Technical Corner (Cont'd)
Prior to ICC-ES issuing a Verification of Attributes
Report (VAR), the manufacturer must have an inspection performed toverify that they are meeting the quality control requirements of the VAR.
The inspection must be provided by a third party organization accredited by the International Accreditation Service (IAS) as a third-party inspection agency (AA-676) for inspections covering the nine different categories listed above. The accreditation falls under ISO/IEC Standard 17020 "General criteria for the operation of various types of bodies performing inspection."
For more information about the ICC-ES SAVE program, go to their web site at http://saveprogram.icc-es.org.
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2009 Membership Directory
The 2009 Membership Directory ... Be Sure to Download a New Copy Today
We’ve received several updates since our last distribution, so be sure to click here to download the latest copy. And please send us any updates you may have to your own profile … the great thing about this new digital format is that it allows us to keep the directory current throughout the year!
Thank you to our directory advertisers
Your support makes this valuable resource possible!
DAC Products
John Evans' Sons
Spectra Gases
Wakefield Equipment
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Newsletter Ad Space is Now Available for 2010
Looking for a way to showcase your products and services to fellow NWDA members?
Ad space is now available in all 2010 editions of the NWDA e-Newsletter!
Artwork must be submitted accordingly:
| First Quarter: |
March 5 |
| Second Quarter: |
June 4 |
| Third Quarter: |
September 3 |
| Fourth Quarter: |
December 3 |
Advertising is sold on a first-come, first-served basis, so don’t delay!
Click here for the advertising agreement and to view the ad specifications.
Contact Jen Thayer at jthayer@nwda.net immediately if you wish to secure advertising space.
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Winter Meeting Info
Get Registered
Become a Sponsor – Gain visibility for your company, and support NWDA at the same time.
Sponsorship opportunities are available at a variety of levels:
$500 – Full Program Sponsor (SOLD)
$200 – Monday Evening Welcome Reception Sponsor
$200 – Tuesday Morning Breakfast Sponsor
$200 – Tuesday Afternoon Lunch Sponsor
$100 – Coffee Break Sponsor
Missing the traditional Table Top program? For $50 you can upgrade your Welcome Reception Sponsorship to include Table Top space. (SOLD OUT)
Download the Sponsorship Form for full details (including benefits at each level).
Please note that some of the above sponsorships are limited and are available on a first-come, first-served basis. So don’t delay, secure your opportunity today.
Book Your Hotel Room Now
A block of rooms has been reserved at The York Homewood Suites by Hilton. Call 717-434-1800 to make your reservation today. Be sure to ask for the special NWDA room rate of $100.
The networking reception will be held at this hotel on Monday night, and the educational program will be held at Architectural Testing on Tuesday.
What’s On The Agenda?
Monday, January 25 |
1:00–4:00 pm |
Board of Directors Meeting at ATI |
5:00–7:00 pm |
Welcome Reception at Homewood Suites |
Tuesday, January 26
|
8:30–9:00 am |
Breakfast |
9:00–9:45 am |
Opening Remarks and
More Clarification on the Tax Credit and Energy Code |
9:45–10:45 am
|
Update and Outlook for the Residential and Commercial
Window and Door Industry
Michael Collins, Jordan, Knauff & Company |
10:45–11:00 am |
Break |
11:00–11:30 am |
Codes & Specs Update
Mike Mackereth, Architectural Testing, Inc. |
11:30am–12:30 pm |
New Glass Certification Requirements for 2010
Jon Hill, Vice President, Keystone Certifications, Inc. |
|
Quality Control to Ensure Fill Rates and Retention
Speaker TBA |
12:30–1:30 pm |
Lunch |
1:30–2:45 pm |
Hear About the Joys of NFRC Enforcement … from the Testing Labs
Ray McGowan, Senior Research and Technology Manager,
National Fenestration Rating Council |
2:45–3:00 pm |
Break |
3:00–3:45 pm |
Changes: EPA Organizational Structure, Lead Abatement for Replacement Windows, .30/.30, and “R-5” Window Program
Speaker TBA |
3:45–4:30 pm |
ATI Facility Tour |
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Winter Meeting—A Preview from Our Speakers
Before you join us in York for our Winter Meeting, take some time to preview a few of the topics that will be covered by our speakers.
