DOOR & WINDOW MANUFACTURER MAGAZINE

VOLUME 9/ISSUE 11/DECEMBER 2008

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Also Inside• The Latest Products from

GBA and Win-door• Inside a Vinyl Window Plant • Builders’ Show Preview

THE FUTURE OF FENESTRATION MANUFACTURING IS IN YOUR HANDSTHE FUTURE OF FENESTRATION MANUFACTURING IS IN YOUR HANDS

When and How Will ItCome Back Together?

A Housing Market

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departments

features

What’s News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Energy & Environmental News . . 24

Introducing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Ones to Watch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Now Showing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Suppliers Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Advertising Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Industry Indices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

26 Construction ForecastSeveral housing market experts gathered in Washington, D.C., inOctober to predict what’s ahead for the construction market in thecoming year. See what they had to say.

30 Plant TourAt Viwinco in Morgantown, Pa.,the company is focused onproviding its products in thequickest lead time possible, whichmeans controlling the source asmuch as possible. Find out howthe company has found muchsuccess with this approach.

34 Win-door North AmericaIt’s no surprise that attendance was lower than normal at this event heldrecently in Toronto. But exhibitors still took advantage of the opportunityto introduce some new products to door and window manufacturers.

38 IBS PreviewFind out about the educational sessions and products in store for theInternational Builders’ Show to be held in Las Vegas January 20-23.

42 Las Vegas Product Parade

DWM editors break down the latestproducts that were on display inOctober in Las Vegas.

w w w . d w m m a g . c o m

DWMDOOR & WINDOW MANUFACTURER MAGAZINE

CONTENTSVOLUME 9/ISSUE 11/DECEMBER 2008

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DWM—Door and Window Manufacturer magazine, (USPS 001-303), ©2008 by Key Communications Inc. All rights reserved. DWM is published 11 times peryear (January, February, March, April, May, June, July-August, September, October, November, December) by Key Communications Inc., 385 Garrisonville Road,Suite 116, Stafford, VA 22554; 540/720-5584; fax 540/720-5687. Advertising offices listed on page 4. Unsolicited manuscripts and other materials will not bereturned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. All contents are ©2008 by Key Communications Inc. Neither publisher nor its represen-tatives nor its subcontractors assume liability for errors in text, charts, advertisements, etc. and suggest appropriate companies be contacted before specifica-tions or use of products advertised or included in editorial materials. Views and opinions expressed by authors are not necessarily those of the publisher. Forpermission to reprint, contact editorial office. Printed in the U.S. No reproduction permitted without expressed written permission of the of the publisher.Periodicals postage paid at Stafford, VA and at additional mailing offices. Questions? Call 540/720-5584. Send subscription inquiries to Key CommunicationsInc., P.O. Box 569, Garrisonville, VA 22463. POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO DWM, P.O. Box 569, Garrisonville, VA 22463.

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From the Publisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Trend Tracker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Protect the View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

AAMA Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Eye on Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Guest Column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

48 NewProducts

8 Protectthe View

“Excuses can create the illusion that there is

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F R O M T H E P U B L I S H E R

ENERGY STAR®

The Great ContradictionB Y T A R A T A F F E R A

By now I hope all of you arefamiliar with the proposedENERGY STAR changes that

are forthcoming. If you’ve beenfollowing these changes, alongwith the opinions of industry representatives versus those from the Department of Energy(DOE) closely, like me, you mayhave noticed a contradiction of sorts.

Here’s a quick refresher. Inessence, the DOE wants to tight-en the criteria for ENERGY STAR as“the label should provide mean-ingful differentiation.” That was astatement made by Rich Karney,head of the DOE’s ENERGY STAR

program, during an industrymeeting in January 2008. Sincethen, he and Mark LaFrance, hiscolleague at DOE, have been hit-ting the speaking circuit. Theyhave traveled to various industryevents to tell the door and win-dow industry about the proposedchanges.

Karney stressed that the pro-gram is striving to beat what is inthe code requirements. “ENERGY

STAR barely beats the code inmany states,” he said. “The latestdata we have shows ENERGY STAR

at 53 percent of the market,” hesaid. “We’d like to see it at the top25 percent as opposed to saturat-ing the market.”

Let me stop there and say that Iunderstand where he is comingfrom—that as with a washer ordryer, when a customer is search-ing for a door or window productthe DOE wants it to be as easy asjust looking for the ENERGY STAR

label. If every window had thelabel it wouldn’t mean anything,

right? That’s where the issue getsmuddied. And that’s where manydoor and window manufacturersdisagree with the DOE’s position.

So what if all windows wereENERGY STAR certified? Granted, ifthat were the case then we’dprobably have to come up withanother tier to rate energy per-formance to determine the “best”levels. But if that’s the worst prob-lem we have, good for us.

It seems as if the DOE is trying to make it “harder” forcompanies to meet the ENERGY

STAR criteria. But on the flip side,manufacturers are hoping thatALL manufacturers participate inENERGY STAR. That’s where there isa clear contradiction between thetwo parties.

“ENERGY STAR is the right thingto do,” said Phil Lewin, from VinylWindow Designs a door and win-dow manufacturer in Toronto,when speaking in November atthe Win-door show. He told atten-dees that all door and windowmanufacturers should be partici-pating in the ENERGY STAR pro-gram. “It’s good from an environ-mental perspective. And if youdon’t buy into that reason then—if you do it you will make money.”

Sounds like something allmanufacturers would want to buyinto considering the state of thecurrent market.

I hope that many manufactur-ers take Lewin’s advice and strivefor ENERGY STAR. If we ever passthat 53 percent of the market andmake it to say 70, 80 or even 90percent, we’d really create a prob-lem for the DOE. Again, that’s notreally a bad problem to have. ❙

DOOR & WINDOW MANUFACTURER MAGAZINE

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THE FUTURE OF FENESTRATION MANUFACTURING

DWMPublisher/Editor Tara Taffera

ttaffera@glass.com ❚ x113

Managing Editor Shannon Fletchersfletcher@glass.com ❚ x130

Assistant Editor Penny Staceypstacey@glass.com ❚ x148

Contributing Editors Samantha Carpenterscarpenter@glass.com ❚ x192

Charles Cumpstonccumpston@glass.com ❚ x153

Ellen Rogerserogers@glass.com ❚ x118

Megan Headleymheadley@glass.com ❚ x114

Drew Vassdvass@glass.com ❚ x124

Art Directors Chris Bunncbunn@glass.com ❚ x132

Dawn Campbelldcampbell@glass.com ❚ x150

Marci Malinowskimmalinowski@glass.com ❚ x116

Advertising Erin HarrisCoordinator eharris@glass.com ❚ x119

Marketing Director Holly Billerhbiller@glass.com ❚ x123

Marketing Assistant Julie Freundjfreund@glass.com ❚ x147

Customer Relations Janeen MulliganManager jmulligan@glass.com ❚ x112

Exhibit Manager Tina Czartczar@glass.com ❚ x115

Web Developer Bryan Hoveybhovey@glass.com ❚ x125

Customer Service Katie HodgeAssistant khodge@glass.com ❚ x0

Published by Key Communications Inc.Debra Levy, president

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❚ EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS• Jim Benney, administrator, National Fenestration Rating Council • Mike Biffl, national sales manager, Sturtz Machinery• Ron Crowl, owner, FeneTech • Ric Jackson, director of marketing for Truseal• Matt Kottke, marketing support manager for Truth Hardware• Alan Levin, owner, Northeast Building Products• Phil Lewin, vice president of marketing, Vinyl Window Designs• Robert Pecorella, president and owner, Northern Building Products• Dave Pirwitz, vice president of strategic planning, Urban Machinery• Mark Toth, Eastern U.S. sales manager, H.B. Fuller • Dominic Truniger, president and general manager, Hurd Windows and Doors

Member,

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T R E N D T R A C K E R

Living to Fight Another DayB Y M I C H A E L C O L L I N S

T he recent state of business fail-ures highlights the need forcompanies to take action to

help weather the storm. I’m going tohelp companies who have questionsas to how to do this through a seriesof articles. The first type of action isundertaking a capital event or simi-lar transaction. In the next install-ment, we will cover methods ofincreasing revenues and, in the finalinstallment, ways to cut costs.

A Real Look at Cash FlowThe first critical step that com-

panies facing financial challengesshould take is to make an honestassessment of the ability of theircash flow to allow them to continueto pay their bills in a timely man-ner. It is advisable to be as open aspossible about the situation withkey managers in order to solicittheir full support of the company’sefforts to remain competitive.

The financial transaction mostfrequently associated with troubledcompanies is, of course, filing forprotection under the bankruptcycode. We will not spend any timeanalyzing that potential method ofdealing with financial distress.Instead, we will focus on the varietyof other options that are availableto challenged companies who actin time.

The first instinct of businessowners who find themselves at thehelm of a troubled company is togo to the bank to increase the exist-ing amount of bank debt. At thatpoint, the old adage often becomestrue as companies find they areunable to secure additional lendingbecause they need it too badly.

When traditional bank lending

falls short, there is an often over-looked method of raising capitalopen to business owners—factoringaccounts receivable. In the past thiswas viewed as a sign of a poorlymanaged company. This is no longerthe case. Entrepreneurs now under-stand that there are times when acompany would be well served togive up a portion of its sales inexchange for more rapid payment.Factoring accounts receivable allowsa company to receive the majority ofthe proceeds from its pendingaccounts receivable in one upfrontamount without the negative effectsof cutting terms to customers. Theamount that the factoring companyis willing to pay for a given compa-ny’s accounts receivable is a functionof their view of the risk of non-pay-ment of the receivables. As the fac-tored receivables are collected, thefunds are sent directly to the factor-ing company.

Facility CapitalCompanies that own their land

and real estate have access to anoth-er potential source of capital. Inmany cases, companies have spentmany years in the same facility,which may have increased signifi-cantly in value. There are specializedinvestment funds that undertakenothing but transactions involvingthe sale and leaseback of commer-cial and industrial facilities. Forexample, if a company sold itsbuilding and real estate in a sale-leaseback transaction and theamount of the real estate purchasewas $4 million, the company wouldreceive an immediate injection ofthat amount. The company wouldbe obligated to pay the sale-lease-

back fund monthly rent on the landand building, all of which would bean expense for income tax purposes.

Another option for generatingcapital is a full or partial sale of acompany. This could be accom-plished through a private equityfund (many of whom specialize inbuying troubled companies), acompetitor, an employee stock own-ership plan or a management buy-out. Any of these strategies bringabout the desired injection of capi-tal or the complete cessation of anowner’s obligations to their compa-ny. It is critical, though, to beginsuch processes as early as possible.In conducting due diligence on acompany, buyers will learn whethera company is still viable or must besold to avoid bankruptcy. In the lat-ter case, aggressive buyers maylearn enough about the companybeing sold to decide that they wouldrather let it “hit the rocks” and thencompete for its customer in theopen market. For this reason, select-ing the right buyer for a troubledcompany is perhaps even more crit-ical than in the sale of a more prof-itable company.

