June 12, 2019 - GED Integrated Solutions has acquired Elite Manufacturing Solutions. GED prides itself on controlling the complete build of our products from basic parts to final assembly. This total build strategy is a core practice and competitive differentiator. With this acquisition, GED adds machining capacity, manufacturing engineering support and operations leadership expertise. GED’s goal is to continue to reduce lead times for our customers while providing exceptional quality products.

June 3, 2019 - Glaston and Burghard Schneider have together agreed that Mr Schneider will leave the Group on May 27, 2019. Burghard Schneider has been responsible for the Bystronic glass business since 2014 and member of Glaston Group's Executive Management Group (EMG) as of 1 April 2019. Dietmar Walz, former Chief Sales Officer at Bystronic glass, will assume the position as President for the Bystronic glass business and member of the EMG.

May 30, 2019 -  Vitro Architectural Glass (formerly PPG Glass) has announced that Bradley P. Boone has been appointed director, OEM (original equipment manufacturers) segment, for residential glass and specialty glass markets.

Glass dominates the built environment and its quality and consistency can be an esthetic benefit or detriment. Building codes are stepping up the requirements for energy efficiency and for honest accounting of enclosure performance.

May 22, 2019 - Dymax Corporation is pleased to announce the appointment of Dave Koppenhaver as the new Americas Director of Sales. Koppenhaver will be responsible for achieving revenue growth targets in adhesives and equipment, while continually elevating Dymax commercial effectiveness with partners.

May 2, 2019 - EVERLAM has announced the reorganisation of its management team and the appointment of Albrecht Luick as new CEO, and of Marc Slock as Business Development and Technical Service Manager, a new position in the company.

April 22, 2019 - Architects and designers seeking high performance, aesthetically pleasing glass products, while honoring a commitment to preserving the planet, will find the right solutions at the Guardian Glass booth at the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Convention in Las Vegas June 6-8.

April 17, 2019 - Inspired by nanotextures in nature, Edgehog utilizes recent advances in material science to allow for enhanced light transmission in optics, electronic displays, solar panels and more.

April 17, 2019 - Biesse Group is proud to announce the promotion of Niki Kaltsounis-Kampiziones to Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Biesse and Intermac in North America. Kampiziones, currently in her 24th year with Biesse, has played a key role in the growth and strategic decisions for the company during her tenure as Executive Vice President of Operations and previously as Chief Financial Officer.

April 15, 2019 - Effective April 8, 2019, Marco Schiavon has been appointed CEO of Forel North America. As CEO, Schiavon will oversee the operations at the St. Paul, Minnesota and Toronto, Ontario locations.

April 15, 2019 -  GRECO Aluminum Railings is pleased to announce that it has acquired Petersen Metals, a regional specialty manufacturer and installer of architectural metal products, headquartered in Hudson, FL. Petersen brings over 30 years of manufacturing experience in high quality stainless steel, fabricated aluminum, mild steel railing assemblies, and other custom architectural building components.

April 3, 2019 - Adding capacity to support its customers' product needs and lead times, Technoform has doubled the size of its current warehouse in Twinsburg, Ohio. The location also has added new equipment to increase its finishing and customization services.

Attendees at the joint American Architectural Manufacturers Association/Insulating Glass Manufacturers Alliance Summer Conference in Victoria got a dose of adrenaline from the Day 1 keynote speaker, Patrick Moore. Moore, a co-founder of Greenpeace who left the organization over its opposition to plastics and now works with the Vinyl Institute, delivered a provocative talk challenging a swath of environmentalist shibboleths, including dismissal of climate change as an urgent problem.

The Insulating Glass Manufacturers Alliance Emerging Technologies Committee was chaired by David Cooper of Guardian. Co-chair Helen Sanders of Technoform was unable to attend. The committee was meeting at its Summer Conference in Victoria, held this year as a joint event with the American Architectural Manufacturers Association.