_____________________________________________
Brush up on IG Certification guidlines from the NFRC.
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NFRC Component Modeling Approach White Paper
Submitted by Ray McGowan, Senior Research and Technology Manager,
National Fenestration Rating Council
Commercial Fenestration Energy Ratings
ASHRAE 90.1, Section 5.8.2, requires fenestration energy performance to be determined using NFRC 100 and 200. The performance indices (U-factor, SHGC, and VT) generated must come from a laboratory accredited by a national authority such as the National Fenestration Rating Council, Inc. (NFRC). The primary exception to this rating requirement allows for manufacturers to assign default values from an ASHRAE appendix. However, these defaults are unlikely to meet the ASHRAE prescriptive requirements.
Anecdotal evidence indicates many fenestration manufacturers are not providing energy performance values according to the Section 5.8.2 requirement. For example, in some instances, manufacturers may only be providing the center of glass values for the IG unit. Others may make simple calculations to include frame performance with IG performance. And still others may follow AAMA 507, which piggybacks on the NFRC 100 and 200 standards.
The AAMA 507 procedure generates IG performance according to NFRC 100 and 200, but combines it with the frame thermal performance in an overly simplified manner that is unlikely to be accurate. In addition, no third party verification is required, which is not the case in the NFRC rating procedure. Recently, several AAMA 507 proponents attempted to add this procedure to the IECC as an alternate to NFRC 100 and 200 but that effort failed largely because of the missing third party verification that code bodies prefer. Any fenestration performance lacking the actual NFRC 100 and 200 generated indices is unlikely to be accurate.
Read the complete white paper here.
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Window & Door Industry – Outlook for 2010
By Mike Collins, Jordan, Knauff & Company
The beginning of a year is a natural time to reflect on the year that has passed and to make plans for the year ahead. It is a relief that the reflection and planning process that will be undertaken in January 2010 is taking place against a much more positive backdrop than that of a year earlier.
At the beginning of 2009, the U.S. was still mired in the most serious financial crisis in the memory of most Americans. It is easy now to say that “of course we recovered” but at the time it wasn’t so apparent that we wouldn’t slide into a long and prolonged decline. Rome fell, after all, and history teaches us that no one can maintain the top spot indefinitely. How, however, the majority of the storm has passed and more and more Americans and businesses have an optimistic eye toward the future. There will continue to be layoffs and many individuals will remain unemployed or underemployed. However, as has happened many times in the past, we will emerge from this crisis stronger and with cleaner balance sheets at both the individual and corporate levels. News from the housing market has begun to be more consistently positive and small and medium sized companies are hiring once again.
For the commercial market, the year ahead will contain several challenges. The most pressing of these, we believe, will be the lack of credit availability to fund the projects on which these companies’ products are used. We are in touch with a growing number of commercial building products manufacturers who report that, despite record numbers of bids being prepared, they are receiving purchase orders much more slowly than expected. On the positive side, the commercial market has always been less prone to speculative excess than the residential side, causing market bubbles here to be less severe than on the residential side. The commercial market tends to lag the residential market by a year to eighteen months. Also, the residential market, on coming out of a recession in building, tends to pop by 10-30 percent. When you combine these two factors, and account for the length of time the residential market has been performing poorly, there is reason to hope that the severity of the commercial downturn will be mitigated by an imminent jump in the residential industry.
The availability of private equity capital that must find a productive company in which to invest should help drive a brisk mergers and acquisition (M&A) environment in 2009. There will be a number of companies that sell because they limped through 2009 and have finally thrown in the towel. There are other companies, though, that will be sold because the owners have enjoyed a decent year. Most of these companies were strong beneficiaries of sales driven by the $1,500 tax credit for windows that meet the .30/.30 requirement. If a company initiates a sale in the first half of next year, they may have 18 mos. of black ink behind them by the time a sale is consummated, helping their valuation. We continue to receive active inquiries from both private equity funds and current window and door manufacturers who are seeking investments in this space. The contrarian buyers have been eyeing the building products industry for some time and the belief that the industry is ready for a turn is becoming more and more mainstream.