In summary, there are a widevariety of options available to helpcompanies raise capital and survivethe challenges of today’s marketenvironment. It is critical, though,to take early action in order to haveas many options as possible. ❙

Michael Collins is vice president of thebuilding products group at Jordan,Knauff & Company. He may be reachedat mcollins@jordanknauff.com. Mr.Collins’ opinions are solely his own anddo not necessarily reflect the viewsof this magazine.

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P R O T E C T T H E V I E W

In 1914 journalist Ring Lardnerstarted writing a series of baseballstories for the Saturday Evening

Post. Prior to the publication ofLardner’s tales, most baseball storieswere written for children. These ear-lier stories were positive and uplift-ing. The main characters were base-ball heroes who were always goodand always kind, the perfect rolemodels for the early twentieth-cen-tury youth. Ring Lardner on theother hand saw ballplayers as misfitswho were often “less than noble.”

His main characters include TheBusher, Horseshoes, The Yellow Kidand, my favorite, Alibi Ike. In a story,which appeared on July 31, 1915,Lardner writes “His right name wasFrank X. Farrell, and I guess the Xstood for ‘Excuse me’ Because henever pulled a play, good or bad, onor off the field, without apologizin’for it.” Alibi Ike had an excuse foreverything he did. He only batted.360 because he had “malaria mostof the season,” and he would havemade it to the big leagues a year ear-lier, “only [he] was bent over all sea-son with the lumbago.” His team-mates claimed he couldn’t go tosleep without making an excuse.

Constant ExplanationsI can relate to Alibi Ike because I

know him. We have all met him. Imet him a number of times build-ing insulating glass (IG) units. It’strue—he does have an excuse foreverything.

The lites exiting the washer arenot completely dry because “we arewaiting on maintenance to fix thewasher.” The units are not com-pletely gas-filled because we “had anew guy filling them that day.” We

had to seal those units while theywere still hot because “the truck waswaiting at the dock.” We didn’t usethe vacuum on the edge deletiontable because “the filters wereplugged up.” The sealant isn’t hotenough, but “I only do that whenwe’re busy.” The wash tank water iscold, “but we don’t have time for it toheat up.” We must use the siliconespray “to keep the sealant fromsticking to the conveyor.” The spraypaint is needed on the grids to“cover up the scratches.” I can’t wearthe safety gear “because it’s toohot.” Alibi Ike couldn’tdo any better.

Excuses cancreate the illu-sion that thereare no problems.Taiichi Ohno is cred-ited for saying that “hav-ing no problems is the biggestproblem of all.” He also looked atproblems as an “opportunityin disguise” and recom-mended investigatingproblems by asking‘why’ five times.

Find the Root of the Problem

For example, the problemof the wet glass exiting thewasher could be investigatedby asking “why” five times. 1. “Why isn’t the glass exitingthe washer completely dry?”

Answer: Waiting on main-tenance to fix the washer.

2. “Why are we waiting on maintenance?”

Answer: The parts are on order.3. “Why are we waiting on parts?”

Answer: There is a two-weekdelivery on these parts.4. “Why weren’t the parts ordered inadvance or already in stock?”

Answer: We didn’t know weneeded them.5. “Why didn’t we know we neededthem?”

Answer: We don’t do preventivemaintenance.

The real problem is not thatproduction is waiting on themaintenance department. Thereal problem is that the facilityneeds a preventive maintenanceprogram.

We need to take awaythe excuses and

uncover the prob-lems. We mustwork continuous-

ly to determine thereal cause for every

safety or quality excuse wehear.Check your IG department

to see if Alibi Ike is working foryou. If you find him, youmight need to send him to

the minor leagues fortraining or trade him to

the competition. There is noexcuse for building IG unitsthat will not protect the viewwell into the future. ❙

Mike Burk serves as product managerfor Edgetech I.G. He may be reached atmike.burk@edgetechig.com. Mr. Burk’sopinions are solely his own and do notnecessarily reflect the views of this

magazine.

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No ExcusesB Y M I K E B U R K

Excuses can create the illusion that there

are no problems.

It’s not my fault!

Always precise

Recurrent hurricanes and other weather disasters mean tougher building codes andthe desire to avoid product liability issues. Even your highest quality constructed doorwill be only as good as its multipoint locking system.

Winkhaus’s robust, tapered hooks pull the door smoothly into the frame, against thegasket for a tight seal. Simultaneously, the hooks engage behind the strike plate providing a positive engagement that will last even through the highest performancerequirements. Count on Winkhaus to reliably supply the system that prevents doorwarpage as well as air and water infiltration.

And only Winkhaus features One Motion™ (patent pending), which automaticallyreleases all locking points from the inside with one simple downward motion of thehandle. A comforting safety feature that homeowners demand.

Made with corrosion-resistant 300 Series stainless steel, of course, providing out-standing performance for a lifetime.

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When inclement weather strikes, even your highest quality doors are only as good as your multipoint locking system.

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A A M A A N A L Y S I S

ENERGY STAR® Changes Raise ConcernsB Y J O H N L E W I S

The road to green seems to passthrough the Department ofEnergy's (DOE) ENERGY STAR for

Windows, Doors and Skylights pro-gram. The National Association ofHomebuilders (NAHB) NationalGreen Building Standard requiresENERGY STAR credentials. So does theU.S. Green Building Council(USGBC) LEED™ residential ratingsystem released last January.

Tightening the CriteriaThe DOE has stated that energy

code requirements are supersedingthe ENERGY STAR criteria for windowsin some areas and that the pro-gram’s phenomenal 59 percent mar-ket penetration is “too high for thelabel to have meaning in the mar-ketplace.” So the DOE is tighteningthe program’s window, door andskylight criteria in two phases, thefirst of which could become effec-tive as early as August 2009. Thesefirst-phase criteria would push theminimum requirements to meet orexceed those of the proposed 2009International Energy ConservationCode (IECC). Phase two would takeeffect at the beginning of 2013 andwould establish performance levelswell beyond code requirements.

Proposals on the TableThe most recently proposed

adjustments to the criteria:• Lower U-Factor in northern

zones (initial target range: 0.20-0.30) substantially;

• Capture winter solar gain using aminimum Solar Heat GainCoefficient (SHGC) in the North;

• Lower SHGC in southern zones(initial target range: 0.20-0.30)substantially;

• Allow SHGC/U-Factor trade-offsin the heating-dominated north-ern zone (except the PacificNorthwest); requirements forsouthern region are prescribed,with no equivalent performancecriteria permitted;

• Add minimum Visible Transmit-tance (VT) criteria to ensure ade-quate light; and

• Require insulating glass unit(IGU) certification.There has been significant

response from those in the indus-try, many of whom are concernedabout the manufacturing feasibil-ity and marketability of productsthat would meet the ratchetedrequirements. In response torequests received at an Auguststakeholders meeting, DOEextended the comment period forthe criteria revision untilNovember 14—a further exten-sion past the original extendeddeadline of October 17.

While DOE maintains that thePhase 1 requirements “can beachieved by most manufacturerswithout significant productredesign,” it recognizes that Phase2 criteria will “require most man-ufacturers to alter productdesigns and upgrade processes.”

Previous comments fromAAMA have helped achieve somemigration of the criteria as origi-nally proposed in October 2007.But AAMA and many manufactur-ers remain concerned about theaggressive U-factor and SHGCvalues, which threaten somemanufacturers with having tovacate some markets altogetherand others with having toincrease prices significantly. If

this happened it would ensureENERGY STAR’s goal of greatlydecreasing its market share butreducing sales in a time whensales are already quite sufficientlyreduced.

AAMA has challenged this phi-losophy—that ENERGY STAR mustbe enticing, but not quite attain-able (except about 25 percent ofthe time)—by asking if the overar-ching energy saving goals couldnot more easily be achieved bystrengthening the ENERGY STAR

brand to the point that consumersdemand windows that comply.

One problem with the tighterrequirements is that they theoret-ically are justified by a paybackanalysis; that has been judgedfaulty by some and performed forDOE by its principal contractor.As of this writing, a major windowmanufacturer and AAMA memberis conducting our own analysisthat could challenge this justifica-tion. AAMA submitted updatedcommentary based on this inde-pendent analysis. By the time thiscolumn appears in print, manu-facturers may have achievedsomething of a reprieve.

Whatever the outcome, AAMAwill continue participating in theevolution of ENERGY STAR to helpensure that the criteria reflect thepractical realities of current tech-nology, industry infrastructureand market preferences. ❙

John Lewis serves as technical director forthe American Architectural ManufacturersAssociation in Schaumburg, Ill. He may be reached at jlewis@aamanet.org. Hisopinions are solely his own and do notnecessarily reflect those of this magazine.

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For more information and the whole picture of Glaston and our products, visit www.glaston.net.

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E Y E O N E N E R G Y

Case StudiesSee How Three Window Manufacturers are Going Green

B Y R I C J A C K S O N

While financial markets areseeing red lately, the win-dow industry is seeing

green. Consumers have becomemuch more accepting of environ-mentally friendly products andgreen terminology. In fact, they aredriving up demand for green prod-ucts. We checked in with three win-dow manufacturers to learn howthey are marketing green to today’sconsumers.

B.F. Rich Windows and Doors inNewark, Del., has developed thePerformance X6 window package,which offers six distinct featurestied to environmental friendliness:1. Warm-edge energy-efficientspacers;2. Foam filling inside the vinylframe and sash;3. Soft coat low-E glass with argon;4. Low-maintenance glass;5. Weather seals with antimicrobialtreatment; and6. Screens that minimize outdoorparticulate entry.

“Each of those items plays a partin the efficiency and environmentalfriendliness of the window,” saysTerry Rex, director of marketing.“We could have a product with a0.30 U-value with just the spacer,but by bundling this all together, wecan achieve a 0.27 U-value. Whenyou look at the amount of carbondioxide saved by each U-value ofefficiency, we are making a bigstatement about saving energy.”

Not only does the window pack-age offer environmental benefits,B.F. Rich offers this product at anaffordable price to dealers, who inturn make it affordable to home-owners. “It’s priced to sell the greenproduct,” says Rex, adding that the

company wants to enable the con-sumer market to take part inimproving the environment. “Thatwas a very conscious decision andpart of our daily commitment.”

Target Windows and Doors inVandalia, Mo., recently initiated agreen marketing strategy. Greenmessages appear on the company’swebsite, in direct mail pieces, in lit-erature and in everyday sales.

“We’re much more vocal aboutgreen now,” says Dan Dickerson,vice president. “Even in this diffi-cult economy, we have added a fewnew customers, and a lot of thathas to do with the energy efficiencyof our products.”

