Discussing double glazing

I got an e-mail the other day from a Mr. J.E. Swain, and he asked two questions:

1. "Why is the double-glazing industry producing 20-millimeter space partially filled argon gas units? Considering argon gas optimum gap between glass panes is 14 mm with a maximum of 16 mm, any wider, the gas reduces the efficiency and durability by approximately 35 percent, and why partially filled instead of full fill? 2. "Why is there no easy way for the consumer to determine the extent of argon fill of any double-glazed unit that is supplied?"

I forwarded his e-mail to a few experts within the industry, and this is what I got:
On the first question, Margaret Webb, executive director of the Insulating Glass Manufacturers Alliance, Ottawa, Ontario, suggested contacting the manufacturer directly. In general, she said, "Manufacturers will gas fill to the concentration required to obtain a specific rating for code compliance. This can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer as the overall thermal performance values are determined by the entire window assembly; [it] is not just a function of gas fill. Typically, gas fill will improve thermal performance of a unit by 5 percent."

Tracy Rogers, technical director, Edgetech I.G., Cambridge, Ohio, said that some manufacturers do not have optimized IG packages and best fit IG systems into existing framing systems. "A window system design must consider other dimensional requirements than just the IG unit overall dimension," he said. "Other manufacturers are designing for acoustical performance and, in this case, the greater the glazing gap the better; regardless of gas type. Lastly, some don’t understand proper design for thermal optimization."

Jeff Haberer, tech services engineer, Cardinal Corp., St Louis Park, Minn., said that introducing 20-mm spacers isn't a trend that he's seeing. "We have offered a 19-mm spacer for some time as it allows the use of two 3-mm glass lites to make a 1-inch overall thick IG unit that fits in most commercial glazing frames," he said. "This, plus a slight improvement in sound control (3dB) are the only advantages that I see."

On the second question, Webb said that the industry has not developed a non-invasive method of determining the gas fill in the field. "Calibration of any measurement device would be required for the specific field conditions, which change frequently even within one day," she said. "At the present time, the method of determining the gas fill of a unit is by removing the window from the building envelope and sending it to a lab. This need not be a destructive test but there are measurement devices that can be more easily calibrated in a lab setting where the environmental conditions can be controlled."

Rogers offered: "If a window manufacturer provides product that is certified under the National Fenestration Rating Council, the design gas fill content (argon, krypton, etc.) is listed on the temporary label (on the glass). If this label isn’t available, the product can be traced by the CPD # on the permanent label as posted on the NFRC’s Certified Product Directory on the NFRC Web site. If not NFRC certified, then they have to go by what the manufacturer provides."

Haberer said, "The difficulty in measuring argon has been pursued for decades now. There are now non-destructive ways of determining gas fill. They are relatively easy to use and determine gas content, but they cost approximately $12,000."

In the U.K., the British Fenestration Rating Council has a parallel program and requirements, Rogers added.

I'd love to get your feedback as well, and I'm sure so will Mr. Swain. Add your answers as comments or e-mail me, and I'll make sure they reach him.

—By Sahely Mukerji, Senior editor, Glass Magazine

Goal checkup: How are you progressing?

In my last blog we covered the basics of goal setting: 1) set the goal, 2) develop a plan, 3) keep the goal and plan in front of you, 4) focus on the reward for accomplishing it.

By now, you have either done nothing toward achieving your goal, have started but lost confidence in achieving your goal, or are making progress toward reaching the goal. Regardless of which stage you are in, it is most important to know where you currently are in your progress toward reaching your goal.

Goal checkup questions
Ask yourself:
1) Are you serious about your goal? If not, you’re wasting time reading this blog.
2) Where exactly are you?
3) How do you feel about what you’ve accomplished so far?
4) Do you have any external support encouraging you in this quest?
5) What adjustments, if any, do you need to make to be successful?
6) Are you using any of your five senses to make the reward real?

