the eye, hold the panes apart across the vacuum.
Further reading: Panasonic Glavenir vacuum insulated glass · Translucent vacuum glass vs black micro-pillars, and why Glavenir doesn’t need to hide its dots
Europe takes notice: the AGC collaboration and Fineo
Panasonic’s breakthrough did not stay in Japan. In 2018, AGC Glass Europe, the continent’s largest architectural glass manufacturer, announced a collaboration with Panasonic. It combined Panasonic’s vacuum glass technology with AGC’s world-leading Low-E coating and glass processing expertise.
That collaboration became Fineo, the European sibling of Glavenir: vacuum insulated glazing built on the same Panasonic technology, manufactured in Belgium and now installed across Europe. Fineo set the benchmark for the category. It became the first vacuum insulated glass in Europe to carry the CE mark, backed by a third-party verified Environmental Product Declaration. AGC has since expanded production to meet demand, a strong signal of where European glazing is heading.
For Australian homeowners, the significance is simple. The vacuum glass Sealasash installs is not an experimental product. It is the same core technology that two of the world’s largest glass and electronics companies chose to build Europe’s next generation of windows around.
Further reading: AGC and Panasonic collaboration announcement · Fineo vacuum glazing by AGC
Heritage authorities say yes
For over a century, the owners of heritage homes faced an unfair choice: keep the beautiful original windows and freeze, or replace them and lose the character of the house. Vacuum insulated glazing dissolves that choice, and the world’s most respected heritage bodies agree.
Historic England’s official retrofit guidance recognises that slim-profile and vacuum glazing can generally be installed within historic timber frames, allowing original sashes to be retained. Historic Environment Scotland reaches the same conclusion, noting that vacuum glazing is thin enough to directly replace single glazing in traditional windows. When the two most conservative heritage authorities in the United Kingdom independently endorse a technology, planners, architects and heritage councils everywhere take note.
Because a vacuum unit is barely thicker than the single pane it replaces, it fits into the original rebate of a timber sash. There are no bulky frame modifications, no visual change to the streetscape and no loss of original joinery. We explored what the UK’s experience means for Australia in detail in a separate article.
Further reading: Australia is behind on energy-efficient glazing, and the UK shows us what happens next
Certified performance, not marketing claims
Every performance claim about vacuum insulated glazing is independently verifiable.
A U-Value of 0.7 W/m²K for a 6.1mm Glavenir unit matches or beats triple glazing. The unit weighs roughly one third of an equivalent triple-glazed panel, which matters enormously when reglazing original sashes balanced on cords and weights. In Europe, Fineo, the sibling variant of the same Panasonic vacuum technology, carries CE certification and a verified Environmental Product Declaration, a pedigree that speaks to the whole technology family. The glass is lead free and fully recyclable.
Durability is where vacuum glazing truly separates itself. The glass comes with a 10-year manufacturer’s warranty, but academic research into vacuum insulated glazing suggests units can maintain their performance for 50 years or more without issue. Because the insulating layer is a vacuum rather than gas, performance does not degrade the way gas-filled double glazing can as seals age and argon leaks away. A small component called a sorption getter maintains the vacuum for the life of the unit.
Further reading: What is the sorption getter in vacuum glass? · What’s a vacuum and what are the black dots? · Environmental Product Declarations explained
VIGA: bringing vacuum insulated glazing to Australia
Australia does not manufacture vacuum insulated glazing at this scale, so accessing it required going to the source. Sealasash’s founders searched the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia for a glass that could genuinely transform old timber windows. They ran extensive trials with Panasonic’s Glavenir, then secured a supply agreement to bring it here.
That agreement became VIGA, Vacuum Insulated Glass Australia, the national wholesale arm that imports genuine Panasonic Glavenir and supplies it to window professionals across the country.
In August 2023, the relationship was cemented when Sealasash management was hosted at Panasonic’s headquarters in Osaka to plan the future of Glavenir in the Australian property sector. It is a rare thing for a Tasmanian window company to sit across the table from one of the world’s largest electronics manufacturers, and a measure of how seriously Panasonic takes the Australian opportunity.
Further reading: Vacuum Insulated Glass Australia (VIGA) · Sealasash visits Panasonic HQ in Osaka
Sealasash: where world-leading technology meets your timber
Technology alone doesn’t warm a home. Installation does. Since 2011, Sealasash has specialised in one thing: renewing original timber windows so they work better than new. Draught and acoustic sealing, timber repair, hardware renewal, and now vacuum insulated double glazing, all fitted within the existing frames.
