At the AIA Show It Was Stamina, Sustainability and Substance

At the AIA show, the new Oldcastle Glass booth featured photovoltaic panels whose power was being used to run a rotating electric information strip like the famous one that flashes the news in Times Square.

Also at the AIA show attendees could get more information on BIM at the Kawneer booth, where the company had a hands-on demonstration of its software program.

Guardian had a black box to more truly show the colors of its glasses.

Because of its size, it took a lot of stamina to walk around the AIA show last week in Boston to see what the exhibitors are offering. Fortunately, many attendees seem to have had that stamina. The activity at the Architects’ Guide to Glass and Metal/USGlass and Glass Association of North America (GANA) booth, like most others we saw, was steady with lots of interest on the part of the architects and designers.

Green was a big focus of the show, of course, following the fashion of the day. Building Information Modeling (BIM) was the up-and-coming favorite, with this new technique getting the most “buzz” on the floor.

Sustainability was very much on the mind of Joe Erb, product manager, in the combined Lauren Manufacturing/Edgetech I.G. booth. He said the message they were trying to get out to attendees is that, in addition to being an international company, it is possible to have true structural and real warm edge. “All this leads into LEED certification,” he stated. Erb pointed out that Edgetech has put in the machinery and done the testing to be used in commercial applications. “We also have CE courses on acoustics and warm-edge technology. We want to move this green and sustainability message,” he added.

The booth featured an insulating glass (IG) unit with 245 pounds of weights on it to make the point of how Edgetech’s products offer the strength for commercial applications.

Another take on green and sustainability was in the Thermique booth. This heated-window product was creating a bit of a stir for its ability to control condensation and make the area within 10 feet of any large door or window comfortable by eliminating the cold feeling people experience close to unheated glass. “It’s a very seductive product because of what it can do,” said George Usinowicz, architectural representative for the Chicago-based exhibitor. “It opens up design options for architects and design engineers because we can solve the problem of what to do with cold glass.”

“The emphasis on energy dovetails with this product,” Usinowicz added. “In the last year, 90 percent of our clients have been about condensation control.” He also talked about the possibilities in healthcare because of the trend to get more glass into the project for better connection of patients to the outdoors.

Following the green machine, Mark Mundorff, vice president and national market consultant for Mapes, said that sunshades are “going gangbusters.” “There are good long-term prospects for this type of product,” he added. Mapes was showing some new variations on its canopies.

In addition to celebrating its 25th anniversary, Linetec was putting out its green message. “Both our pour-and-debridged and Insulbar products are gaining because of the emphasis on green,” said Tammy Schroeder, marketing specialist. “And as a company, we try to be as green as possible.”

Sage Electrochromics promoted its electrochromic glass. The company plans to have a new manufacturing facility for high-volume production by 2010. This will help bring the price of the product down, the company says.

There were some other interesting products noticed on the trade show floor in Boston.

Dorma was showing its Moveo glass moveable glass wall with sound insulation, which has been available in Europe for a couple of years and will become available in the United States in August. It has a 50-dB lab test performance and can be fitted with an integrated blind system with remote control.

IBP Glass displayed its GlassWalk glass floor systems, which are pre-engineered for easy installation. Based on the number of glass floors and stairs on display at the show, this design trend is still going strong.

Paul Daniels, vice president of sales for Los Angeles-based C.R. Laurence, said there was a lot of interest in the company's stacking partition system and its ladder pull lock for glass entrances. Daniels said he had seen a substantial number of architects at the booth who do high-end residential work. “That must be the part of the market which is doing better,” he said.

Kawneer provided demonstrations of its new BIM program in its booth and having successful interest in that as well as its Continuing Education courses, which were part of the Expo Education program. A Kawneer spokesperson explained that its intent was not to explain what BIM is to the architects (“That's what the AIA educational program does.”) but what specifically Kawneer has to offer for BIM.

Chris Dolan, who heads up Guardian's marketing, took time out during the AIA show to explain a couple of unique features at his company's booth. The first was a smartly designed glass chair that the company raffled off. The second were boxes designed to show what a glass is going to look like when it is actually installed outdoors. “It's reflection versus transmission,” he explained as he pulled out a black sheet that fit under the glass. “It gives a truer image of the color of the glass, which is the start of the design process,” he explained. “Products are best seen in actual conditions, but if that is not possible then they should be seen in simulation of natural conditions,” he added. “It’s an eye opener for architects to see the difference in how the glass actually looks.”

In a booth that showed its range of products, Arch Aluminum and Glass was showing Arpal blast mitigation and ballistic resistance products.

Dlubak, which supplies specialty glass products, was promoting its glass, which offers eavesdropping countermeasures and wireless security technology. The company reported a lot of interest because a lot of people are doing government work and there also were a good number of government employees at the show.

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