Tag: glazing

The Role of Commercial Glass and Glazing, Today and Tomorrow

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The year is coming to a close rapidly, and it’s a time that I find valuable to reflect on where our industry stands today, and where we have to go in the future.

Anyone reading this will be closely familiar with the collective challenges we’ve faced around supply chains, labor and more over the past few years. Despite these issues, we’ve largely been able to make the best of it — and I’m confident we’ll be able to successfully navigate any choppy waters that may be ahead of us.

According to the Architecture Billings Index (ABI), an economic indicator for nonresidential construction activity published each month by the American Institute of Architects (AIA), October marked the first decline in billings since January 2021. This tells us two things: That 2022 has largely been a good year for the architectural industry, and that we’ll need to remain watchful headed into 2023.

“Economic headwinds have been mounting and finally led to weakening demand for new projects,” the AIA writes. “While one month of weak business conditions is not enough to indicate an emerging trend, it is worth keeping a close eye on firm billings in the coming months.”

Commercial glass and glazing professionals should do just that. But no matter the economic conditions we’re faced with — ideal or not — it’s worth remembering the critical role we play in the modern world. The glass and glazing technologies we help bring to bear are an integral part of modern architectural marvels around the world. But we’re also a critical part of more modest commercial buildings that people around the world depend on. Grocery stores. Schools. Banks. Office buildings. And so many more.

As we look toward 2023 my message is this: Stay focused on the fundamentals. The modern world depends on our ability to deliver uncompromising quality and reliability in critical applications, whether the construction market is booming or otherwise.

I’ve detailed a few of those fundamentals in a couple of my favorite posts for this blog over the past year. They include:

Quality. There are a number of ways we can ensure the quality of completed glass products. Whether it’s following established best practices for commercial glass fabrication or going the extra mile via testing to ensure long-term performance, continuing to explore how we can make quality improvements is an essential part of our industry’s future.

Read: Three Tips to Ensure High-Quality Commercial Insulating Glass

Read: The Increasing Importance of Mock-up Testing

Efficiency. Buildings are responsible for about 40% of global energy consumption and about one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, modern construction can and must be more efficient than ever before. We have the potential to make meaningful contributions with innovative new glass technologies. Seizing that potential will require incorporating those technologies into our finished products.

Read: Today’s Decisions Impact Long-Term Success

Read: Meeting New Demands without Compromise

Let’s remember the essential role we play and commit to always delivering quality, innovative work for commercial applications everywhere.

Joe Erb is national account manager for Quanex.

Today’s Decisions Impact Long-Term Success

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Allow me to borrow an example from the residential window market for a moment. Talk in the industry has revolved around the critically stringent new ENERGY STAR 7.0 criteria, set to take effect at some point in 2023. Window systems meeting the current criteria will in most cases need to make significant design alterations to achieve the thermal efficiency performance required to maintain the ENERGY STAR label.

The question for window manufacturers is this: How to go about making these changes? There are options, and some of them are more complicated than others. To date, residential manufacturers have typically relied on their insulating glass units to meet previous ENERGY STAR criteria; low-E coatings and high-performance spacer systems have gotten the job done.

But the new ENERGY STAR 7.0 numbers — requiring a < 0.22 u factor and > 0.17 solar heat gain coefficient in the Northern Zone, which covers much of North America — will trigger more dramatic changes. My colleague John Ryba has written extensively about the options manufacturers have at this magazine’s sister publication for the past year. Triple-paned IG could be a necessity if manufacturers don’t want to alter their window systems completely. Elsewhere, switching to energy-efficient vinyl systems can help manufacturers meet the new figures with greater confidence.

The latter process involves a greater upfront investment. Changing your vinyl systems is a big shift — but one that might be worthwhile over the long term for residential manufacturers who want to remain at the forefront of energy efficiency trends in the industry.

What does this have to do with the commercial glass industry? First, it’s important to remember that energy efficiency standards, barring some major regulatory shakeups, never go backward. ENERGY STAR is just one example. Government bodies around the world, from the local level to the national stage, are more concerned than ever with fostering greater sustainability in all areas of society. We’ve seen the effects in North America as new building codes in major municipalities are implemented, demanding higher and higher levels of performance from all types of buildings. That, of course, includes glass and glazing codes.

