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IGMA – Report from the Winter Conference

The Insulating Glass Manufacturers Alliance held its winter conference in Clearwater, Fla., Jan. 23 through 26 and heard updates from all our task groups. Here are some highlights.

Roland Rossman of Garibaldi Glass chairs the certification committee and reported on its activities. The Quality Management System task group to the conference that the first section of the new quality manual, TM‐4500 (the manufacturing quality procedures system) has been published and a complimentary copy has been issued to the primary contact of all IGMA member companies in good standing as part of the benefits of membership. The Tier II, III and IV documents are in various stages of balloting and should become available later this spring. It is anticipated that the complete set of documents that encompass the IGMA insulating glass fabrication quality management system will be available by mid‐year.

The Sealant Adhesion to Spacer task group reported that the TB‐2700‐XX, Sealant Adhesion to Spacer Test Method has been successfully balloted to the committee and will now be balloted to the IGMA Technical Policy Committee. Once the document has been approved at all levels, final filming of the video will start.

The Emerging Technologies and Innovation Committee is chaired by Helen Sanders of Technoform Insulation and co‐chaired by David Cooper of Guardian Industries. The Advanced Fenestration Testing task group is reviewing the data from three different test protocols to determine which test method would be the preferred one to pursue to obtain test results sooner than under the ASTM E 2190 protocol. The test method is not intended to replace the ASTM E 2190, rather it will complement it and provide the basis for interim approvals for certification. The Vacuum Insulating Glass task group has completed a technical bulletin on VIG and is reviewing development of an ISO standard.

Technical Services Committee is chaired by Jeff Haberer of Trulite Glass and Aluminum Solutions. The Guidelines and Tolerances for IGU Cavity Width task group is working on an interactive webpage, which will include a summary of available literature on the subject of solar reflectance targeting both consumers and industry. The page will also include a public response option to allow for data collection for market research. Guidelines for Dimensional Tolerances for Insulating Glass Units, TB‐1200‐83(16) has been published and all member companies in good standing should have received their complimentary copy. IG Cavity Compensation is a new task group that is developing a technical manual providing generic design alternatives

for cavity compensation for insulating glass units and determining conditions that impact the pressure in the IGU cavity. The PIB Migration task group is close to completing an Information Bulletin on the compatibility testing of glazing materials related to the performance of PIB in insulating glass units and a technical bulletin specific to PIB as a primary sealant. The Visual Quality task group has successfully balloted content for a consumer web page on understanding glass esthetic standards.

The Education and Safety Committee chaired by Bill Briese of GED Integrated Solutions organizes IGMA’s IG Fabricator Workshops. The results of the two workshops held in May at Intertek in Plano, Texas, and November in St. Paul, Minn. were reviewed noting that both workshops were an enormous success. A third workshop was held at Exova in Toronto, Ont. The final Preventing IG Failures education seminar was held in October at the GlassBuild America trade show in Las Vegas.

All presentations from this conference and from past conferences are available to the IGMA membership. The IGMA website is constantly being updated so check frequently for new information in the Members Only section. To receive your unique user name and password, please contact the office.