Wired Glass Advisory Issued

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) has issued an advisory on the use of wired glass in educational facilities. 
The action comes after the NYSED researched the 2003 International Building Code (IBC), which will soon be adopted by New York State as the statewide building code. NYSED learned that the 2003 IBC requires all glazing in impact areas in educational occupancies to be impact resistant.

“New York State will soon adopt this provision and new installations of glazing in hazardous locations in schools will be required to be impact-resistant,” stated the advisory. “There are several fire-rated and impact-resistant glazing options available today and school districts and architects should research the advantages and disadvantages of all options. Wired glass will not be an available option.”

Faced with the decision of what to do with existing wired glass installations, the NYSED is strongly recommending that all existing wired glass locations be evaluated for potential impact and injury. Some of the options being considered include impact- and fire-resistant materials, specialty films and installing protective bars and railings.

Viracon Building New Facility

Glass fabricator Viracon, headquartered in Owatonna, Minn., has begun construction of a new facility in St. George, Utah, which is expected to increase the company’s glass fabrication capacity by approximately $40 million at full capacity. 

The facility is slated to open in April 2007, and will employee approximately 150 people. Once fully operational (within three years), the facility will employ between 250 and 300 people.

According to Don Pyatt, Viracon president, the plant will be a comprehensive, full-fabrication facility, complete with two insulating glass lines, as well as tempering, laminating, coating and silk-screening production lines.

The new $25 million facility was designed by architectural firm MRW Design Inc. of St. George. Watts Construction, also of St. George, is the general contractor. 

UL Authorization for Schott Pyran

Schott North America Inc. distributors Interedge Technologies LLC and General Glass International have received UL authorization for processing the company’s Pyran fire-rated glass ceramics. Both companies are now authorized by UL to cut Pyran Crystal and Star products and to label these products with the UL mark.

Both distributors deliver the products ready for installation. Interedge, an AFG company, processes the two products in its Fall River, Mass. and Hebron, Ohio facilities. GGI processes Pyran fire-rated glass ceramic products at its Secaucus, N.J. operation.
More information on Interedge is available at www.firesafe-glass.com and on General Glass at www.generalglass.com.

Des Moines Building Wins Award

The Des Moines Federal Building’s recently renovated façade was honored with the 2006 Master’s Award in the $10 million category. The annual award is presented by the Master Builders of Iowa (MBI), a chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America, to only one project in the state. The winning project and team is selected for best demonstrating the characteristics of performance, innovation, excellence and responsiveness to client needs.

Des Moines-based general contractors Neumann Brothers Design Build Solutions replaced the existing exterior of the fully occupied, 61,000-square-foot, 11-story building with a new, structurally sound, energy-efficient, blast hazard mitigating façade manufactured by Wausau Window and Wall Systems. Along with modernizing the 1960s-style building, Detroit-based SmithGroup’s architectural concept transformed the GSA-operated facility into a more vibrant component of the flourishing city. 

Working closely with Neumann Brothers, Wausau developed a unitized curtainwall system that could withstand an extremely high static equivalent blast pressure and remain intact. The engineering staff also relied on the additional expertise of blast consultants Weidlinger Associates. “Using state-of-the-art software, we applied advanced analytics to evaluate the curtainwall system as an integrated model rather than evaluating each component individually,” explained Weidlinger principal Robert Smilowitz. “This integrated approach for evaluating the curtainwall system’s performance in response to blast loads allowed Wausau to arrive at a more efficient, cost-effective design and bring great value to the project.”

Thermal Breakage Standard Approved

ASTM International Committee E06 on Performance of Buildings has approved a new standard for determining the resistance of annealed architectural glass to thermally induced stresses caused by exposure to sun and shadows. The standard, E 2431, Practice for Determining the Resistance of Single Glazed Annealed Architectural Flat Glass to Thermal Loadings, is under the jurisdiction of subcommittee E06.51 on performance of windows, doors, skylights and curtain walls. 

“By using the ASTM standard, designers and specifiers of glass in buildings can reduce the possibility of thermal breakage of glass in both vertical and sloped applications, such as facades, storefronts, skylights and atriums,” pointed out William Lingnell, chair of the task group that developed the standard. 

According to Lingnell, the task group’s intention is to ultimately include the resistance of insulating glass units to thermal stresses. Work is currently underway to expand the standard.

USG
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