Jeff Haberer from Trulite and Paul Bush from Vitro chaired a joint meeting of the Insulating Glass Manufacturers Alliance Technical Services Committee and the American Architectural Manufacturers Association Glass Council at their Summer Conference in Victoria. The room of over 50 delegates heard about progress on PIB migration, expansion of structural standards to address jumbo and thin glass, acoustical ratings, vacuum insulating glass guidelines and more. Bush noted that the IGMA's technical task forces have often done most of the heavy lifting to research and write AAMA standards for some time.

Margaret Webb and Janice Yglesias, executive directors of the Insulating Glass Manufacturers Alliance and the American Architectual Manufacturers Association, respectively, opened the first day of official business at the joint AAMA/IGMA Summer Conference with a report to membership. Most of the discussion addressed progress and plans for the merger of the two association, which members will vote on in July. If approved, the new merged organization will be called the Fenestration Glazing Industry Alliance.

June 12, 2019 - Glass Performance Days (GPD) 2019 promises to be an event that will make history! With over 700 registered participants, the conference, exhibition and workshops in Tampere, Finland, from June 25–28 are breaking records this year with 242 presentations offered by a world-class lineup of 220 speakers.

Ontario Glass and Metal Association members from across Ontario gathered again at Piper's Heath Golf Course in Milton, Ont., May 30 for a fun day of driving, chipping and putting. The weather mostly cooperated with broken grey skies that only sprinkled a light shower of rain for a few minutes. The course had thankfully dried out after the monsoon spring, but it was still cart-paths-only. Lively conversation was the order of the day as always both at the pre-round barbeque and the steak dinner where prizes were handed out to all and sundry.

From the minute one lands in Las Vegas for BEC, you are on. Presented by the National Glass Association now with GANA, it is an intense whirlwind of networking, seminars, meetings, and events until you fly back out. This past March, over 550 attendees attended the biggest BEC in a decade.

The Canadian Glass Association is considering organizing and funding industry support to update the withdrawn CAN/CGSB 12.20 standard for structural design of architectural glass.

May 6, 2019 - With GPD 2019 fast approaching, the GPD organizing committee is pleased to share an interview with opening speaker Stefan Blach, partner of Studio Libeskind, conducted by professor Matti Rautiola in April 2019.

May 1, 2019 - Registration is now open for the 2019 Joint American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) and Insulating Glass Manufacturers Alliance (IGMA) Summer Conferences, to be held June 17-20, 2019, in Victoria, British Columbia. The early bird rate is guaranteed through May 17, and attendees are encouraged to register before this date. Because this is a combined AAMA and IGMA conference, only one registration fee per attendee is required. All registrations will be processed through AAMA.

May 1, 2019 - The Architectural Glass and Metal Certification Council (AGMCC) – governing council for both the North American Certification Council (NACC) and the Architectural Glass and Metal Technician Program (AGMT) – has received exempt status from federal income tax under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 501(c)(3).

April 22, 2019 - IGMA has announced that the next installment of the IGMA Leadership Development Program will roll out Thursday, April 24, 2019 at 10:00 am EDT, with subsequent sessions scheduled the fourth Wednesday of each month starting at 10:00 am Eastern. Each interactive session is 60 to 90 minutes lead by Oak Moser, Coaching2Connect, (formerly an industry insider) and recorded live so you will never miss a session.

In the last edition we took an overview look at the business ethics of adding service fees and the energy surcharge (ESC) on glass products. We questioned why there is such a wide ranging discrepancy between the fees added by the glass producers and the fabricators and why the amount of the charges don’t appear to align with the input costs.

Thanks to our sister publication, Plant magazine, for sharing its Outlook 2019 study of confidence levels among Canadian manufacturers (see page 22). The overall picture is one of cooling activity in the short term demanding a renewed focus on productivity and innovation to control costs. In general, I’d say the overall results match closely what a similar study restricted to glass fabricators would find.

The California Department of General Services announced California will be requesting Environmental Product Declarations from contractors on public works products starting Jan. 1 of this year. Flat glass is one of the building materials listed as a product eligible for an EPD. EPDs are third-party-verified documents quantifying the environmental impact of a product's materials and manufacturing process, including raw material extraction, energy use, chemical emissions and waste. The announcement constitutes the first inclusion of EPDs in official state procurement policy in North America, and will likely be watched closely by environmental regulators in other jurisdictions, including Canada.