The biggest trend in 2009—an increasing focus on energy efficiency—will continue to drive the industry well into 2010 and beyond. We refer to thermal performance as having separated the industry into have’s and have not’s, based on a company’s level of energy efficiency. Companies that were unable to meet the .30/.30 requirements were left grabbing at straws and trying to take advantage of a loophole that left the tax credit standard tied to Energy Star until last summer. Once that loophole closed, though, such companies were left with the feeble defense of trying to downplay the importance of the tax credit. For instance, several companies selling in areas with a high concentration of senior citizens have begun telling them “You don’t pay any taxes anyway, what are you worried about a tax credit?” We suppose that might work in certain circumstances, but accepting that approach will relegate companies that don’t meet the higher standards to the history books as those standards only continue to climb.
Along with recent positive news regarding housing starts and existing home sales, we received very good news recently with the extension of the first time home buyer credit and the expansion of the program to include additional home buyers. Since home buyers tend to remodel their homes in the several years after buying them, the increased home buying activity that resulted from this program should also benefit window and door remodeling sales over the next several years. In particular, many individuals that bought homes in 2009 will replace the windows or doors on those homes in 2010 in order to capture the energy tax credit. The additional homes purchased under both years of the program should lead to additional remodeling sales for several years.
Zig Ziglar once said that he was such an optimist that he’d spend his last $10 on a money clip. It’s tough to stand up to that level of certainty about a positive future, but the market is feeding us an increasing diet of encouraging signs. It is incumbent on each of us in the industry to see those signs and to make big and daring plans for the year ahead. Whether your company will grow through acquisition, through accessing the capital of a transaction partner or through offering superior and energy efficient products that are desired by the marketplace, now is the time to regain our enthusiasm and to charge ahead. We must seize on every possible opportunity in the coming year.
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Member Profile—Learning about your fellow NWDA members (Cont'd)
In seeking new products and markets, in 1978 Ira focused on the fenestration industry. Originally beginning with Neoprene setting blocks and over the past 30 years adding separator pads, die cut gaskets, glazing and muntin tapes, and a host of products serving window and door manufacturers as well as glass fabricators.
As president & CEO, Ira wears the many hats worn by most CEO's, including corporate visionary, strategist and financial planner, to the 3S's (sales, shipping and sweeping the floor).
Ira's previous work experience included pharmaceutical sales, insurance sales and he worked his way through college as the chief engraver in a trophy and awards company—although that was a very long time ago!
His most recent honor was as the recipient of the 2009 Manufacturer of the Year from the New York State Small Business Development Center.
Mr. Warren's biggest and most recent undertaking began in 2005 when he began the process of planning for the future growth of the company. After 33 years of renting space he completed the dream of building the company's own custom designed facility which become the company's new home in May 2008. Photos can be seen on the company's website (www.FrankLowe.com).
As one of the newer companies to join the NWDA, Ira is looking forward to enhancing many long-term relationships and forming new ones. With the company's VP of Sales & Marketing, Randy Cohen, just elected to the board of directors, it was Ira's pleasure to offer the Frank Lowe facility to host the board's recent meeting, and he looks forward to getting to make new friends in the industry when he attends the NWDA Winter Meeting in January.
Ira received a BS in Chemistry from Lehman College of the City University of New York. Married these past 13 years to his wonderful wife Barbara, Ira has two fabulous children from a previous marriage and is about to become "The Father of the Bride" in April. Additionally, when not working, Ira loves the frustration found on the golf course and reading a huge variety of trade magazines.
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Member News—What’s New With You?
Architectural Testing—Window and door manufacturers, architects and specifiers now have a convenient regional source for performance testing of fenestration products and systems, with Architectural Testing’s new laboratory in Chelmsford, MA.
