GANAPerspectives

Meeting Your Needs
Benefits from GANA Membership and Education
by Ashley Charest

The Glass Association of North America (GANA) is a professional association for manufacturers and suppliers involved in the commercial architectural glass industry. Within GANA there are six divisions, each focusing on different aspects of the industry’s products and installers. The six divisions are: building envelope contractors, flat glass manufacturing, insulating, laminating, mirror and tempering. In addition to membership for manufacturers and suppliers, GANA offers an affiliate membership for those who provide full members with professional services, including, but not limited to, architectural and engineering consulting, glass specifying and more. 

Membership Benefits
Affiliate members of GANA receive discounts on manual purchases, discounted registration fees for GANA events, access to the members only section of the GANA website, as well as the ability to take advantage of the networking opportunities and technical activities of the association.

AIA Registered Provider
GANA is working to educate architects on the design possibilities that glass provides, and is a registered provider of AIA continuing education units. The first presentation, titled Glass in Today’s Architecture, was created by the flat glass manufacturing division. The presentation focuses on the flat glass manufacturing process, specifically the revolutionary float glass process that was created in 1959 by Pilkington, and the various fabrication processes that alter glass in many different ways to create tempered, mirrored, laminated, insulating or specialty glass. The presentation is designed to educate architects about the different types of glass available for design, as well as further enhancements of glass through the use of specialized coatings. The presentation is available for credit by one of GANA’s facilitators. If your architectural firm is interested in this presentation, please contact us at 785/271-0208, or stop by our booth at the AIA Show (#2402).

In addition, GANA is actively working to complete two other presentations for AIA accreditation, one on the properties of tempered glass and one on laminated glass. These presentations are being created by the tempering division and laminating division respectively. 

Technical Documents
A document titled the Specifiers Guide to Architectural Glass can be downloaded for free from the GANA website (www.glasswebsite.com). Designed to provide architects, engineers and specifiers with an introduction to today’s architectural glass, the guide begins with a description of how float glass is manufactured, helps design professionals consider the various types of glass, its performance characteristics and how these items relate to the design, specification, building code and construction requirements for buildings. The appendices provide contact information for members of the GANA flat glass manufacturing division, additional information on reference standards and contact information for referenced organizations. 

Many architects also find GANA’s various manuals a great value. The GANA Glazing Manual is recognized as the definitive source in the glass and glazing field. This manual includes complete information about primary and fabricated glass products, quality standards, design considerations, general and specific glazing guidelines and glazing in hazardous locations. Formerly published by the Flat Glass Marketing Association, this manual is frequently referred to as the “industry bible.”

In addition to the Glazing Manual, architects have also been drawn to the Laminated Glazing Reference Manual. This manual presents useful information, technical and performance data and installation guidelines for laminated glazing products. The 2006 edition includes the latest information on laminating interlayers; technical and performance data for products intended for safety, security, detention, hurricane/cyclic-wind resistant, blast-resistant, bullet-resistant, seismic-resistant and sound-reduction glazing applications; and industry standards and test methods. 

To learn more about the opportunities available, visit us at our AIA booth or online at www.glasswebsite.com. 

Ashley Charest is the account executive for the Glass Association of North America based in Topeka, Kan.

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