Dealing with competing priorities
One of the biggest challenges to hitting a goal can be friends and family who unintentionally ask you to do things that distract you from your primary target. Let me give you an example: I stated in my last blog that I have a personal goal of running 56 miles on my 56th birthday later this year. I am a member of the Glass Professional Forum. We are an informal group of glass shop owners from throughout the country that meet several times to discuss “best practices.” These meetings are very important to me and the success of my company. Our next meeting will be in NYC in May. We are deciding the specific dates now. I let the group know that I will not be attending because I have some long-distance runs scheduled for those dates. Nicole Harris, publisher of Glass Magazine and a member of this group, said she could run part of the way with me in Central Park. She said she could get others of the group to also run different distance legs with me in Central Park. As an aside, I may be the only person in the country that has not been to NYC, and it is a dream of mine to run in Central Park. I am confident that we are going to work out the details that will allow me meet with my peers, complete my long run and realize a lifetime dream simultaneously.

At first, it appeared that this meeting with my peers could be a distraction toward reaching my goal of running 56 miles. However, it could also keep me on track to reaching my company’s growth goals. How do I resolve the apparent conflict between these two critical goals? Every time competing priorities appear, it is a good thing. It tests your commitment, sharpens your thinking, and hones your priorities. The questions to ask are:
1) How do I resolve the apparent conflict between these competing goals?
2) How will this situation help me accomplish my goals?
3) How can I turn a potential distraction into a positive tool to help me succeed?

A quote to apply: “Limits, like fears, are often just an illusion” -- Michael Jordon.

—Bill Evans, president, Evans Glass Co., Nashville

Serving a changing architectural community

The architectural community has struggled through this recession. Faced with two years of declining business, firms have downsized, cut services and, for many, closed. According to a Jan. 20 New York Times article, employment at architectural firms nationwide was 184,600 in November, down almost 18 percent from its peak of 224,500 in July 2008. And in a recent AIA survey, 18.8 percent of respondents said their firm would be considerably smaller in 2010 because of downsizing; 3.9 percent said their firm would probably close this year.

In our architects issue in May, we would like to feature some of the products and services that architects are demanding in this changed economy, and we would like your input. Please email me or post a comment to the following questions if you’d like to share your thoughts. And thanks!

• In your experience, what is the glass and glazing education level of architects? How much do they know about the latest industry products? What types of products are they expressing the most interest in?
• How often do architects turn to your project managers for guidance on a project? What services are they asking you to provide?
• How have the changes in firms (downsized staff and services) affected the way you do business with designers?
  

--By Katy Devlin, associate editor

Grow glass

All the news on the economy trending toward the negative can wear you and your co-workers down. The construction and our glass industry have been down. All companies have made changes and adjustments.

There are small signs of rebounding segments in the economy. It’s time to turn our mindsets, energies and strategies to the positive. The glass industry saw unprecedented growth during the last construction cycle run-up. People like to live, work, and play around the products and installations our industry produces. This exciting trend did not go away, it just slowed.

All industries go through peaks and valleys, along with down cycle economies. Ours will rebound, and it starts with us! We need an all-industry push to "Grow glass!" We have a multitude of great products for many applications. We need to showcase our products and educate our markets on the exciting ways to use them.

Like “Got milk,” it should be “Got glass.” We have the most innovative and differentiating products in the construction market. Showing these products, samples, colors, textures, specialty aspects and performance characteristics is fun!!

The more we educate consumers and show off our products, the faster our industry rebounds. Do renderings of what a new front or façade could look like and get them in potential customers' hands to think about. It works! The potential in the solar energy market is massive. Glass companies must stake a claim and make it our market. The remodel and retrofit of old energy-wasting systems is another potentially huge market.

Tired old showrooms and marketing literature won’t cut it. Let’s spiff it up. Every time we have any interaction with customers we should introduce, explain and use visuals of the exciting new products and systems.

Glass products made it into bathrooms to a high level of success. Now, how about kitchens, walls, floors, ceilings, and hallways? We have awesome innovative new products for homes and offices. What about glass doors in homes? In Europe and Japan it’s very prevalent, but not in the U.S. -- yet!

Just had a restaurateur tell me how his exciting use of glass increased his wine sales and business overall. Glass adds value and business. It’s cool, trendy and makes you feel good.

Learn from our vendors. They have great varieties of offerings and applications. Why wait around? Let’s market and sell. Re-energize and train our people on promoting glass. We need to be up with the positive and "Grow glass."

--Robert J. Trainor, chief executive officer, Trainor Glass Co., Alsip, Ill.