In its fall economic statement, the federal government has announced its intention to allow businesses to write off the entire cost of machinery used for manufacturing and processing the same year it is put into use. This is up from the 25-per cent writeoff allowed in the first year presently.

Igloos made with electrically heated glass prevent condensation, ice, snow build-up and convection, offering an unobstructed view of nature and a unique opportunity to enjoy the starry sky and northern lights in comfort and peace.

Recent advances in fibreglass reinforced plastics (also known as FRP, fibreglass composite or simply fibreglass) and the pultrusion process that manufacture them have only recently opened the door to exciting new uses for this material in a variety of applications.

Oct. 23, 2018 - Finnglass offers a first-hand experience on the benefits of electrically heated glass at glasstech fair 2018. The company has made a cold wall simulator which allows to compare electrically heated glass with double and triple glazing. It demonstrates how electrically heated glass prevents convection and cold wall effect, hence giving a pleasant and comfortable indoor environment while saving money and energy.

Oct. 18, 2018 - On Tuesday October 2, 2018, Vitrum Glass Group celebrated the grand opening of their new Calgary manufacturing facility in Rocky View County, Alberta, located just 10 minutes North of Calgary’s international airport. The new 65,000 square foot facility currently employs 35 employees who manage and fabricate local orders for shower doors, railings, monolithic glass products, and tempered glass.

Oct. 9, 2018 - Energy efficiency is hard to see, but we feel its benefits in our homes, neighbourhoods, environment, economy and wallets. Federal investments in innovative energy-efficient projects drive economic growth, contribute to our clean energy future and create new, middle-class jobs for Canadians.

Well, we know they had sand...so why not glass? The palace-city of Samarra, capital of the former Abbasid Caliphate, was home to an advanced industry of glass production and trade, according to a study published August 22, 2018 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Nadine Schibille of the CNRS, France and colleagues.

July 9, 2018 - AGC (AGC Asahi Glass) has entered into a strategic development agreement with Ubiquitous Energy. The collaboration will focus on the development of Ubiquitous Energy’s transparent and neutral solar coating to create windows that produce electricity. 

Light-flooded spaces and a general airiness in buildings are no longer just a trend in the architectural world, but are increasingly state-of-the-art. This general airiness achieved through the use of transparent materials does not end with the balcony. Total vision glazing and glass balustrades can offer continuity to wide open spaces, if they are not interrupted by framing or other mechanical fixations. When it comes to connecting glass to frame materials, new solutions are coming to market every day.

From the glazing company to the architects to the construction firm, the same word was used in describing the rebuild of a popular B.C. spiritual and yoga retreat: renewal.

Like any older hotel that’s aiming to thrive in today’s market, the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth in Montreal has again undergone renovations.

Snohetta had one goal in mind for the new Calgary Central Library: create a strong visual identity for the Central Library that reflected its civic importance, one that referenced the ideas of community, togetherness and unity.

The new four-storey, multi-purpose student centre at York, Canada’s third-largest university, is designed to meet the changing needs of the institution’s diverse community, as well as for easily accessibility to the 55,000 undergraduate and graduate students.

May 10, 2019 - Canadian municipalities issued $8.1 billion worth of building permits in March, up 2.1% from February. The increase was attributable to higher construction intentions in Western Canada.

May 1, 2019 - The American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) has released the "AAMA 2018/2019 U.S. Industry Statistical Review and Forecast." This report delivers timely information on window, door and skylight market trends and product relationships. Historic data for 2010 through 2018 and forecast data for 2019 through 2021 are also included in the report. Forecasts are based on projections of construction activity as of March 2019.

I’m sick and tired of being gouged.  Administration fees, facility fees, set up fees, convenience charges, baggage fees, event service fees…call them what you will, they’re all just a means of digging into your pocket in an underhanded and unethical way. 

With the shortest day of the year behind us, it only gets brighter from now until the summer. Today I would like to address a topic that directly impacts our glass industry but rarely gets the attention it needs.

