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Fenestration Canada: FenCan Commercial achieves liftoff

We’re halfway through 2023 and FenCan’s Commercial Chapter is growing rapidly. As our membership continues to rise, Fenestration Canada’s commitment to developing innovative and impactful value remains strong. We are excited to announce Isabelle Clewley has joined our team as Member Services Advisor. Isabelle’s enthusiasm and expertise will be an incredible asset to our members and association. Isabelle’s experience in customer service and people skills will provide our members with exceptional support. Whether it’s a new membership, technical question, billing question, or a general inquiry, Isabelle and the rest of FenCan’s team is always ready to help. 

Brent Friesen

The Fenestration Canada Commercial Chapter is thrilled to announce that Brent Friesen, owner of Langley, B.C.-based Baywest Glazing Systems, has been appointed as the new chair of our chapter. We couldn’t be more delighted to have Brent leading the team. Brent has owned Baywest (formerly Clearbrook Glass) since 2015. He is passionate about building a great glazing business through innovation and hard work. Brent earned a CPA accounting designation in 2010 and has served on boards for other not-for-profit organizations. “As chair of the FenCan Commercial Chapter, I am committed to working with our members and stakeholders to create a vibrant, productive and successful organization,” said Friesen. “My goal is to ensure that we are operating at an optimal level so that our members can take advantage of the resources available to them. I plan to foster collaboration among all involved in order to create a unified and effective working environment.”  Brent is married with two little boys. When not at work he enjoys music, history, and bouldering. As chair, Brent will bring his extensive experience and knowledge in leadership and glazing to help the FenCan Commercial Chapter to reach our goals and create a positive impact in the commercial glazing community. We know that with his guidance, our chapter will be able to grow and succeed in all of its endeavors.

We are very pleased to let our members know that we have been advised work will begin soon on updates to three Canadian glass standards. Funding has been secured from the Standards Council of Canada to update CAN/CGSB-12.20 “Structural Design of Glass for Buildings” (currently withdrawn), CAN/CGSB-12.1 “Safety Glazing” and CAN/CGSB-12.8 “Insulating Glass Units.” The CGSB Technical Committee on Glass has been tasked to take on this somewhat monumental task. Considering 12.20 was last updated in 1989 there will be plenty to update. Terry Adamson, Fenestration Canada’s technical director, holds a seat on this committee and has advised me to reach out to our commercial membership and ask if there are members wishing to participate in this work. If interested you can reach out to Terry (terry@fenestrationcanada.ca using the subject CGSB) and he will forward your request to the CGSB staff for consideration. We are eager to support and participate in this project and to see this work finally begin. It is expected the process may take up to three years to complete.

The Commercial Chapter membership drive was an outstanding success, with dozens of companies joining the new chapter. The drive achieved its goals of early adoption, engagement and participation, setting a solid foundation for future growth. We are incredibly grateful to all those who helped make this initiative such a success and we look forward to further strengthening our membership in the coming months. 

We are excited to continue building on this successful foundation and start developing new initiatives to provide members with value. These projects and programs will continue to make FenCan the premier organization for glazing contractors, glass fabricators, facade consultants and suppliers. Together, we can achieve great things!

Rich Porayko is business development manager, commercial, for Fenestration Canada