That specialisation matters. Fitting a precision-engineered vacuum unit into a 120-year-old sash, respecting character, rebalancing weights, preserving putty lines and profiles, is craft, not just glazing. Sealasash has now completed thousands of these upgrades across Tasmania and Victoria, in everything from workers’ cottages to grand heritage-listed homes.
The best evidence is the work itself. Here are six recent projects.
A Tasmanian first: toughened vacuum glass in Hobart
In February 2025, a Hobart home became the first in Tasmania fitted with Panasonic’s toughened 8.1mm Glavenir: 28 panes covering almost 23 square metres of glass. The installation was significant enough that a Panasonic representative flew in from Japan to witness it. Read the full story.
Large-scale renewal in Melbourne’s north-east
One of our most ambitious whole-home projects in Victoria: 767 individual reglazing sections across an entire home, combining Superclear 6.1mm Glavenir vacuum glazing with acoustic laminated glass. The before-and-after condensation photos tell the story better than words can. See the project.
West Hobart: 18 panes on Melville Street
A classic West Hobart home upgraded with 18 panes of 6.1mm Glavenir across ten fixed sashes and four Yorkshire sliders, with 58 internal glazing bars carefully preserved and hardware renewed, all just in time for a Tasmanian winter. See the project.
Shoreham: performance glazing on the coast
On Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, a coastal home received a comprehensive vacuum glazing upgrade, proof the technology performs as beautifully against sea winds as it does against frost. See the project.
Dodges Ferry: comfort by the beach
A southern Tasmanian beach home on Gillingbrook Road, transformed with retrofit vacuum double glazing within its original timber frames. See the project.
Hobart’s Eastern Shore: comfort without compromise
An Eastern Shore home upgraded with vacuum insulated double glazing while keeping every original frame. The result is warmer, quieter, and visually unchanged. See the project.
What our customers say
I’m so happy with my beautiful new Glavenir windows throughout my house. I can highly recommend Sealasash to complete a professional, high standard job. Jack is a great first contact, answers all questions and will problem solve when needed. He and Brady did a great job of measuring up for my windows and explaining the process. They sent their highly qualified team, who treated my home with respect, worked efficiently and completed the job to an excellent standard. My home was left clean and tidy. Shout out to all the team for a job so well done.
Tonya McMahon, via Google Reviews
What this means for your home
I’m so happy with my beautiful new Glavenir windows throughout my house. I can highly recommend Sealasash to complete a professional, high standard job. Jack is a great first contact, answers all questions and will problem solve when needed. He and Brady did a great job of measuring up for my windows and explaining the process. They sent their highly qualified team, who treated my home with respect, worked efficiently and completed the job to an excellent standard. My home was left clean and tidy. Shout out to all the team for a job so well done.
Tonya McMahon, via Google ReviewsIf you own a home with original timber windows, you no longer have to choose between character and comfort. Vacuum insulated glazing delivers better-than-triple-glazing insulation, dramatic noise reduction and an end to weeping condensation, all inside the windows your house was built with.
The technology is proven by Panasonic, benchmarked in Europe, endorsed by heritage authorities and installed locally by the team that brought it to Australia. Get in touch with Sealasash for an assessment of your windows.
Frequently asked questions
What is vacuum insulated glazing?
Two panes of glass separated by a vacuum just 0.1mm wide, held apart by nearly invisible micro-pillars. With no air or gas between the panes, heat transfer is dramatically reduced, like a thermos flask for your windows.
How does it compare to normal double glazing?
A 6.1mm Glavenir vacuum unit achieves a U-Value of 0.7, which is better than most triple glazing and far better than conventional gas-filled double glazing, at a fraction of the thickness and weight.
Can it be fitted to heritage windows?
Yes, and that is its greatest strength. Because it is barely thicker than single glass, it fits within original timber sashes and frames. UK heritage authorities including Historic England recognise vacuum glazing as suitable for historic windows.
Will I see the micro-pillars?
The support pillars are fractions of a millimetre wide and blend into shadow. Most people never notice them, and you experience clear, uninterrupted views.
How long does it last?
Glavenir vacuum glazing carries a 10-year manufacturer’s warranty, and academic research suggests vacuum insulated glass can keep performing for 50 years or more without issue. A built-in sorption getter maintains the vacuum over the unit’s life.
Do you service my area?
Sealasash installs vacuum insulated double glazing across Tasmania and Victoria. Contact us to discuss your project.