The laboratory also serves as home base for a comprehensive mobile field testing capability that brings third-party on-site verification and forensic investigation services to the Greater Boston and surrounding New England area.
The 11,000 square-foot installation is fully equipped to conduct testing of the basic window and door performance attributes of resistance to wind loading, water leakage, air infiltration and forced entry. A positive test report enables certification and compliance labeling of products per the omnibus AAMA/WDMA/CSA 101/IS2/A440 North American Fenestration Standard, mandated by the International Building and Residential codes. Additional tests can be conducted for resistance to impact from wind-borne debris (critical for products intended for use in hurricane-susceptible zones, as required by Miami-Dade TAS test protocols), negative pressures and for the performance of mulled assemblies. Various other methods for testing to AAMA requirements are also available. Soon-to-be-added capabilities will accommodate safety glazing and sealed insulating glass (SIG) evaluations, the latter being required under NFRC and ENERGY STAR™ Windows programs as of mid-2010.
Crystal Window & Door Systems, in a major move to increase its market presence, has initiated steps to integrate its Chicago-based affiliate manufacturer Crystal Windows & Doors Illinois Manufacturing (Crystal Chicago) operations into the New York-based company’s national operations. The move will combine the 80,000 sq. ft. Chicago factory with Crystal Windows’ current 340,000 sq. ft. network of window production and aluminum extrusion facilities. Plans also call for the expansion of production capabilities and product lines made by the Chicago facility. The integration effort is scheduled for completion this year with expansion activities continuing into 2010 and thereafter.
Additionally, Thomas Chen, President and founder of Crystal Window & Door Systems, was honored in October by The Queens Courier and Queens Business Newspapers for his business leadership in the borough and for his support of numerous philanthropic charities and causes. At a special breakfast reception and networking event hosted by Schneps Publications and held at Terrace on the Park, Mr. Chen was named a King of Queens and recognized for his accomplishments.
DAC Products, a manufacturer of window and door samples, displays and marketing tools with facilities in East Bend and Rural Hall, NC, continues to add to their services with the announcement of new creative and design talent.
Todd Woods, Vice president of Sales and Marketing for DAC stated, “We are excited to now offer our customers a seasoned creative design expert who has a proven track record.” DAC has the ability to work closely with customers to bring their concepts to fruition or offer fresh new looks and ideas. In addition to the creative development services they will be able to produce photo like renderings for customers to see what a concept looks like prior to the more extensive engineering and prototyping phases when developing complex custom projects.
Gorell Windows & Doors has announced that October 2009, was the best sales month in the company’s 15-year history. Gorell also reported that the three-month period from August to October was up 25 percent over the same time period in 2008. Gorell does not publicly divulge actual sales figures.
President and CEO Wayne Gorell attributed the sales record and growth to a number of factors. These include improvement in the U.S. economy, the federal tax credit program, pent-up demand for replacement windows and doors and strategic moves by Gorell that have allowed the manufacturer to acquire a significant number of new dealers to market and sell its products.
Additionally, Gorell’s new Green Seal Certification Program was awarded a 2009 Crystal Achievement Award in the “Most Innovative Marketing Program” category by Window & Door magazine. After Gorell replacement double-hung windows achieved Green Seal certification in late 2008, Gorell Windows & Doors developed a comprehensive marketing program to better communicate what makes a company and its products green.
The Crystal Achievement awards recognize significant innovations and achievements in window and door technology, manufacturing and marketing. The winners are selected by a panel of judges representing all segments of the industry.
Harvey Building Products will host The ‘Big Game’ of Trade Shows at Gillette Stadium on February 24 -25, 2010 from 2-7pm. The two-day experience aims to introduce new products and services to the building professional. There will be over fifty exhibitors, all-day live clinics, and special guest appearances. Attendees must pre-register on-line at harveybp.com/pro. The show is open to industry professionals over the age of 18.