It means that the case is strong for commercial fabricators (both window and door and glass) to invest in innovative and forward-thinking technology today — before it simply becomes the cost of doing business. For example, high-performance vinyl systems have proven themselves to be viable in commercial window and wall applications, while delivering an outstanding thermal performance that metallic options can’t match without major modifications. Warm-edge spacer systems have likewise delivered outstanding efficiency gains in major commercial applications, including architectural glazing. The right products can also provide nice efficiency improvements in manufacturing.

Technologies like these represent not only a way for commercial fabricators to prepare themselves for a future where more stringent efficiency standards come into effect; they’re also a means to create separation from the competition. As we round out 2022, it’s worth keeping these things in mind while making plans for 2023 and beyond. It’s incumbent upon the commercial glass and glazing industry to remain innovative as codes and regulations change. Investing in high-performance technology is one path to get there.

Joe Erb is the national account manager for Quanex

Color Considerations for Commercial Window Fabricators

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If you’re in the fenestration industry, and you stay up to date on home décor and design trends, you’re likely aware that colored vinyl windows have made an impact on homes everywhere. Homeowners are looking for darker hues that match modern living spaces — and window frames can make a statement.

But this is a commercial blog. Why are we talking about residential vinyl? There are a few reasons that I’ve been thinking about recently.

The first is because apartment or condominium dwellers have desires too, and builders have taken notice. My colleagues and I have been hearing increasing chatter in recent months about the demand for new color options in multifamily housing and high-rise applications. The second is because commercial-grade vinyl is an ideal choice for applications like the ones I just described for several reasons (as regular readers of this blog know), and it’s an ideal material to pair with an increasingly wide range of available color options.

For commercial window manufacturers, there are a few things to think through as you’re thinking of developing new color options or expanding your current portfolio. Let’s take a look:

Color Quality
Branching into new colors involves evaluating the different technology options that are available to commercial fabricators. Generally, paint and laminate options are the ones most frequently considered when it comes to offering colored windows. However, both methods have their drawbacks. Each needs additional labor on the plant floor (i.e., applying the paint or laminate), and at a time when fabricators are struggling with manpower, such steps can be limiting. Meanwhile, paint and laminate quality is of utmost importance. Lesser materials may be susceptible to longevity issues over time, especially in commercial applications and in most extreme climates.

But advanced color technology available today can solve each of these challenges. Co-extruded color technology, for example, sees that color becomes an integral part of the vinyl profile itself. Such technology delivers significantly enhanced scratch resistance, high durability and the ability to withstand harsh weather conditions seen by commercial windows. It’s an option worth exploring for each of these benefits.

Thermal Efficiency

I’ve written extensively about the performance benefits of select commercial vinyl window systems. In a regulatory environment that’s increasingly concerned with sustainability and stringent demands for commercial buildings, high-performing vinyl window systems can deliver outstanding energy benefits in applications where metallic systems have traditionally held the majority of the market share. The energy benefits can be striking, and these systems have increasingly proved their ability to deliver long-term performance.

Your ability to pair a high-performance commercial window system with high-quality color technology as described earlier can be a powerful differentiator in these types of markets. Think dense metropolitan areas especially, where aesthetic design considerations collide with stringent building code requirements.

Ordering and Availability

One challenge for manufacturers offering multiple color options is the added SKUs doing so involves. For example: Let’s say you offer one commercial profile in four standard color options, but several new project opportunities are requesting additional color options and some dual color configurations. If your supplier can offer these options, it could open new business opportunities, but also lead to added inventory challenges.

From an inventory perspective, things can quickly become complicated. You don’t want to have countless varieties of colored units sitting around in your warehouse, either. And your vinyl supplier won’t be hanging on to all that inventory themselves. A good one, however, can help deliver on your needs in step with your demand with a reasonable lead time. Open these kinds of conversations with your vinyl supplier to ensure you can both stay nimble.

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As the commercial construction industry continues to demand more from its fenestration systems, I think that increasingly broad color options represent one way we can continue to innovate. Pairing those options with high levels of performance and efficiency is even better.