Advanced Glazings launches residential aerogel product
Sydney, N.S.,’s Advanced Glazings has launched Solera Reserve, a translucent glazing product tailored specifically for refined residential design. Solera now enters the home space for the first time with a blend of beauty, performance and wellness. » Read More…
OGMA campaign over hospital award gains traction
The Ontario Glass and Metal Association’s complaints about Ontario awarding a $140 million facade contract to Permasteelisa/Benson for the massive Peter Gilgan hospital expansion are getting a broader hearing and attracting response from Ontario politicians. Grant Cameron at The Daily Commercial News has covered the controversy. And City News Kitchener picked up the story and forced the premier’s office to defend its decision, saying the process to award the contract was “fair and competitive.” » Read More…
New OGMA website offers members ability to post company profile
The Ontario Glass and Metal Association has announced the launch of a new website timed to align with OGMA’s 35th anniversary. The new site boasts a refreshed design, updated content and enhanced features. » Read More…
Facades Plus returning to Toronto
Facades Plus returns to Toronto Sept. 26 with an all-new program featuring the latest developments in building enclosure design and technology. Discussions will cover everything from high-performance facades, to new iconic projects across the city and region, and strategies for increasing climate resilience and energy performance. » Read More…
A new curtainwall design promises efficiency and power generation
As Canada accelerates toward net-zero emissions and energy-efficient building mandates, one of the most promising innovations isn’t just about greener HVAC systems or better insulation – it’s about redefining the building envelope itself. A new generation of building-integrated photovoltaic/thermal (BIPV/T) systems, designed as smart, modular curtainwall, is emerging as a cornerstone of future-ready buildings. At Concordia University in Montreal, Masoud Valinejadshoubi, under the supervision of Andreas K. Athienitis and Ashutosh Bagchi, has developed an adaptive BIPV/T curtainwall design that represents a world-first in facade-integrated, multi-inlet, adaptable solar thermal and electric generation systems. » Read More…
Four projects demonstrate the versatility of specialty glazing
Buildings come in many shapes and sizes, which create different challenges in their design and construction. Likewise, their locations may put different demands on the architectural systems that compose them. A facade in the subarctic climate of Yellowknife will be subjected to different weather conditions than one in Toronto. The same can be said about use. A medical centre will have different goals than a data centre. It follows that the architectural glazing systems used throughout a built environment may be called to fulfill different demands. » Read More…
GlassTalk Episode #77: Principles of Marketing – Alison Simpson, Canadian Marketing Association
Our business is making things, not talking about them. So it’s no surprise that many of us struggle with the demands of promoting our businesses to potential clients and customers. Alison Simpson, president and CEO of the CMA, has been helping major corporations do just that throughout her career and she joins Pat Flannery for a lively conversation chock full of good advice. She also has details of an exciting program enabling small businesses to obtain government funds to hire digital marketing experts and to upskill their existing IT staff. » Listen now…
GlassTalk Episode #76: Elbows Down – Blake Sanders, OGMA
The Ontario government’s award of a $140 million hospital façade project to American contractor Permasteelisa/Benson is making waves in Ontario’s glass community. After receiving multiple angry comments and calls from members, the Ontario Glass and Metal Association has taken the unusual step of going public with an open letter to the Ford government, complaining about the lack of support for our industry at a time when tariffs and a general commercial building slowdown threaten our businesses. Sanders joins GlassTalk to make his case for why Ontario should do a better job of looking after its own. » Listen now…
GlassTalk Episode #75: One Number – Jonathon “JoMo” Layton, Layton Consulting
How would it be if all the databases and charts and spreadsheets and regulations and tiers defining whether our products comply with sustainable building laws just…went away? Replaced by one number: – the only number that matters – the amount of carbon dioxide emitted over a building’s lifetime as a result of its manufacture, construction, use and disposal. Partner at Layton Consulting, Jonathon “JoMo” Layton joins the podcast to chew over this radical idea and lend his expertise to the question of whether it could work and how it would affect us all. » Listen now…
GlassTalk Episode #74: The next hot topic – Robin Urquhart, RDH Building Science
High-profile wildfires doing substantial property damage to urban areas in B.C. and Alberta have spurred NRCan to look at creating Canadian building standards for wildfire resistance. The consultation process has just begun, but it seems likely that some day soon we may see new codes requiring resistant windows, doors and other components in wildfire-prone areas. Robin Urquhart has worked on rebuilding communities destroyed by wildfires and joins GlassTalk to share his deep knowledge of this topic. » Listen now…
GlassTalk Episode #72 – Verifying VIG – David Cooper, VacuumGlass
David Cooper has been researching and developing vacuum insulating glass for over a decade and chairs multiple international standards committees that will define how it can be used, how its quality can be assessed and how to test its performance. With demand for VIG growing and producers multiplying, specifiers and contractors need guidance on what to look for in these products – guidance that may be coming soon in the form of balloted ASTM standards for durability and load tolerance. Cooper joins GlassTalk to explain where these efforts are at and to update us on the state of VIG technology and availability. » Listen now…
GlassTalk Episode #68: Making EPDs is Worth It – Chris Guelpa, Cascadia Windows and Doors
Langley, B.C.,-based Cascadia has published its first environmental product declarations for its fibreglass fenestration systems and its happy it did. Marketing manager Chris Guelpa joined the Conversation to talk about the process; the help they got; the markets and opportunities the EPDs are opening up; and how fibreglass stacks up in the embodied carbon discussion. » Listen now…