GlassTalk

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. What might these rules look like? How do we determine if a product is sufficiently resistant to external fires? And what is the science behind making frames and glass that resists fire and prevents heat transfer to the home interior? Robin Urquhart has worked on rebuilding communities destroyed by wildfires and joins GlassTalk to share his deep knowledge of this topic.

FenCan codes and regulatory affairs direction, Adrian Edge, is back on to talk about the latest trade war developments and how they might impact the glazing and fenestration industries. Our sector avoided new tariffs on April 2, but the stunning measures announced by Trump against the rest of the world are crashing markets and have already, in the words of our prime minister, ended the free trade and partnership relationship we have enjoyed with the United States for decades. Edge talks about the possible ramifications of that, and about how you can still export to the U.S. tariff-free. Mark Carney clip courtesy Associated Press YouTube.

Registration for Canada’s architectural glass show is open [https://events.annexbusinessmedia.com/event/top-glass/?oly_enc_id=] and the agenda set. Join us April 29 – 30 in Mississauga, Ont., for a day of great discussion with all your friends in the industry. And get a behind-the-scenes look at Trulite Glass and Aluminum Solutions, one of Canada’s top glass fabricators. Glass Canada publisher Pat Flannery shares all the details – see you at Top Glass!

FenCan’s director of government and regulatory affairs, Adrian Edge, joins to talk tariffs. What is the status? Are they gone or are they coming back in a month? Either way, what can we and our governments do to protect ourselves and our businesses going forward? Things get political and practical in this edition.

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.