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Top Glass Ten program released

Top Glass, Canada’s show for the architectural glazing industry happening April 29 – 30 at the International Centre in Mississauga, Ont., has released its conference schedule. The in-person conferences happen on April 30 in the lecture theatre adjacent to the exhibit hall. Admission and parking are free. The conference sessions are recognized for continuing education credits by most professional associations and attendees receive certificates of attendance to confirm their participation.

Conferences follow the very special day of local plant tours happening April 29. Check here for details.

9:00

Walk-up registration and show floor opens

10:00

MEET THE FABRICATORS PANEL

We’re going to talk about Canada’s glass industry with four people who know it best. Executives from four of Canada’s fabricators of glazed building facades will take the stage at Top Glass to tackle industry issues, share their insights into the trends that will shape the future, and take your questions about how the products you specify are made. It’s a peek behind the curtain guaranteed to boost your understanding of the architectural glass world.

Panelists

Andrew Dolphin

Andrew Dolphin, General Manager of Glass Operations, BVGlazing Systems

Andrew Dolphin has been in the glazing industry for over 20 years, first with Sherwood Windows and Trulite and for the last six years managing operations at BVGlazing Systems. He is past president of the Ontario Glass and Metal Association and holds a Certified Technical Representative designation from CSC Toronto. He has a degree in Economics from the University of Guelph.

Adam Franklin

Adam Franklin, CEO, Saand

Adam Franklin is CEO of Saand, overseeing over 570,000 square feet of manufacturing space in four facilities. He became CEO two years ago after a 14-year career as a process engineer for the company. He has a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Waterloo.

Ryan Spurgeon

Ryan Spurgeon, president, Antamex

Ryan Spurgeon joined Antamex, then part of Oldcastle Building Envelope, in 2015 following 10 years at Barrie Metro Glass. He drove the transition of the company to independent ownership in 2019. Today, he runs one of Canada’s largest glass fabricators that has delivered over 35 million square feet of curtainwall in its 50-year history.

Ray Wakefield

Ray Wakefield, Technical Services Manager, Trulite

Ray Wakefield has been in the glass industry since 1977, starting his career at Armalux Glass Industries as a sales representative and moving to Trulite in 1983 as architectural glass manager. Projects he has worked on include the National Gallery in Ottawa, the Skydome (now Rogers Centre), the Palace Pier condominiums, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board building, the Chrysler Bramalea assembly plant, PNC Plaza in Pittsburgh, W Hotel in Boston and the Art Gallery of Ontario. He was a director and president of the Insulating Glass Manufacturer’s Association of Canada between 1991 and 2000 and oversaw that association’s merger with the Sealed Insulating Glass Manufacturers Association. He then held a variety of executive positions, including president, of the Insulating Glass Manufacturers Alliance. Ray has been a member of ASTM International E06 Performance of Buildings task groups and was the chairperson of the Canadian General Standards Board Can12.8 committee for insulating glass. He chaired the ISO TC160 SCWG 4 Insulating Glass Canadian Advisory Committee and was president and governor of the Insulating Glass Certification Council from 2007 to 2011. He was also member of the Canadian Standards Association’s joint A440-11 group developing the North American Fenestration Standard.

11:15

CONCEPTS IN THERMALLY BROKEN ALUMINUM

Extruded aluminum profiles, are entering a new era of challenge and opportunity. The urgent need for improved insulating values in facades coupled with an emerging understanding of the importance of embodied carbon threatens the status quo. At the same time, the need for rapid construction of low-cost housing and market demand for larger glass spans recommends we improve aluminum designs rather than abandon them. This presentation will look at recent advances in creating aluminum profiles that can meet or exceed energy efficiency standards and tell you where and how they are best applied.

Jonathan Chauvette

Jonathan Chauvette is the founder and president of StarlightCorp, a company specialized in aluminum extrusion equipment. Jonathan has been helping aluminum extruders, architectural window and curtainwall manufacturers with specialized equipment for thermal break assembly over the last 14 years. StarlightCorp is the official dealer for North America for thermal break equipment supplier Oemme.

Steve St. Pierre

Steve St. Pierre is senior design and application engineer for Ensinger Inc., having over three decades of expertise in the glass and glazing industry. With focus in the Insulbar profile range, Steve collaborates with window, door and curtainwall manufacturers to enhance the thermal efficiency and simplify production process for both established and newly envisioned systems.

1:00

OGMA AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE

The Ontario Glass and Metal Association will present their 2024 Awards of Excellence to two outstanding members of Ontario’s architectural glass community. The Award for Design recognizes great concepts and esthetics in façade construction, and the Award for Execution recognizes a remarkable achievement in manufacturing, delivering and installing a major glazing project. Join the OGMA to celebrate the great work Ontario’s glass people do!

Amy Roberts

1:30

FOR THE BIRDS: BIRD-FRIENDLY GLAZING DESIGN AND TRENDS

Many anti-collision measures aimed at preventing bird impacts are being utilized by designers and installers. Architecturally, they range from shutters to shades and netting to mesh screens. But what is even more exciting are the innovations in bird-friendly glazing itself. In this session, Amy Roberts, FGIA director of Canadian and technical glass operations, will address key topics related to bird-friendly glass including design considerations and trends for specifiers; the connection between energy requirements and bird-friendly requirements; the challenges of fabricating bird-friendly glazing; and what’s next for bird-friendly glass.

Amy Roberts is the Director of Canadian and Technical Glass Operations for the Fenestration and Glazing Industry Alliance. In this role, Roberts recommends and implements strategies to address critical issues in the Canadian market relative to fenestration and glass products and keeps the pulse of Canadian residential and commercial construction market trends. Her key focus is the needs of Canadian fenestration and insulating glass companies. Roberts oversees the FGIA FENBC Region, particularly member services and technical and business operations. She communicates regularly with members to identify residential and commercial topics of interest and works to effectively address those topics via presentations at regional events, webinars, standards and more. She also maintains strong relationships with government officials and local organizations in BC to further the objectives of the FENBC Region. In addition, she represents FGIA and the industry in the Canadian national building and energy code and regulatory arenas relative to fenestration and glass products and serves as staff liaison for related committees and task groups. Roberts has more than 23 years of industry experience in glass and IG manufacturing and in both residential and commercial window manufacturing. She started her fenestration journey working at a residential wood window manufacturer, then moved to a full service residential and commercial glass shop before ultimately landing in glass fabrication, where she spent 16 years in sales. Before joining FGIA, Roberts served as a board member for FenBC, now the FGIA FenBC Region. She lives in British Columbia with her husband.

2:45

Terry Adamson

CROSS-COUNTRY CODES AND STANDARDS ROUNDUP

Terry Adamson, technical director, Fenestration Canada

From his perch atop Fenestration Canada’s technical services department, Terry Adamson has the advance scoop on upcoming changes to the codes, standards, regulations and laws that govern how we build glazed facades. In this presentation, he gives us an overview of the main regulations controlling the energy performance of Part 3 building envelopes in the various jurisdictions across the country and notes recent changes and coming updates. He will also note where shifting regulations are likely to change how facades need to be designed to meet code in the future.

Terry Adamson is leveraging knowledge gained over 21 years designing and manufacturing windows and doors at Westeck Windows and Doors in Chiliwack, B.C., to help his fellow fabricators across the country as technical director at Fenestration Canada.

4:00

Organizers collapse.

See you at Top Glass!