Curtain-Wall

A Curtain-wall outer walls are non-structural,but merely keep the weather out and the occu-pants in. As the curtain-wall is non-structural it can be made of a lightweight material, reducing construction costs. When glass is used as the curtain-wall , a great advantage is that natural light can penetrate deeper within the building.

The curtain-wall facade does not carry any dead load weight from the building other than its own dead load weight. The wall transfers horizontal wind loads that are incident upon it to the main building structure through connections at floors or columns, of the building. A curtain-wall is designed to resist air and water infiltration, swing
induced by wind and seismic forces acting on the building and its own dead load weight forces.

Curtain-walls differ from storefront systems in that they are designed to span multiple floors, and take into consideration design requirement
such as: thermal expansion and contraction; building sway and, cooling, and lighting in the building.