Target offers a variety of windowstyles and colors featuring no-metal warm-edge spacers, gas fill-ing, low-E glass and other green-oriented options. The companyhas seen a fourfold increase intriple-glazing sales in the pastyear. “People are trying to con-serve more energy,” saysDickerson, “and we can give themvery good U-values for a reason-able price.” He says Target’s dou-ble-hung, triple-glazed windowwith krypton gas fill has a 0.19 U-value, and the same window withargon has a 0.24 U-value.

The increasing prevalence ofcustomer familiarity with greenterminology presents an opportu-nity for business. “Sales used to bejust about energy conservation.Now, if customers had theirdruthers, they’d prefer to buy anenvironmentally friendly product,too,” he adds.

“The focus of the window indus-try is turning toward energy effi-ciency and being good to the plan-

et,” adds Steve Monroe, director ofmarketing for Moss Supply inCharlotte, N.C.

Moss Supply has harnessed thatenergy into an overall green mar-keting philosophy focused onenergy savings and responsiblemanufacturing.

Moss Supply offers marketingmaterials with data regarding win-dow energy efficiency and theresulting environmental benefits.The company created separatematerials for builders and home-owners, including a comprehensivepacket for green builders.

From a manufacturing perspec-tive, Moss Supply collects andrecycles scrap material and pur-chases as much material as possi-ble from vendors who producetheir products in the United States.This practice reduces the distanceproducts need to travel and there-by the amount of fuel required fortransportation.

B.F. Rich also employs a greenmanufacturing philosophy. It recy-cles vinyl, aluminum, glass andeven water used to clean glass. Thecompany also encourages its cus-tomers to recycle or return packag-ing cardboard.

These three manufacturers arewalking the walk while talking thetalk, which is an essential aspect ofthe green movement. And theiractions provide a positive outlook. ❙

Ric Jackson is the director of marketingand business development for TrusealTechnologies Inc. He can be reached atrjackson@truseal.com. The views andopinions expressed in this article do notnecessarily reflect those of thismagazine.

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G U E S T C O L U M N

Tips for Selecting a Door and Window SealantB Y K E N R U B I S A N D L O R I E N S Z E R

With a variety ofdoor and win-dow sealants

from which to choose, it isimportant that fabricatorskeep their manufacturingneeds and environment inmind. There are four mainfactors door and windowmanufacturers should con-sider when selecting theproper sealant.

1. Cost/Output RatioLarger manufacturers

may use hot-melt sealanttechnology and automatedequipment that increasesproductivity, while retain-ing the high quality of tra-ditional silicone sealants.This more efficient andtime-saving technology isideal for manufacturerswho require large volumeoutputs due to increaseddemand. In contrast,smaller manufacturersmay prefer more tradition-al silicone sealants that aresuited for their manufac-turing processes, givingthem longer bonding timesfor a lower-volume output.

2. Bond TimeAdhesion speed and manufactur-

ing time vary with the type ofsealant used. While traditional wetsealants can take eight to 24 hours toset, silicone hot melts have muchshorter hold times of one to fiveminutes. A low-heat capacity allowsfor the sealant to cool quickly, allow-ing for instant adhesion andincreased production levels. Turn-

around time and the level of outputneeded are important factors toconsider.

3. ClimateThe durability and performance

of a sealant is impacted greatly byweather, so choose one designed towithstand local conditions. High-quality silicone sealants are flexibleenough to resist a wide range oftemperatures, including below zero

degrees Fahrenheit,which can cause organicsealants and tapes tocrack or become brittleover time. Siliconesealants have also beenused as part of windowsystems passing coderequirements in hurri-cane or extreme windregions.

4. Performance Lifeand Versatility

Good sealants are ableto maintain high levels ofproductivity and durabili-ty while being exposed toa range of environmentalfactors, such as ultravioletexposure and other pres-sures created from atmos-pheric chemicals. Theywill also exhibit compati-bility and excellent adhesion to a variety ofother construction mate-rials, such as PVC, alu-minum, painted andtreated wood, perform-ance paints and otherglass substrates.

Given the wide range offactors that can influence

the performance life and quality of asealant, it is important to chooseone that will best fit your businessneeds, while maximizing the per-formance of the final product. ❙

Ken Rubis is application and technicalservice specialist for Dow Corning and LoriEnszer is a fenestration marketingmanager. The views and opinionsexpressed in this article do not necessarilyreflect those of this magazine.

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16 www.dwmmag.com

PLANT CLOSINGS

Several Window Manufacturers ClosePlants Amid Down Housing Market

In recent months, several win-dow manufacturers haveannounced that they are clos-

ing and/or filing for bankruptcy.Following is a summary of these.

Window Enterprises Inc., basedin Carrollton, Texas, has closed andhas been placed into a court-appointed receivership. The orderappointing Matthew Donnell asreceiver of the company wasissued in by the 192nd DistrictCourt for Dallas.

Hilco Financial LLC, a WindowEnterprises debtor, had filed arequest for this action.

As receiver, Donnell will:

• Manage the company’s assets; • Receive its income; • Invest any funds held as receiver

in an interest-bearing account;pay all funds received to Hilcoimmediately “to satisfy the out-standing debts and obligationsof the defendant;”

• Take any and all actions neces-sary to preserve and maximizethe company’s assets;

• Take any and all actions neces-sary to use, convert, processand market the company’sassets;

• Perform any other acts inregard to Window Enterprises’

assets as authorized by thecourt; and

• Work with Hilco to agree on abudget to fund expenses of thesale or other assets without theneed for further court approval. In May, Window Enterprises

issued a press release that the com-pany was “recapitalizing the busi-ness for future growth.”

“Several [unnamed] institutionalinvestors, in addition to participa-tion from senior management,recapitalized the company in Apriland are committed to the long-

What’sNews

continued on page 18

Recent Plant/Company ClosingsPlant Location Date of Closing

Kensington Windows* (owned by Jancor)

Vandergrift, Pa.

October 27At press time, Kensington

Management were pursuing options to reopen the plant.

Survivor Technologies (owned by Jancor)

Hillside, N.J. Week of October 27

Window Enterprises Carrolton, Texas October 28

Florida Made Door (subsidiary of Masonite)

Astatula, Fla., plantAnnounced in October. Will cease

operations at end of January.

SilverLine Durham, N.C., plant Announced in October.

Milgard Marysville, Wash., plant Announced in mid October.

Therma-Tru Fredericksburg, Va., plantAnnounced October 2.

Will close July 31, 2009.

MI Windows Lebanon, Ind., plant Announced in late November.

Ply GemHammonton, N.J., and

Phoenix plantsAnnounced in late November.

Republic Windows & Doors Chicago, Ill. December 5

* Those companies that have ceased operations as a whole are in red. The others are companies who have just closed individual plants.

december

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17

Republic Windows Closes While EchoWindows Opens by Same Owner

Republic Windows andDoors in Chicago attractednational media attention in

December when the companyclosed its doors abruptly. This was-n’t unlike what occurred in otherwindow plants recently, such asKensington Windows and SurvivorTechnologies (see story at left).What was different here is thatworkers refused to leave withoutthe pay and benefits owed them.

After a six-day sit-in, Republicreached a settlement with itsemployees in which they willreceive eight weeks of pay, twomonths continued health coverage andpay for all accrued and unused vacation.

The settlement totals $1.75 million.Bank of America is extending a $1.35million loan to Republic so it can payemployees, while JP Morgan Chase isfunding $400,000 of the agreement.

During a press conference announc-ing the settlement terms, UE directorof organization Bob Kingsleyannounced that the group is forming afoundation called “The Window ofOpportunity Fund,” which will be dedi-cated to re-opening the plant. It will bestarted with funds from the UE nation-al union and the thousands of dollarsof donations to the local UE thatresulted from the workers’ occupationof the Republic plant.

Republic Management: Their Side of the Story

As soon as news broke of the plantclosing on December 4, DWMattempted to reach various Republicofficials and our repeated calls wentunanswered.

Republic issued a statement onDecember 8 saying officials knew sincemid-October that the company would

be closing, and that on November 25,the company requested permissionfrom the Bank of America to issuevacation pay to all employees.According to Republic, that requestwas rejected on November 26.

“Despite inheriting a company bloat-ed with overhead and lacking any type ofmanufacturing discipline and/or produc-tivity, the company made significantimprovements only to encounter anunprecedented decline in new homeconstruction, which led to a decline ofcompany sales to new construction of 80percent,” reads the statement fromRepublic, in reference to the period lead-ing up to the closure. “This placed thecompany in the impossible position ofnot having the ability to further reducefixed costs, coupled with severe constric-tions in the capital debt markets and anunwillingness of the current debt holderto continue funding the operations.”

While some employees say theywere shocked concerning the plant’sclosing, others weren’t as surprised.

DWM contributing writer AlanGoldberg visited the Republic plant onMonday, December 8, and spoke toworkers.

Raul Flores, who joined thecompany eight years ago, saidstrange things started to happenabout three weeks ago.

“One day, we’re told that thereis no material,” Flores said. “Thentwo weeks ago, we went home[on a Friday night] and [when wereturned on Monday] machinerywas gone. There were eight trail-ers outside. We became very suspicious.”

Martin Rodriguez, a 16-yearveteran, said it wasn't justmachinery that would disappear.

“We were missing somethingelse everyday,” Rodriguez said. “Therewas no material. We knew somethingwas going to happen.”

However, while the Republic situa-tion was unfolding, it was disclosedthat Republic CEO Richard Gillman hadformed Echo Windows and Doors,which was incorporated in the state ofIllinois on November 18. His wife,Sharon, was also listed as an officer ofthe company.

On Thursday, December 4, one dayafter Republic announced plans toclose, TRACO, based in CranberryTownship, Pa., announced that it soldits residential window business to EchoWindows.

Check www.dwmmag.comfor Updates

While the sit-in at RepublicWindows had ended at press time,it’s likely that details surroundingthis story will continue to emerge.Visit www.dwmmag.com for the lat-est updates. And in case you missedDWM’s coverage of this story, thosestories are also on the website.Space constraints prohibited usfrom publishing all the details.

Republic workers picket at the Republic plant.Shown is an inflatable rat they dubbed, “The Bankof America rat.”

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What’sNewsCONTINUED

term growth prospects of the com-pany,” read the release.

Hilco Financial LLC is a compa-ny designed to provide seniorsecured bridge loans for mergersand acquisitions, acquisitions ofdistressed debt, and specialtyfinancing, according to the compa-ny’s website.

Window Enterprises wasn’t theonly company who announcedclosings recently. KensingtonWindows in Vandergrift, Pa., shutits plant on October 27, leaving150 employees out of work.Survivor Technologies in Hillside,N.J., also ceased operationsaccording to newspaper reports.Both were owned by Jancor Cos.Inc. of Ohio.

In late October, it was reportedthat Kensington vice president ofoperations Chuck Wetmore wasworking with investors in anattempt to revive the company. Asof press time, though, noannouncement had been made.

