Reviews&Previews

IGMA Seminar Focuses on Best Practices, Codes

The Insulating Glass Manufacturers Alliance (IGMA) of Ottawa, Ontario, hosted an educational seminar, “Performance and Innovations in Insulating Glass Units (IGU),” December 7-8 in Vancouver. The seminar was one of the best in the IGMA educational series in terms of content and participation, says Mike Burk, product sales specialist for Quanex Building Products in Houston, and a presenter at the seminar.

The 54 attendees came from all across North America, says Margaret Webb, executive director of IGMA. “They were IG fabricators, building envelope consultants and window manufacturers.”

The seminar was “vitalizing, informative and exciting,” says Enbar Balilty, vice president and general manager of High Performance Glazing Inc. in Concord, Ontario. “I’ve attained a lot of useful information regarding best practices in approach to manufacturing quality control IG units and the major causes of failure and prevention.”

The first day of the seminar offered best practices, the dos and don’ts of spacers, desiccants, sealants, coated glass, and how to do things better, Webb says. “The second day was more strategic in nature and saw discussions on glass breakage, how to select the best energy performance glass, handling glass, glass safety—glass can be dangerous to handle, and our people get used to being around it so much—vacuum insulating glass glazing guidelines, and forensic investigation in case of failure. Lunchtime sessions included two presentations on code updates and dynamic glazing.”

An update on Canadian codes, the national building code and glass standards, as well as a presentation on dynamic glazing, were also featured. The panel presentation “Glass Performance for Energy Efficient Fenestration” was a highlight of the seminar, Burk says. “The panel responded to many current and pertinent questions asked by the attendees,” he says. “The ‘Handling Glass Safety’ presentation appears to have hit home with the attendees. A number of them have contacted me since the presentation regarding [personal protective equipment] and safety concerns at their manufacturing facility,” he adds.

The sessions will be available through the IGMA online educational center.
www.igmaonline.org

USG
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