Mar. 12, 2019 - The Ontario Construction Secretariat’s (OCS) 2019 Contractor Survey shows that 33 per cent of ICI contractors forecast they will be busier in 2019 than they were last year. Just under half of contractors expect to conduct the same amount of work as they did in 2018, and only 17 per cent expect to do less.

Feb. 13, 2019 - The Ontario government recently announced plans to change the Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) Certification Training program standards.

The total value of building permits rose 4.7% in 2018 to $99.7 billion, the fifth consecutive annual increase. Higher construction intentions for multi-family dwellings and commercial buildings were the main factors behind the increase. Four provinces reported gains, led by British Columbia and Quebec. The largest decline was in Ontario, where the value of permits was down 2.2% to $38.2 billion.

June 12, 2019 - The American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) has released an updated specification establishing minimum performance requirements for liquid-applied flashing used to provide water-resistive seals around exterior wall openings in buildings that includes fenestration products, such as windows and doors, as well as other through-wall penetrations. AAMA 714-19, "Voluntary Specification for Liquid Applied Flashing Used to Create a Water-Resistive Seal around Exterior Wall Openings in Buildings," was last updated in 2015.

New York City mayor Bill de Blasio made quite a stir in late April when he seemed to announce New York would “ban” glass and steel skyscapers. Here’s his actual quote: “We’re going to introduce legislation to ban the glass and steel skyscrapers that have contributed so much to global warming. They have no place in our city or on our earth any more.”

May 1, 2019 - As of April 2019, the NRC is offering free access to the downloadable and electronic formats of the National Building Code, the National Fire Code, the National Plumbing Code, and the National Energy Code for Buildings, as well as the provincial codes published by the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). Paper copies of the Codes, along with other supporting documents including the Guides, are available at a reduced cost.

April 26, 2019 - The National Glass Association (NGA), with the Insulating Glass Manufacturer’s Alliance (IGMA), have announced the publication of a new jointly-produced resource for the glazing and glass products industry. The guidelines, developed by members representing both organizations, discuss the function of Polyisobutylene (PIB) Primary Sealant in insulating glass units (IGUs) with specific focus on the performance and aesthetic attributes of PIB.

Mar. 22, 2019 - The Insulating Glass Certification Council (IGCC) has launched its newly revamped website at www.igcc.com. This online home for IGCC provides in-depth information and resources to the fenestration industry.

Mar. 11, 2019 - After finishing a very productive meeting in 2018 with participation from certified licensee fabricators, suppliers, laboratories, and public interest individuals, the Insulating Glass Certification Council (IGCC) will be introducing several certification and guideline changes in 2019. These changes will include:

Mar. 7, 2019 -  Robert Jutras (UL/CLEB) hosted a seminar on the differences between how Canada and the United States evaluate field performance of windows and curtain walls in large buildings during the American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) 82nd Annual Conference in Palm Springs (Feb. 25-28). Jutras, who is Canadian, focused more on the Canadian codes and practices for the benefit of a mostly American audience at the conference.

Feb. 11, 2019 - The American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) has updated two documents for evaluating window wall, curtain wall and storefront systems when it comes to seismic drift.

The American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) updated a document providing guidelines for describing colour measurement requirements for inclusion in AAMA documents.AAMA CMR-1-18, Guidelines for Development of Color Measurement Requirements, was first released in 2016. This is its first update, which was made to accommodate changes made to measurement averaging and colour difference equations.

Jan. 14, 2019 - For several years there have been questions raised in the industry about the strength of ceramic enamel (frit) coated glasses. The ASTM committee that oversees the current document on glass strength (ASTM E1300) is working to revise the standard to include provisions for addressing the strength of ceramic enameled glasses. The plan is to define a maximum stress approach for evaluating ceramic enamel coated glasses. The ASTM work item for this effort is WK65259, and is led by John Smith, of Glass Coatings & Concepts, LLC.

Dec. 13, 2018 - The Architectural Glass and Metal Technician Certification Program (AGMT) continued beta testing its knowledge-based (KBT) and performance-based (PBT) portions of its certification exam. Team members spent the week in San Leandro, CA administering, grading, and analyzing the latest versions of the KBT and PBT.