Ply Gem Industries Inc.announced that it will close notone but two door and windowmanufacturing facilities—Hammonton, N.J., and Phoenix.Together, the two facilities employa total of approximately 306employees.

“This action was difficult in thatit impacts a number of ouremployees, however, the marketconditions that exist today andthat are expected to persist intonext year, combined with thecompetitive climate demands themost efficient operating structureand this decision to consolidatethese operations will improveoverall performance and is inkeeping with Ply Gem’s commit-ment to its customers and thefinancial community,” says GaryE. Robinette, president and chiefexecutive officer.

Lynn Morstad, president of Ply

Gem’s U.S. Window Group, adds,“Decisions of this kind are alwaysdifficult … We must address thisissue due to excess productioncapacity in light of current marketconditions.”

Morstad says the Hammontonand Phoenix plants were selectedbecause of their proximity to otherPly Gem facilities.

While Ply Gem made itsannouncement in late Novemberso did MI Windows and Doors Inc.,based in Gratz, Pa. The companywill close its Lebanon, Ind., windowfabrication facility.

“Our decision to close theLebanon facility has beenextremely difficult,” says MattDeSoto, president, EasternDivision of MI Windows andDoors. “Anytime we affect teammembers and their families byeliminating jobs it comes withmuch concern and anxiety. Thedecision is not a reflection of howour team in Lebanon has per-formed, rather a necessary reac-tion due to the continued down-turn in the housing market and theeconomy as a whole.”

The company will be deployingthe assets based in Lebanon to its other window fabrication facilities.

“The team is dedicated to pro-viding quality products and seam-less service for our Lebanon basedcustomers from MI Windows andDoors fabrication plants located inPennsylvania and North Carolina,”says DeSoto.

DWM columnist MichaelCollins, vice president of thebuilding products group atJordan, Knauff & Company, aninvestment banking firm that spe-cializes in the door and windowindustry, commented on the closings.

“This is the type of activity thatI’ve predicted … in my discussionsof capitulation over the pastmonths,” he says.

“Capitulation is when you’reafraid to read a paper or anewsletter about the industrybecause it’s almost certain to con-tain more bad news. The bailoutpackage and the drying up oflending has helped add somesharpness to the process of capit-ulation in this industry but, other-wise, things are progressing asthey must in order for this marketto turn around.” Collins adds.

Collins also has some predic-tions and some badly neededwords of wisdom for 2009.

“While it’s likely that the NewYear will find more companiesbeing sold in hurried auctions,this is a process that is as vitallyneeded in this industry as areperiods of growth,” Collins says.“With excess capacity wrung outof the system, the companies thatare able to survive the storm or bepaired with larger entities shouldemerge from this period extreme-ly well-positioned to take advan-tage of the eventual recovery.”

He encourages companies thatare financially strained to evaluatetheir options and seek help soonerrather than later.

“There are still numerous buyersout there seeking companies toacquire and there are non-banksources of capital that can help acompany survive a tough periodlike this. It’s important not to wait until the eleventh hour,though.”

While it’s likely that theNew Year will find morecompanies being sold in

hurried auctions, this is aprocess that is as vitally

needed in this industry asare periods of growth.

—Michael Collins, Jordan Knauff and Co.

FINANCIAL NEWSForce V Moves Window Plant to South Carolina

Force V Environmental LLC,which recently purchased Schuco’svinyl window assets, currently is inthe process of moving its plantfrom the existing Schuco buildingin Connecticut to Greenville, S.C.Company officials hope to com-plete the move to the new facility,which has twice the space of theoriginal building, during the firstweek of January.

The company is notifying cus-tomers that orders received afterDecember 15 will have a longerlead time, but officials hope to beback on track by February 1, 2009.

ACQUISITIONSHurd to be Purchased byPrivate Equity Firm

Hurd Windows and Doors ofMedford, Wis., has announced thata private equity firm, LongroadAsset Management in Stamford, Ct.,has signed a definitive purchaseagreement, which was approved bythe U.S. Bankruptcy Court in whichHurd’s case is under review.

“Hopefully it will close in themonth of December,” says RichardLatto, managing director forLongroad. “We’re very excitedabout owning it. We turn compa-nies around.”

Hurd president DominicTruniger also sounds optimisticabout the new ownership.

“We are truly excited aboutLongroad becoming our new own-ers,” Truniger says. “This is arebirth, of sorts, for Hurd.Longroad’s investment in ourfuture will provide Hurd withgreater financial security and betterposition us for growth. We have anumber of exciting new productsplanned for 2009, and the infusionof capital will provide us with theresources to support the manufac-

turing, distribution, sales and mar-keting of these new products.”

Longroad’s Steve Zambito willbecome chairman of Hurd whenthe deal closes.

“We are looking forward to beingassociated with such a great brand

and professional managementteam—who will now be given thecapital to grow,” says Zambito.

Zambito also confirmed that themanagement team and employees

december

2008

19

NFRC Board Approves Permanent Label Requirements BallotDuring the November meeting of the National Fenestration Rating Council

(NFRC) the board approved a motion for permanent label requirements. The bal-lot modifies the permanent labeling requirements as outlined in section 6.7 ofthe NFRC Product Certification Program (PCP) document. The modifications tothe PCP are proposed to provide window manufacturers additional flexibility inthe format and location of the NFRC permanent label.

“The new permanent label requirements provide manufacturers with addi-tional latitude in the manner in which the product being certified is markedor ‘labeled,’” explained John Lewis, technical director for the AmericanArchitectural Manufacturers Association, who also serves as chair of theNFRC permanent labeling task group. “Previously, manufacturers wererequired to affix a permanent label (which can be a label, a tab on a label ora series of marks or etchings that provide the end user—generally the homeowner—all of the information needed to trace the product back to the man-ufacturer) that was visible after the product was installed. The revisions tothe NFRC requirements now allow the permanent label to be placed beneatha removable element of the window or door.”

According to Lewis, this is a significant change in that it continues the evo-lution of how certified products must be marked.

“Permanent marking cannot be separated from certification, so in a broadersense, the notion of what a certified product is continues to evolve as well.Industry-wide, I foresee other changes in permanent labels on the horizon; thegoal is to provide options for manufacturers and homeowners while still provid-ing the marking and traceability requirements for a viable certification program.”

The following are some of the ballot changes:• The requirement for making the permanent label visible after installation was

made optional; if the permanent label is not visible after product installation,then the Certified Products Database (CPD) will identify the location of sucha label. In addition, the permanent label’s location will be one that is acces-sible to the occupant or service provider;

• The “required information” wording was modified, and now provides exam-ples of acceptable forms of licensee identification;

• The manufacturer’s product code was also made an acceptable way to iden-tify entries in the CPD.

• In subsection G, further guidance is provided on the location of the perma-nent label, requirements for locating on a surface not subject to direct sun-light and precipitation are also clarified; and

• Subsection H was deleted, as the requirements of this section are nowaddressed in other areas of section 6.7 in the PCP.These changes will be required once the PCP is published with the approved

modifications and notice is sent to all membership. A publication date for therevision language in the PCP has not yet been announced.

continued on page 20

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What’sNewsCONTINUED

at Hurd will remain in place, andthat the manufacturing operationswill remain in Medford andMerrill, Wis.

ASSOCIATION NEWSAAMA Releases NewFlashing/Sealant Document

The American ArchitecturalManufacturers Association (AAMA)has released AAMA 713-08, a volun-tary test method for sealants andflashings. The test method outlinedin the eight-page document, titledVoluntary Test Method toDetermine Chemical Compatibilityof Sealants and Self-AdheredFlexible Flashings, is intended toprovide a means to determine thechemical compatibility of liquid-applied sealants and self-adheredflashings that may come in contactduring the installation of fenestra-tion products.

The test method describes a lab-oratory screening procedure forevaluating the chemical compati-bility of self-adhered flashing andsealant materials intended for usein construction and fenestrationinstallations that are installedproperly.

“This test is intended for flexiblesheet membrane materials thatinclude an integral adhesive layer,which are generally installed as con-cealed flashings behind claddingson exterior walls,” says Ken Brenden,AAMA technical standards manager.“However, this method can also beapplied to other interfaces in thebuilding envelope,” he adds.

Adhesive compatibility or over-all performance and integrity ofthe weatherseal at the sealant andself-adhered flashing interface arenot addressed by this method,however; AAMA notes that sealantperformance should be tested inaccordance with AAMA 800,

EVENT NEWSNFRC Members Discuss Energy Issues at Fall Meeting

The National Fenestration Rating Council’s (NFRC) Fall Meeting was held inNovember at the Crowne Plaza in Jacksonville, Fla.

Various committees met during the meeting and this included the Research& Technology Committee. Willie DuPont of Sunergy Consulting reported on theWindow 6 and Therm 6 validation research. He explained that the software pro-grams now have new capabilities for calculating solar heat gain coefficient(SHGC) and U-factor for glazing products that cannot be modeled or simulatedcurrently, including fritted glass. The first part of the research task is to compileand evaluate existing SHGC and U-factor test results and compare physical test-ing against simulated testing based upon the new software.

During the Optical Properties Subcommittee the group reviewed NFRC 300and 301 ballot negatives. One negative in particular that saw a bit of discussionstated that the inclusion of ASTM G197 in Section 7.2.5 represented “the firststep in adopting a new spectral weighting function into NFRC’s programs thatmay significantly increase SHGC and VT ratings …”

Joe Hayden of Pella Corp. spoke up and said, “This is big. If approved, is theDepartment of Energy prepared to adjust ENERGY STAR® criteria accordingly?”Hayden made a motion that the negative be found persuasive and substan-tive and recommended that the implementation of NFRC 300 be delayed untilat least April 1, 2009. The ballot will now go back to the task group and willbe re-balloted.

Later that day the meeting really heated up during the U-factorSubcommittee meeting. The discussion centered around NFRC 100 ballot nega-tives concerning the inclusion of having two rated sizes for each product line.

According to Randy Van Voorst of Quality Testing Inc., having more than onesize would “muddy the water,” because it would allow every product line to havetwo different numbers for U-Factor and Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC).

Tom Culp with Birch Point Consulting LLC spoke in favor of having more thanone rated size.

Ultimately, the subcommittee voted against having more than one size. MikeThoman, subcommittee chair, pointed out that the issue of rating actual sizeswill still need to be covered.

“Disparity in the information we’re putting out about products is whatcaused this …” Thoman said. “The commercial guys have a valid point and wewill need to discuss it at some point.”

The CMA Technical Subcommittee was one of many groups who met duringNFRC's fall meeting.

continued on page 22

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What’sNewsCONTINUED

Voluntary Specifications and TestMethods for Sealants, and self-adhered flashing performanceshould be tested in accordancewith AAMA 711, VoluntarySpecification for Self AdheringFlashing Used for Installation ofExterior Wall FenestrationProducts.

WDMA Introduces OneVoice™Advocacy System

The Window & Door Manufac-turers Association (WDMA) has an-nounced the development of phasetwo of its OneVoice Advocacy System.