RiteScreen is proud to announce that their Elizabethville, PA location has been chosen to receive the prestigious Governor’s Award for Safety Excellence for 2009. This highly competitive award requires complete commitment by employers and employees to provide a safe work environment.
RiteScreen was selected based on comprehensive safety programs with plans for continued improvement, teamwork, innovation and strategic development of safety policies, along with comprehensive accident and illness prevention programs and practices.
“Winners of the Governor’s Award for Safety Excellence are dedicated to high standards in workplace safety and employee wellness,” said Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell. “These companies have implemented safety strategies that reduce on-the-job injuries, increase productivity and sharpen their competitive edge in a global economy. They serve as inspirations for all Pennsylvania workplaces to match their success.”
Vision Products, a leader in the design, engineering, manufacture and fulfillment of sample and display products for the window, door and building products industries is pleased to announce the appointment of Jay Toogood as Distribution Manager. Jay brings with him over 20 years experience in the window and door industry. He has worked in production and supervision at Vision Products and previously at Napco. In his new role, he will be responsible for our distribution management programs. He will ensure all orders are properly received and fulfilled. CEO Jim Young said it was necessary to create this position due to increasing demand in our distribution division.
Vision Products also recently invested in two (2) automated cutting and positioning equipment systems to increase production capacity. This equipment will be utilized in a variety of our manufacturing processes. Paul Wolfe, VP Sales and Marketing, says these purchases were necessary due to increasing demand for our cutting operations.
Vision Products is also happy to announce two additional promotions. Tim Volek has been promoted from Product Leader to Plant Supervisor. Tim has over 30 years of production experience and he has been with Vision Products for 3 years prior to assuming increased responsibilities. Gary Young has been promoted to Maintenance Manager. Gary has over 20 years of supervisory experience, the last 6 years with Vision. We can count on Gary to keep our facility and the plant equipment in fine working order.
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Make Sure that NWDA is on Your Distribution List
Don’t see your member news included here? Make sure that your communications team is sending copies of your press releases to info@nwda.net. Members love to read about what’s going on with each others’ companies, so we can’t get too much news!
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Mission Statement
The Northeast Window and Door Association represents window and door manufacturers, supported by suppliers, for the goal of providing affordable access to information and education regarding market, government, building code, and business influencers shaping the window and door marketplace.
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NWDA Officers
Darryl Huber, BF Rich Co., President
•
Chuck Scalzott, Vytex Windows Corporation, First Vice President
•
Tom Channell, Chelsea Building Products, Second Vice President
• Bob Sullivan, Harvey Industries, Treasurer
NWDA Active Directors
Al Dixon, Southwest Vinyl Windows
•
Alan Hinkle, Lockheed Window Corp.
•
Art Poland, Thermal Industries
•
Rob Rose, Northeast Building Products Corp.
•
Chuck Wetmore, Serious Materials
NWDA Associate Directors
Nancy Bostwick, Caldwell Manufacturing Company • Randy Cohen, Frank Lowe Rubber and Gasket Company • Kelly King, RiteScreen • Mike Mackereth, Architectural Testing Inc.
NWDA Past-Presidents
William Langfelder • William Carmichael • Alan Ungerleider • Robert Williams • Lee Borellis • Herb Steigler • Art Poland • John Mesko • Chris Lorber • Keith Oakley • Terry Rex • Michael Sugrue • Bill Donnelly
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Change and its Unintended Consequences
Founded in 1955, Frank Lowe Rubber & Gasket Co., Inc., a one man company, was acquired in 1975 by Ira from a two line ad in the Sunday New York Times classified section. At that time Frank Lowe primarily served the electronics and aerospace industry as a short run gasket manufacturer. Although the customer base was varied, it was comprised mostly of job shops serving military and aerospace contractors; mostly relying on orders filtering down from Grumman's building of airplanes or the latest defense contract at Loral Electronics, Fairchild Space & Defense or Hazeltine. In retrospect, this beginning served the company with the discipline of fulfilling mil-spec order processing and recordkeeping which would later form the foundation to become ISO certified with relative ease.