Glass Week Wraps Up in Las Vegas

The Glass Association of North America´s (GANA) Glass Week wrapped up over the weekend with several more division meetings, including the following discussions:

Insulating Glass Division

Following updates on a number of items still in motion, Bill Yanek, GANA executive vice president, presented information to the division on the potential merger with the Insulating Glass Manufacturers Alliance (IGMA). Yanek noted that following the recent IGMA annual meeting earlier this month, the two groups now "have a checklist of deliverables to move forward with." For now, IGMA is going to continue to poll its members for further input; Margaret Webb, IGMA executive director, noted that she´ll be calling every member company to discuss the picture of what this merger might look like.

In anticipation of such a move, Jon Kimberlain of Dow Corning Corp., proposed adapting the GANA division´s mission statement and objectives to become more accepting of the IGMA members´ concerns for, among other things, a division dominated by commercial glass interests. The group removed its "particular emphasis on commercial glazing" from the mission statement and also tweaked its objectives. Webb further added an additional bullet point to that list of objectives: to work closely with IGMA. The addition was approved to read that the IG Division will aim "to work closely with other industry/trade associations to avoid duplication of efforts and enhance each others´ activities."

Laminating Division

Within the Laminating Division, it was noted that the Laminated Glazing Reference Manual is undergoing its final round of minor tweaks and is looking at an estimated May publication. A glass informational bulletin (GIB) on Emergency Egress Through Laminated Glazing Materials is on the list to next be updated, followed by the creation of a GIB on Hurricane Substitution Explanations and the completion of a GIB on the Approximate Weight of Interlayers Used in Laminated Architectural Glass, a sister document to the earlier GIB on the Approximate Weight of Architectural Flat Glass .

On the other hand, the group drew very near completion of its 101 presentation on laminated glass.

"The laminated glass 101 PowerPoint has been in the works for a long time and finally I think we´re finished," said Valerie Block of DuPont. The division walked through a few editorial tweaks before approving the presentation and forwarding it to the Marketing Committee for review.

Mirror Division

During the Mirror Division meeting, updates were provided on two completed resource: ASTM´s C1503 Standard Specification for Silvered Flat Glass Mirror and the ISO TC 160 standard for mirrors. The group soon will circulate its own document, Mirrors - Handle with Extreme Care, to its members for review.

In addition, the group heard an update on the recently revised ANSI Z97 standard for safety glazing materials. The presentation provided examples of where the standard may cause confusing breakage evaluation. The division agreed to ballot the document with a negative to allow ANSI to fix these issues.

Also under discussion was a recurring topic: the possibility of merging the small division (which has 17 members) with, perhaps, the Decorative Division.

"We need help with this division," commented division chair Jim Ventre of Vitro America. "The division has gotten very small and it´s questionable as to whether it will continue on as a standalone division."

A motion was made and passed to survey the division membership about interest in a merger, although Ventre made his opinion on the matter clear: "I am very set against that," he said during the full GANA membership meeting. He, and other division attendees, pointed out that the mirror division has accomplished quite a bit in recent years and will have more opportunities to do so in the future as the use of mirrors in creating solar energy becomes increasingly important to the industry.

Tempering Division

The Tempering Division´s Construction Subcommittee presented an update of its ongoing communication with the International Window Cleaning Association (IWCA). Greg Carney, GANA technical director, met with the association at the end of last year to "talk about things like evaluating other means of cleaning glass other than [metal] scrapers." Among ideas coming from the IWCA was the suggestion of putting together a "best practices" document for the operation of heat-treating ovens to at least address the accusations of some window cleaners that many scratches arise from the presence of fabricating debris on tempered and heat-strengthened glass that is pulled along the surface of the glass.

The group also continued an effort in the other direction: the creation of a sticker discouraging the use of metal scrapers. An image of what the small cling stickers would look like-with a simple graphic and text in English and Spanish noting that "metal scrapers damage glass"-was presented to the group. The stickers, if interest is expressed in purchasing them, would be available to individual members to use at their discretion, rather than coming with recommendations from the association.