The platform is designed toprovide WDMA members andother players in the industryunique access to legislative andregulatory information, allowingthe community as a whole to

come together on common posi-tions and execute advocacystrategies from the standpoint ofa single “voice,” according to theassociation.

“This is exactly what our indus-try needs,” says John Stoiber,WDMA President. “OneVoice willallow our window, door and sky-light members 24/7 access to infor-mation about issues that mattermost to their businesses and willensure that all interested parties arebeing heard. Issues that are consid-ered to be of top importance tomembers are prioritized, allowingWDMA to quickly identify the spe-cific strategy or approach necessaryto act quickly.”

OneVoice will be introduced tomembers in more detail at theWDMA Leadership Summit inTucson, Ariz., February 15-17, 2009.

COMPANY NEWSUrban Machinery Restructures and Announces Changes

Urban Machinery has announced that it has made some restructuringchanges to the company, which includes the closing of its West Coast officein Port Townsend, Wash., effective immediately. All work previously performedby that office is being transferred to its Cambridge, Ontario, head office forsales and service, according to Volker Lamprecht, president and chief operat-ing officer.

“The changes made by Urban in North America are necessary and willallow Urban to help all of our North American customers during these uncer-tain economic times, by reducing our overhead and allowing us to supply ourcustomers with more cost-effective solutions to their needs,” he adds.

He stresses that Urban Machinery continues to be a strong and stable man-ufacturer and supplier of equipment to the door and window industry world-wide including North America. Urban is supported by its corporate head officein Germany as well as its secondary production facilities in Austria andFredericton, NB, Canada.

“We assure all of our customers that once our market returns to prosperouslevels, Urban Machinery will once again open a West Coast sales and serviceoffice,” says Lamprecht.

“We have been in business for more than 50 years and will continue to be inbusiness for many years to come.”

In a letter to customers, Lamprecht said that any open orders and downpayments for machines, parts or service placed with the Port Townsend officehave all been transferred to Cambridge. Any future orders and down pay-ments for machines, parts or service will now have to be placed with Urbanin Cambridge. ❙

Homeowners are replacing old windows to save energy costs and reduce their environmental impact. But as you know,

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Greenbuild Focuses on Homebuilders and How to Build Sustainable Homes

T he Greenbuild InternationalConference & Expo, whichtook place in Boston in

November, focused on home-builders as it hosted the first GreenHomebuilder’s Day.

A panel session was held, mod-erated by Kevin O’Connor, thehost of PBS’s “This Old House.”Scheduled panel speakers wereTedd Benson, founder ofBensonwood, a woodworkingcompany specializing in timber-frame structures and prefabrica-tion; and Steve Kieran, founder ofKieranTimberlake Associates LLParchitecture firm. The paneladdressed the changing housing

market and discussed what needsto change over the next 50 years toensure homes are sustainable and healthy for those who live in them.

Green Homebuilder’s Day alsofeatured an educational sessiontrack targeted specifically at theresidential market. Sessions dis-cussed such topics as green afford-able housing, ways to address theaging housing stock, the costs ofgoing green, and high-perfor-mance renovations.

Green Homebuilder’s Day endedwith a closing reception, whereseven outstanding projects andbuilders received awards.

Attendees also had the opportunityto meet with LEED for HomesProviders from their areas.

Greenbuild 2009 will be heldNovember 11-13 in Phoenix.

Dow Corning Works to Reduce Waste

Officials at Dow Corning say thecompany has achieved significantprogress in waste reduction,including a cut of up to 80 percentin process scrap at one of its manu-facturing sites. The reductions havebeen achieved in part through thecompany’s materials conversionprogram, which converts or recy-cles its waste, scrap and off-specsilicone materials instead of send-ing them to landfill or incineration,according to the company.Materials are then reprocessed intonew products that meet customers’specifications.

“Waste reduction emerged as themost important environmentalissue facing manufacturing busi-nesses nowadays in an internation-al study we commissioned lastyear,” says Peter Cartwright, DowCorning executive director for envi-ronment, health and safety. “Likemany other companies DowCorning is actively looking for waysto cut our waste levels.”

The company has made severalefforts, particularly at its Europeanlocations:• A reduction in process scrap

generated by the emulsions andantifoam production unit of itsSeneffe, Belgium, manufacturingsite by 80 percent;

• A decrease in the waste generat-ed in its Barry, Wales, site by afactor of 10; and

Energy and Environmental News

Greenbuild 2008 attracted nearly 29,000 attendees.

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• A reduction in the overallamount of waste solvent at theBarry site by reusing a differentsolvent that is generated as awaste byproduct elsewhere inthe plant.Examples in North America

include:• A reduction in consumption of

natural gas and carbon dioxideemissions by burning hydrogenat its Midland, Mich., plant;

• A reduction in the amount of sol-vent used in a coating process inMidland that had been sent to an

offsite disposal facility by recy-cling it; and

• A reduction in emissions ofgreenhouse gases through ener-gy reduction at its Carrollton, Ky.,plant. A wide variety of projectsover the past five years have con-tributed to a 19,800 tons-per-year reduction in carbon dioxideemissions. Examples in China include:

• Recycling more than 80 percentof the waste at its Zhangjiagang(ZJG) sealant plant, in contrast tothe 90 percent of waste that had

previously been sent offsite fordisposal;

• A reduction of 50 percent of non-hazardous silicone and solventstreams at the Zhangjiagangsealant plant between 2007 and2008;

• The sealants plant also has estab-lished a program to focus on fur-ther reducing the sealant waste atits point of generation. The plant iscommitted to moving its wastestream up through the “waste hier-archy” from disposal to recycling,to reduction and elimination. ❙

december

2008

25

hile many of the reports appearedbleak during the annual Outlook

Executive Conference: ’09 IndustryForecasts and Trends presented in late

October, almost all of those in attendance agreed that while the mar-ket is down, it is cyclical, and will come back. But, the big question on

the minds of most in attendance was “when?”

A Housing Market

in Piecesby Penny Stacey

www.dwmmag.com

Just days before McGraw HillConstruction hosted its annual fore-casting session, the National

Association of Homebuilders (NAHB)took on a similar feat. It’s not a surprisethat the news here was also dismal,though the NAHB seemed to have aneven more dismal view than experts atMcGraw Hill.

“Things are a lot worse than any ofus had anticipated six months ago,” saidNAHB chief economist David Seiders inhis opening economic forecast. “Whowould have anticipated the turmoil inthe financial markets that we’ve seensince September?”

He pointed out that the housingnumbers continue to spiral downwardand new home sales are still declining.

“I would say that the keyword forthe day is risk,” he said. “The uncertain-ties out there are probably unprece-dented and the degree of risk forecast-ed has probably never been higher.”

Before presenting his forecast hesaid it’s as much about risk as it isabout forecasting.

“I’ve got the single-family starts hit-ting bottom early next year but then

embarking on a gradual recoveryprocess,” he said. “One of the things thatis going to be plaguing the upswing isthe tightening of the credit market.”

Regarding manufactured homes thatforecast is dismal as well.

“I don’t really see any potential forgrowth in this market … but basicallyessentially dead in the water at lessthan 100,000 units per year,” he said.

The same is true for the remodelingmarket as Seiders said, “It is unques-tionably weakening.”

“The pattern we’ve got for 2009 and2010 is somewhat reminiscent of whatwe saw in the late 80s and early 90srecessions,” he added.

Additional Views/ForecastsWhile many economists still argue

whether or not the United States is in arecession, the next presenter, MauryHarris, UBS U.S. chief economist, said,“At UBS we started to say we’re in arecession back in January.”

He also pointed out that it’s obvi-ously a poor environment for housingstarts and then gave his take onwhat’s to come.

“This year we have the starts at940,000, next year at 780,000,” he said.

Although he talked about otherfrightening facts such as rising unem-ployment rates, he did leave attendeeswith some good news.

“One last thought is that, yes, theeconomics professions missed theseverity of this crisis, but I’d like toremind people that just because wedon’t know everything doesn’t meanwe don’t know anything. We have theworld’s experts on recession runningthe fed right now … I’m still stickingto that we’re going to find somesolutions.”

When Michael J. Moran of DaiwaSecurities America Inc. gave his housingforecast he said his forecast is alreadyproving to be too optimistic.

“It’s proving to be too optimisticalready on housing starts,” he said, thenadded, “This forecast does not involve adeep downturn.”

Bernard Markstein, NAHB staff vicepresident, also spoke about the “R” word,as did some of the previous speakers.

“I think we’re all on the samepage—when we’re through this it will

“Risky” is How NAHB Sums up the Housing Market During Forecast Conference

by Tara Taffera

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When andHow WillIt ComeTogether?

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27

The forecast, organized byMcGraw Hill Construction, washeld at the Capitol Hilton inWashington, D.C., October 22-23.

“The question we’re trying toanswer and you’re trying to

Housing Production Slows Then Drops SignificantlyHousing Completions, 000s (Seasonally-Adjusted Annualized Rate)

Source: US Department of Commerce

2005 2006 2007 2008

Vacant For-Sale Homes Inventory Remains High Number of Vacant For-Sale Homes, Nationally, Millions

Source: US Census Bureau

2005 2006 2007 2008

Residential Construction SectorsVery Weak, Remodeling Stable% of respondents reporting sector “improving” minus % reporting “weakening”; Q3

Source: The American Institute of Architects Home Design Trends Survey

continued on page 28

be an official recession,” he said. “Yes,we’re in a desperate situation … Atleast we know when we land the econ-omy will survive, but unfortunatelynot every enterprise will survive.”

He added that some of the meas-ures taken by the government were astep in the right direction.

“We’ve seen that the policymakers,particularly the fed, have gottentogether and done a lot of the rightthings, which will take time,” he said.“At some point, new home sales willget better … We need to rememberthat it will get better.”

Seiders also echoed the sentimentsof a national recession, but also spokeof a better time to come as we have alllearned lessons from this crisis.

“I think we have learned some-thing here and it’s very significant,”said Seiders. “I think this is so jarringthat we’ll make some major changes.We’ll make mistakes, but I do thinkwe’ll have a better system at the endof the day.”

Tara Taffera is the editor/publisher ofDWM magazine.

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answer is, ‘whenwill housing prices hit bottom?’”said Kermit Baker, chief econo-mist for the American Institute ofArchitects (AIA).

However, he noted that after arecession (he called this onethe worst in 50 years) thehousing market typicallydoes make a fast recovery.

“This recovery is likely tobe different than pastcycles, but the housingindustry historically hasrecovered quickly,” he said.

He predicted that once therecovery occurs, housing willactually hit a bigger boom than itdid in recent years and that morehomebuilding will actually occurin the coming decade than in thecurrent one.

Trends to TrackOne phenomenon to which

he attributed this is trends inimmigration.