Chinese glass imports continue to spark controversy

I honestly didn’t know what to think when I learned last year that the bid to supply blast-resistant glass for the new World Trade Center tower went to a Chinese company. On the one hand, I’m all for cost savings, provided the product or service is high quality. On the other, I identified with PPG spokesman Jack Maurer when he said in a Patriot-News interview: "This is going to be an iconic U.S. building that will have Chinese glass in it. At the end of the day, this glass could be made in the United States."

These feelings resurfaced when I read a recent New York Times article, in which Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) echoed Maurer's sentiment. “Imagine China building a huge structure intended to be an important national symbol and importing glass from the United States to build it," Brown said. "There is no way the Chinese would do that.”

In the New York Times article and a subsequent Toledo Blade piece, the national media called attention to the declining state of domestic glass production, citing Beijing Glass’ winning bid as evidence of U.S. glass manufacturers’ struggle to compete against foreign suppliers. The Chinese glass industry, specifically, experienced a three-fold increase in exports to the U.S. from 2000 to 2008, while the U.S. trade deficit with China on glass tripled in the same period, according to an Economic Policy Institute study.

“Our domestic glass industry is the most efficient in the world, but it cannot compete against production that is heavily subsidized by the Chinese government,” said Scott Paul, executive director for the Alliance for American Manufacturing, in a letter to glass executives last fall. “As a result, glass production in the U.S. has suffered in recent years, with plant closings and thousands of lost jobs throughout the country.”

According to an EPI release, the U.S. glass industry has contracted by about 30 percent—nearly 40,000 jobs—since 2001. Sixteen states, among them California, Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, have lost at least one out of four of their glass industry jobs since 2001. See how the float plant landscape in North America has changed over the past five years, here.

To help domestic glass manufacturers compete, some are pushing for tariffs on Chinese imports. Others, like Sen. Brown, are calling for a national manufacturing policy to lower the cost of doing business in the U.S. As for the glass manufacturers themselves, some—like Guardian, which The New York Times reports will supply the glass for the upper 85 floors of the tower—are continuing to expand glass production overseas. Read how, here.

"Those who are looking through the rearview mirror, waiting for the glass industry in this country to come back, should know it isn't going to come back, not the way it was," said Russ Ebeid, Guardian chairman, in the New York Times article.

What do you think the future holds for domestic glass production? Is a return to growth in the cards? Is government intervention the answer?

—Jenni Chase, Editor, Glass Magazine

Commitment ignites action

It's easy to remain committed when times are good. Everyone's busy, days and weeks run together as we go about our business, and we do the things we planned to do and are expected to do. Others do what they're supposed to do, just as we expect them to. Contracts are honored, customers pay, you pay your vendors, and everything trickles down and steamrolls ahead like it is supposed to. Sure, some people let you down. But for those of us who try to do what we say, doing so takes little effort or consideration.

But when times are tough, commitment requires more effort. Commitment becomes intentional. Commitment requires you to be ... committed.

I am reminded of this as I leave a meeting at the NGA offices. Times are tough at your association, a reflection and natural extension of the tough times in our own companies, industry, and country. So the staff's commitment is more noticeable now, although it has always been there and been taken for granted. They, too, are doing more with less. They are not doing the same with less, they are doing more with less. With a smaller budget and fewer people, they are putting out more and better products for us.

The training and education opportunities are top-notch, including myglassclass.com, the Glazing Executives Forum, Autoglass Technician Certification, and the new Window and Door Dealers Forum. Glass Magazine, Window & Door Magazine, and the e-news products have the best reporting and look at least as good as anything you will find on the news stand. And just wait till you see the GlassBuild America show in Vegas this September. Just like in your company, there are also more superstars behind the scenes making it all happen.

All these people are committed, and that is a choice they consciously make. Thinking about them brings to mind all the other committed people in my life: employees, suppliers, friends, and especially my wife, but this is a shout out to the amazing staff at the NGA. You might not know them, but they are hard at work for you and me, making this industry better and our jobs easier. Think of them when you read your magazine, or take an online class, or register to attend or exhibit at GlassBuild America. If each of us chooses to be as committed as they are, then our industry, the glass industry, will lead the way in the months and years to come. And we will all be better for it.

--By Chris Mammen, president, M3 Glass Technologies, Irving, Texas