“We’re currently rivaling theimmigration rates we saw in the

early 20th century,” Baker said. “Asthe number of immigrants con-tinues to grow, we’re seeing themdisperse more throughout theUnited States.”

Because many immigrants arein the 20 to 30 age range and often

are starting families or have smallchildren, Baker said, “they’re veryactive in the housing market.”

As for remodeling, he noted that itactually held strong for awhile, andeven grew in recent years.

“Remodeling is approach-ing the size of the new con-struction industry,” he said.“The pace of growth hashardly slowed at all duringthis period.”

However, the down newconstruction market hasled to less remodeling, he

says, and as with the tightenedcredit market, there are fewerhomeowners, leading to fewerconsumers looking to remodel. Healso noted that many remodel ormake home improvements rightafter purchasing a home, and

It’s no secret that raw material priceshave gone up in recent years due tofuel prices, but until recently, this

didn’t seem to be so obvious in thedoor and window industry. That haschanged, though, in recent months, asmanufacturers have seen price increas-es in various materials, such as vinyl.But recently manufacturers—and theiradhesive suppliers especially, have seena new shortage: butyl (for use insealants and adhesives).

Adhesive and sealant suppliers reporta shortage of non-halogenated butyl—the type that’s needed for insulatingglass sealants—has developed over thelast two years. Though there’s an abun-dance of halogenated butyl available—which is made for products such astires—suppliers say that only 5 percent ofthe butyl made is now non-halogenated.

“There always was a mix,” says Mark

Toth, window sales manager for H.B.Fuller. “For many years non-halogenat-ed was maybe 15 percent of the butylthat was available. That 15-percentsupply has now shrunk to maybe 5percent because there’s been muchgreater global demand for the halo-genated butyl.”

So, what’s the solution? Many sup-pliers are developing hot-melt sealanttechnologies that use little to no butyl.

“We’re expecting to have somethingfor beta testing by the middle of nextyear,” says Jeff Ogren, market manager,performance adhesives, for Bostik.

However, neither he nor Toth expectsmanufacturers to have to change theirprocesses based on their new products.

“Generally speaking, the equipmentwill be the same,” says Ogren. “If theydecide they want to change technolo-gies altogether, there might be some

need for new equipment on [the man-ufacturer’s] end.”

Toth doesn’t expect the need forbutyl—on the part of sealant manufac-turers—to ever go away, though.

“I don’t think we’ll ever find prod-ucts that use no butyl, but hopefullywe can decrease the percentage inthere,” he said.

Toth adds that the chances of morenon-halogenated butyl being created inthe future are low, at least right now.There hasn’t been any increase in capaci-ty in the last 30 years, and, while heexpects the butyl suppliers to look atadding facilities, this process is a slow one.

“The cost of building a basic butylfacility is in the range of $6 to 700 mil-lion and takes about three years tocomplete,” he says. “So the additionalcapacity these companies are looking atwon’t be on-stream until 2010 or 2011.”

Door and Window Market Report Economy and Fuel Prices Trickle Down to Material Issues

“This recovery is likely to be different than past cycles,

but the housing industry historically has recovered quickly,”

—Kermit Baker, AIA

A Housing Market in Piecescontinued from page 27

december

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29

since so few are able to purchasehomes recently with the strainedfinancing market, this has also ledto a recent decrease.

“Third-quarter figures point tocontinued weakness in this mar-ket, though we haven’t hit bot-tom,” he said. Baker does expectthe rate of the decline to stabilizein 2009 and 2010, though.

Baker pointed to the green mar-ket as a plus for this sector.

“There is very clear evidencethat homeowners are not onlybuying energy-efficient homes butalso are remodeling to make [theirhomes] more energy-efficient,”Baker said.

Baker ended his presentationon a semi-positive note.

“Let me remind you, we are in acycle and cycles correct them-selves—just wait,” he said.

Federal FixesRobert Murray, vice president of

economic affairs for McGraw HillConstruction, spoke next, and heagreed that while the marketappears unfavorable now, thesteps the federal government hastaken and other measures willlead to a turnaround-eventually.

“The basic assumption is this—that the extra steps taken to deal withfrozen credit markets will be success-ful over time,” Murray said. “It’s goingto take time for the U.S. economy toregain a firmer footing, though.”

Murray attempted to answerthe burning question as to whenthe markets will hit bottom, andhe predicts this will occur duringthe first or second quarter of 2009.

“Home prices are continuing todrop about 20 percent nationally,”Murray said. “They’ll probablydrop another 10 percent in 2009and then level out.”

However, he noted, that thisyear’s forecast has been one of themost difficult, noting that he andhis staff revised the forecast severaltimes based on recent events.

“This was a tough forecast,” hesaid. “This is a cyclical business …There are still pluses.”

Murray quoted investor WarrenBuffett in referring to what led tothe downfall, the three “Is:” innova-tors, imitators and idiots. In closing,he again brought up these words inlooking to a brighter future.

“I think by the time you get to2010, it will be time for the inno-vators and imitators, and hopeful-

ly the idiots will stay on the side-lines,” Murray said.

Norbert Young, president ofMcGraw Hill Construction, endedthe host of presentations with a listof what he sees as four positiveindicators for the economy:

1. The powerful influence ofgreen;

2. The growth in virtual designand construction;

3. The power of immigration; and 4. The fact that a new president

soon will take office. ❙

Penny Stacey is the assistant editor ofDWM magazine.

Home Remodeling Market Growth

161149180

210

280

229

335

Billions of dollars

Sources: JCHS tabulations of 1995-2007 American Housing Survey (AHS) and the US Department of Commerce Survey of Expenditures for Residential Improvement and Repairs (c50 reports).

Philadelphia, -3%

Boston, -26%Buffalo, -0%

Cleveland, -23%

Pittsburg, -1%

Columbus, -20%Indianapolis, -23%

St. Louis, -25%

Nashville, -3%

Birmingham, -3%

Houston, -15%, -2%

San Antonio, -22%, -1%

Ausin, -21%, -0%

Dallas, -23%

Denver, -26%

Salt lake City, -2%

Seattle, -4%

50 Largest Metros 2008Q2Off Peak

Smallest Sales Decline

Smallest Price Decline

Note: Changes in prices and sales measured from high for this cycle.Source: Moody’s Economy.com estimates.

Top 10 Markets for House Prices & Existing Home Sales

“Whenever we can we try to con-trol the source,” says Viwinco presi-dent David Barnes. “If you can con-trol the source the better off you are.”

Another thing you don’t see inthe majority of door and windowplants is an abundance of the latestautomated machines. But Viwincois different. Walk through theirplant and you’ll see the newestmachines from companies likeGED and Joseph and some fromthese suppliers that were designed

just for them. And the companydoes this all so it can serve the cus-tomer in the shortest time possible,says Barnes.

“We’re not afraid to borrow $1 to2 million dollars to mass-produceour orders in the fastest lead timewith consistent quality,” he says.

The company is being affected bythe housing market like many oth-ers, with the number of units it pro-duces being downsized from thenumbers of a few years back. But

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I n C o n t r o lViwinco Makes Many of its Own

Components, Focusing on Short Lead Times

Many door and win-

dow manufacturers

are at the mercy of

their suppliers (say, the laminated

glass supplier) and there aren’t

many manufacturers who make

these products in-house. But

Viwinco of Morgantown, Pa., does.

Rosendo Chavez Garcia ties laminatedglass units to a steel rack separated byrubber spacers for the final high pressurestep in the fabrication process.

P LANTT O U R

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31

that hasn’t stopped Barnes frompurchasing equipment. In fact, hejokes that he won’t be able to retireas he has to keep working to pay forall his machinery purchases.

Winning with VinylSo how did this company get to

where it is today? Officially, Viwincowas born in 1982, but its truebeginnings sit with Barnes’ fatherand his partner Lou Moretzsohn,who started a wholesale distribu-tion business in 1958. In the late1970s they were asked to make avinyl window. They originally saidno, but by 1982 had changed theirminds and the company startedproducing a vinyl window—thatwas the beginning of Viwinco.

“Remodelers were starting tosell vinyl siding more than alu-minum siding and my dad thoughta vinyl replacement window wouldbe a good fit without having tokeep a finished window invento-ry,” says Barnes.

Today the company ships as farWest as St. Louis, as far North as theCanadian border and as far Southas Charleston, S.C. It sells throughwholesale distributors who thensell to the professional dealer andremodeler. Viwinco offers a varietyof vinyl windows in many stylessuch as bay and bow, picture win-dows as well as patio doors. It alsoproduces impact-resistant win-

dows, which are a big part of thecompany’s business.

Employee Longevity The company currently has 210

employees working five days aweek on one shift, though at thetime of our visit in September,approximately 150 employees werelaid off due to the current state ofthe housing market. At that timeBarnes expected to bring peopleback in October for the busy seasonbut that never happened.

“We were unable to call anyoneback because of the severe eco-nomic crisis,” said Barnes. “We didnot pick up the volume we werehoping to gain this fall.

While most company presidentswill tell you how they struggle dailyto find and retain good employees,Barnes says he doesn’t have thatproblem. In fact at the time of thevisit approximately 30 people weregetting ready to receive awards forservice ranging from 5 to 25 years.Mike Duncan, vice president, wasthe first official employee, and heand Barnes value all employees.

“You have to care about youremployees,” says Barnes. “I’vealways said that the janitors are asimportant as I am. Everyone isreplaceable, including me. I try notto overlook anyone.”

Barnes admits that he tries to bethe best at everything.

“We try to be the best supplier,employer, products provider, andthe best at lead times, processes,etc.,” he says.

Plant SpecificsThe plant houses 140,000 square

feet of space plus a 30,000-square-foot research center. Barnes addsthat there is plenty of room at thefacility to expand if needed

He says that at its busiest,Viwinco produced more than 7,000windows per week but now it’sabout 800 to 900 per day translatingto about 4,500 per week.

The company serves both thenew construction and the remodel-ing market, though the scale is tilt-ing slightly more toward the

Energy and Environment Q and AQ: How much of a focus does your company place on environmental issues?A: “I’ve been focused on this since the late 1980s. We looked into wind power,but that’s not the easiest thing to implement. It was well more than one milliondollars for a turbine at that time … As far as recycling, we’ve always recycled.Q: Is your company prepared for the upcoming ENERGY STAR® changes?A: We changed our products January 1, 2008, in preparation of the comingchanges as we knew ENERGY STAR would change. The DOE says [it is] going totriple-glazed products. If you take the whole industry and tell them to investin new materials the industry would be brought to its knees. There should berebates and incentives not to put in clear glass. The government needs togive higher rebates to encourage people to install energy-efficient windows.Three hundred dollars is not enough.This is the same amount as it was 25years ago.

Installation Q and AQ: Faulty installations are a big problem in the industry. How does Viwincomanage the installation process?A: We have a sales force who deals with installation and meets with builders.But it does come back to the manufacture to make sure products are installedproperly.

We take a unique look at installations. We design products to eliminateinstallation headaches. We put things back in rather than trying to reduce costs.For example, our products now have more PVC for strength and rigidity thanany on the market.

Carlos Dueno works at the automatedscreen table where spline is placed intothe aluminum extrusion.

continued on page 32

www.dwmmag.com

remodeling market in recentmonths according to Barnes.

“I’m surprised [due to the currentmarket] but we’re still selling new

construction windows,” he adds.Viwinco uses its own trucks and

works hard to ensure the trucks arealways full. But even so, due to ris-

ing costs, Barnes says the compa-ny was forced to implement a fuelsurcharge.

Although many manufacturersmay be tempted to cut prices dueto today’s competitive market,Barnes has not done so.

“We don’t sell on price,” he sayssimply.

Keeping it In-HouseFor Barnes, competing against

other vinyl window suppliersmakes meeting lead times crucialand he puts this at the top of hispriority list.

This is why the company doesmost of its manufacturing in-house,and why it made the decision backin the 1990s to invest heavily inequipment. When you walk throughthe plant you see that equipmentplays a huge role. The only thingViwinco doesn’t make itself is itsown extrusions—it relies onDeceuninck to supply that product.

But it does, for example, make itsown laminated glass, which Barnesadmits is very expensive.

“When [we were] buying lami-nated glass it would take four to sixweeks and we couldn’t make cus-tom size units so it made sense todo it ourselves,” says Barnes. “Mostpeople don’t do it due to money.There is not a big percentage ofvinyl window manufacturers thatcan custom-size laminated units.This is an advantage for us.”

The company’s laminated line isset up in a clean room. Viwincopurchases its PVB interlayer fromDupont, which is located in nearbyWilmington, Del.

Barnes laughs when recountinghow he learned about making hisown laminated glass and who couldsupply the interlayer.

“I was visiting a manufacturer inIreland that made its own laminat-ed glass and I asked where the com-pany got the interlayer and found

Armando Rivera prepares a rack of laminated glass units and guides them into theautoclave.

Adam McCoy works hands-on to apply special craftsmanship for a geometric windoworder.

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I n C o n t r o lcont inued f rom page 31

december

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33

the supplier was practically downthe street from me,” he says.

Viwinco also has an autoclaveused in the laminated glass processthat is custom built and includes acooling tower.

“We had to set the autoclavebelow the floor level for easyaccess,” says Barnes.

Viwinco also makes its own tem-pered glass, using its own temper-ing line from Tamglass.

“Once we started fabricating ourown glass it saved us so muchtime,” says Barnes.

He points out, though, that ittakes three to four years to realizeyour investment. That investmentconsisted of $1.3 to 1.5 million inthe laminated line and $1.5 to 1.8million in the tempering line.

“It’s millions in investments butwe can deliver quickly,” saysBarnes. “If you do what you say youwill do you’ll be successful.”

The company relies on PPGIndustries for its fundamental glasssupply.

“I’ve heard people talking abouta glass shortage but we haven’tbeen hurt yet by that,” says Barnes.

A Smooth Flow Viwinco’s plant is vertically inte-

grated and utilizes a one-piece flow.The multiple high-speed sash linesfeed multiple frame lines on eitherside. At the time of DWM’s visit onlyone line was running.

Some of the latest automatedequipment found in the plantincludes the following:• GED’s i-3 family of products.

The Smart Oven records whattype of glass is going in and candetermine if the unit includeslaminated glass. It can adjust theheat to yield the best seal for thatlaminated glass unit. “It’s betterthan an EASY-BAKE oven,” saysBarnes.

• Joseph’s newest machines for

cutting and optimizing. Thisequipment is capable of cutting,notching, and punching not onlya variety of style profiles but alsodifferent families of profile forgreater consistency and no off-line operations.

• Sparklite. This piece of equip-ment is located on the line to testfor argon fill—another item youwon’t see at the majority of man-ufacturing plants. Barnes says he is always looking

for the newest equipment. And ifthe product doesn’t exist, Viwinco’ssuppliers will work with the com-pany to develop equipment orproducts.

“We worked with GED to devel-op software for use on our temper-ing line,” says Barnes. In fact,Viwinco’s entire glass shop is com-prised of GED equipment.

The company does the samething with other suppliers such asJoseph.

“Mike goes to Joseph and says,‘Here’s what I want. Here’s what Iam trying to do,’ and they designedthe equipment to meet the need,”says Barnes.

But not every process in theplant is automated. The companyprides itself on its ability to offercustom units so it has differenttables to produce different shapesand ovals. It uses equipment from

FUX in Austria to bend geometricshapes. However, the hands-onapproach is crucial to this step inthe process.

“This is the area that relies on themost hands-on craftsmanship,”says Barnes, who adds that thecompany also bends casings andextension jambs.

It also makes all screens for itsproducts such as bay, bow and pic-ture windows.

Viwinco keeps all its ordersstraight by using Friedman’s orderentry system. It also has a qualitycontrol department that testseverything manufactured in theplant. But even before any compo-nent is put into a window it goes toa warehouse where it is checkedthoroughly before it goes to theplant to eventually become part ofa window unit.

In addition to this warehouse,the company has a research anddevelopment facility across thestreet from the plant where it con-ducts in-house testing.

“We produce a great deal of hur-ricane windows so we do a lot ofimpact testing there,” says Barnes.“Doing our own testing gives us anadvantage [as we don’t have to sendto test labs].”

This is just one more thing thecompany keeps in-house to controlthe source and serve the customer. ❙

Double-hung windows are lined up to go through the stretch-wrap machine.

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T he Win-door NorthAmerica Show,which was heldNovember 11-13 in

Toronto, drew a smaller atten-dance than last year. This wasn’t asurprise due to the current state ofthe housing market, according toPatrick Schield, show organizer.U.S. attendance was down 30 per-cent from last year whileCanadian attendance was down15 percent. However, the numberof exhibiting companies was upfrom last year. More good newswas that as of the end of the sec-ond day, the Canadian Windowand Door ManufacturersAssociation (CWDMA), showsponsor, added approximatelyeight new members. And, accord-ing to Schield, many representa-tives companies who walked theshow expressed interest inexhibiting next year.

Matt Kottke from TruthHardware reported having qualityvisits with customers and per-spective customers. He also saidcompanies are still sending repre-

sentatives to Win-door thoughthey may be sending less peoplefrom that one company, a senti-ment that Schield mentioned aswell.

“From the attendee andexhibitor perspective, Win-door isthe best value,” said Kottke.

One change to this year’s showwas conducting educational ses-sions in a special education pavil-ion on the show floor. (Productdemonstrations were also held onthe show floor.)

Educational Events—ENERGY STAR®

A session on Canada’s ENERGY

STAR program drew a packed crowdof 145 people. The session was heldagain later that day in French and60 people attended.

Steve Hopwood from NaturalResources Canada discussed pro-posed changes to Canada’s ENERGY

STAR program. Phase 1 would takeeffect in January 2010 while phase 2

would take effect in January 2014.Comments on the proposal are dueby January 15, 2009.

“In our minds, Phase 1 would notrequire any great design changes,”said Hopwood. “Manufacturers canmeet the requirements with exist-ing technology.”

As is happening in the UnitedStates, Canada plans to make itsrequirements more stringent thanwhat exists currently. Additionally,Hopwood says that NRCan is pro-posing that IG unit third-party cer-tification be made mandatory—something the U.S. Department ofEnergy has also proposed domesti-cally. The Canadian proposal alsocalls for a more uniform approachto product labeling.

Jeff Baker, technical consultantwith WestLab, gave an overview ofthe ENERGY STAR qualificationprocess and other testing require-ments including IG certification.

“If you’re considering ENERGY STAR

you should look at it now as IG certi-fication will be a requirement ofENERGY STAR,” said Baker. “Witheverything coming up there will bean 18-month backlog with test labs.”

NORTH AMERICA 2008

Quality Reigns by Tara Taffera

Win-door North America drew attendeesfrom mainly Canada who came to check outthe latest product offerings.

Phil Lewin of Vinyl WindowDesigns, a door and window manu-facturer in suburban Toronto,ended the seminar with someobservations on ENERGY STAR fromthe manufacturer perspective.

“If you manufacture windowsyou should participate in ENERGY

STAR,” said Lewin. “Participationreally ups the values of windows asa whole.”

He also says that it offers morecredence with the customers whocontinue to become more andmore educated.

Product Displays The Novatech booth was very

busy at the show. In fact, the compa-ny introduced a number of newproducts. This included three newstained glass designs that weredeveloped after conducting marketresearch with its customers. In fact,regarding the new Gothic Deign, “Ithink this will be a best seller aseveryone loves it,” said Novatech’sSonia Brossard.

It also introduced theThermacrystal collection, whichthe company says introduces new

technology to door glass produc-tion. The new molding processthermoforms a plastic material,producing designs with complex,pure lines. It also reproduces dif-ferent glass textures as a layer ofclear resin is applied to a plasticfilm, fixing it to the glass. The addi-tion of this resin adds a crystallineopacity, which provides thedesired privacy.

The Thermacrystal collection isavailable with another new productintroduced at the show—the NovaSecure steel door which offers a 3-point locking mechanism and topand bottom anchor points that arebeveled. Additionally, the jamb withhandle is reinforced, laminated

wood which the company saysmakes the entry door system moredurable and sturdy than other doorson the market.

The Royal Group had a largepresence at Win-door and it usedthis as a venue to introduce manynew products including itsExtreme line. The Impact PatioDoor offers maximum protection,water, wind and impact resistanceand is approved by the FloridaBuilding Code.

PH Tech used Win-door as anopportunity to inform attendeesof many new services it now offersits customers. “At PH Tech, manu-

december

2008

35

continued on page 36

Win-door offered attendees theopportunity to view productdemonstrations (above) and attendeducational sessions (below).

facturers are supported andaccompanied unlike anywhereelse,” said Isabelle Lessard, mar-keting coordinator.

The company says its modularsystems are distinct and allow ver-satile product use and applica-tions. The company also stressesthat it is different through its useof PVC materials. One advantageis an extrusion process that takesrecycling, recovery and resourcemanagement into account. Thecompany also offers full-scaletechnical support right from thebeginning and logistics manage-ment designed for each company,as well as extensive marketingsupport.

Royal and PH Tech were amongseveral extruders who exhibited atWin-door, but Glasslam’s MattHale says it was the only exhibit-ing company who showcased aspacer product. Glasslam has hadan increased presence in theindustry in recent months as itintroduced the Air-Tight flexiblewarm-edge spacer. The product ismade of a flexible foam that pro-vides warm-edge performance forIG production. Hale reported thatthe company currently is takingorders for the product and manu-facturing it at its new plant in the Bahamas.

“We wanted to be here [at Win-door] [because] Canada is animportant part of North America,”said Hale.

Northern Architectural Products(NAP), based in Concord, Ontario,also offered a new product—a lineof window operators. The AuroraOperator Hardware has a one-piece operator body that deliversstructural integrity and long-termdurability, according to MauryShiner of NPA. The products arepowder-coated and are available invarious colors.

The company also introduced

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Forecaster Says U.S. Economy Will Turn Around in Summer; Remains Cautious About Housing Market

John Johnson, chiefstrategist for RBCDominion Securities,spoke during Win-doorand tried to give atten-dees some hoperegarding the currenteconomic climate andthe housing crisis.Although speakingbefore a mainlyCanadian audience, hispresentation, “The SunAlways Rises,” focusedon the state of boththe U.S. and Canadianmarkets while alsotouching briefly on theglobal economy.

He believes theworst is over for theU.S. housing market.“However, inventory isstill a huge problemand new mortgageapplications are stillfalling, so, for that reason, I remain very cautious,” he said.

While Canada isn’t experiencing a deep decline in the housing market as in theUnited States, Johnson did say the housing market will decline, but he doesn’texpect it to be as bad as what occurred in the early 1990s.

“There will be an unpleasant period [in Canada] and housing will be part ofthat,” he said.

Regarding the U.S. economy Johnson said that the United States is in a reces-sion but did offer some hope.

“Things are going to get a lot worse, but a recession, not a depression,” he said.“Throughout history, we’ve always gotten out of these.”

His prediction is that sometime between spring and summer of 2009 the econ-omy will turn around. But until then, Johnson said that we’re heading into a glob-al recession, which, for Canadians, translates into the Canadian dollar being down.

“We’re getting a recession in Canada,” said Johnson. “We have less debt butwe’re not that much better than the United States.”

He said that both the United States and Canada the governments will becomemore proactive.

“Overall [regarding economic policy], [the government is] doing all the rightthings,” Johnson added.

One attendee asked Johnson’s opinion on the automakers’ current crisis.“If those companies go down it’s a huge hit,” he said. “You have to bail them

out. The question is, should Canada participate to keep the Canadian operationsof those companies going? You have to put them on life support so they don’ttake us all down. That goes for Canada as well.”

Source: Bloomberg, Federal Reserve, The Harbour Group

-6

-4

-2

0

2

4

6

68 72 76 80 84 88 92 96 00 04 08

-6

-3

0

3

6

9

12

National activity index (Left)

Real Fed funds rate (Right - inverted andadvanced 12 months)

%0 = trend growth

Big upward thrust from Fed rate cuts

Source: OECD, The Harbour Group

0.90

0.95

1.00

1.05

1.10

63 68 73 78 83 88 93 98 03 08

Index

June 2009

NORTH AMERICA 2008

continued from page 35

Global recession; recovery expected later in 2009

Fed rate cuts have laid the groundwork for recovery

its TUNDRA patio door handles.They are made of Polesium™, acomposite material that deliversfull thermal insulation betweenthe inner and outer handle sets.The handles also can be powder-coated, which Shiner says issomething that is not offered bymany companies.

On the machinery side, Ameri-Can’s Yolanda Sangiuliano waspleased to announce that the com-pany has introduced its T seriesCNC Machining Center. The verti-cal spindle machining center has 3-or 4-axis CNC controls capable ofmachining extruded aluminum,light alloys, PVC and steel. Themachine has an automatic toolchanger and eight clamps to ensureprecise clamping. Options such as

a sound-proofing cabinet andpneumatic vices to clamp two pro-files together are all available.

New to the Win-door show wasfirst-time exhibitor SunView PatioDoors. According to Sandro DiIorio, sales manager, a great deal isnew with this company since it wasacquired by the Zzen Group inMarch 2008.

“When the new group took overwe came out with two new prod-uct lines [Victorian andBuckingham lines of patiodoors],” said Di Iorio.

The company started by manu-facturing aluminum doors, thenmoved into vinyl, and Di Iorio saysthe company also has a fiberglasscomposite door for the high-endmarket. It is also about to intro-

duce another new product veryshortly.

“That’s one of the benefits ofbeing associated with a largercompany,” he says. “We haveaccess to a full research and devel-opment department, and fromidea to implementation it takes nomore than six months to introducea new product.”

While Di Iorio describedSunView as “Canada’s little secret,”that is all changing.

“We did just serve SouthernCanada [and a little in the UnitedStates] but now we’re expandingmore into the United States,” he said.

Next year’s Win-door show willbe held November 10-12 at the Metro Toronto ConventionCenter. ❙

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Don’t want to add extraexpenses to your busi-ness in today’s econo-my? Well, we all know

that sometimes you have to spendmoney to survive (and makemoney). Attending the upcomingInternational Builders’ Show (IBS)may be one way to learn about newcomponents, such as hardware, thatyou can add into your manufactur-ing processes that will help set yourbusiness apart from the competi-tion. The show will take placeJanuary 20-23, 2009, at the Las VegasConvention Center, and is spon-sored by the National Association ofHome Builders (NAHB).

Show organizers have dozens ofseminars planned, all aimed at help-

ing companies be successful and towithstand the housing crunch. Fourof the educational tracks weredesigned specifically to help atten-dees compete effectively in thismarket says Mark Pursell, NAHBsenior staff vice president –exhibi-tions, marketing and sales. Thetracks are: Business Opportunitiesand New Markets; Green Buildingand Sustainability; Organizationand Business Management; andSales and Customer Focus (go towww.buildershow.com for moreseminar information).

“We have designed the educa-tional programming for IBS to helpshow attendees survive this verydifficult market,” says Pursell. “Wehave also modified our registration

fee schedule to make the educa-tional sessions more affordable.”

However, show organizers doadmit that attendance may belower due to the economy and stateof the housing market.

“Attendance is always the hardestpart of IBS for us to forecast as mostregistrations take place within sixweeks of the show,” says Pursell. “Also,we never know what our onsite reg-istration will be. On the low end, Ithink 70,000 is a safe guess.” [104,000people attended IBS in 2008.]

For those who attend, in additionto the educational sessions, therewill be featured speakers each dayincluding renowned green businessexpert Andrew Winston, founder ofWinston Eco-Strategies; KevinFreiberg, notable professional speak-er and founder and chief executiveofficer of the San Diego ConsultingGroup Inc.; and Peter Hart, top publicopinion analyst and founder of PeterD. Hart Research Associates. Thekeynote speech will be presented bylegendary football coach Lou Holtz.

“We are thrilled to have suchextraordinary speakers presentingat the show this year,” said NAHBchairman Sandy Dunn. “Especiallyin these challenging times for ourindustry, attendees will benefit fromhearing the advice of a legendarymotivator and coach, as well as fromsome of the top minds in the busi-ness world on strategies for successin a changing marketplace.”

Want to Survive thisEconomic Climate?

Schedule at a Glance Tuesday, January 20, 2009

8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Educational Seminars8:30 a.m. Grand Opening Ceremony featuring legendary

Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. South Hall Exhibits Open9:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. Central & North Hall Exhibits Open

Wednesday, January 21, 20098 a.m. - 5 p.m. Educational Seminars9:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. Exhibits Open

Thursday, January 22, 20098 a.m. - 5 p.m. Educational Seminars9:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. Exhibits Open

Friday, January 23, 20098 a.m. - 12 p.m. Educational Seminars9:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. Exhibits Open

(All dates and times are subject to change. All events will be held at the LasVegas Convention Center.)

IBS May Be One Way to Learn About LatestComponents and Business Strategies

december

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Product OfferingsWhile dozens of door and win-

dow manufacturers will be show-casing their newest products at IBS,component suppliers will also bethere to offer products that doorand window manufacturers maywant to incorporate into their win-dow offerings.

Booth #N1563G-U Hardware to ShowcaseHigh-End Bronze Line

While at the Builders’ Show, G-UHardware will tell attendees of howit has teamed up with independ-ently owned Melron Corp. ofSchofield, Wis., to produce G-UBronze, a high-endline of multipointtrim sets.

The G-U Bronzeline features qual-ity designedand man-ufacturedlocksets, pairingfunctional han-dles with patentedG-U multi-pointlocking systems.They are cast from100-percent recy-cled material,according to thecompany andhave a true oil-rubbed bronze ornatural nickel finish. The companyadds that the bronze handle setsembody an “old-world aesthetic”with a unique combination ofstrength, durability and beauty.Two matching handle sets forswing and sliding doors will beoffered, each with a choice of com-plementary back plates in squareor radius styles.❙❙➤ www.g-u.com

Booth #C6783Winkhaus Hopes to “Hook” IBS Attendees

Winkhaus North America has agreat “hook” to get attendees tovisit its booth at IBS. The companyintroduced the patent-pendingconcept of a hook corner drive incombination with its 300 seriesstainless steel “One Motion™”multipoint locking system.

Recurrent hurricanes and otherweather disasters mean tougherbuilding codes and the desire toavoid product liability issues.Winkhaus says this product providesthe answer with this tapered hookdesign which pulls the door smooth-ly into the frame against the gasketfor a tight seal. The hooks engagebehind the strike plates simultane-ously providing a positive engage-ment that the company says will out-perform other locking mechanisms.

Until the development of thiscorner drive system, the strength ofthese hooks could only be utilizedon the locking side of the door,according to the company.Previously the panels on a pair of

Booth #N2835EDTM Products Offers Immediate Energy Data

EDTM Inc. will display itsline of energy performancetools to the window indus-try. Attendees will be ableto evaluate the productshands-on, with livedemonstrations being con-ducted continuouslythroughout the show.Generous show discountsare offered, and productscan be purchased at theshow, according to thecompany.

The company’s newestproduct is the WindowEnergy Profiler (#WP4500)Energy Transmission Meterused to test windows in-frame. The product allows users to test the energyperformance of operable windows that are already installed in the field. EDTMsays it’s as easy as opening the window and sliding the WP4500 over the pro-file of the window sash. The instrument will show the estimated SHGC valueof the window, along with the UV, Visible Light, and Near InfraredTransmission values simultaneously.

Company representatives say the product is ideal for evaluating the per-formance of existing windows in a home, in order to determine the necessityfor new replacement windows. It can also be a great aid in identifying the typeof low-E coating on the window—a great benefit to energy auditors in the field.The WP4500 is large enough to test most windows on the jobsite before theyare installed, according to EDTM.❙❙➤ www.edtm.com

continued on page 40

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doors could only be anchored withshootbolts or flushbolts and thesedo not provide a positive engage-ment nor the same strength as thisnew product, the company adds. ❙❙➤ www.winkhaus.us.com

Booth #N1172Contact “Wraps up” Fire-Rated Frames

Contact Industries will feature itsnew fire-rated door frames at IBS,veneer-wrapped in any woodspecies with fire ratings of 20, 45, 60and even 90 minutes. Previouslyavailable with a 20-minute fire rat-ing, the company says it can nowcreate fire-rated door frames insizes up to 4-foot by 8-foot in sin-gle- and double door openings.

“We’ve been making 20-minutefire-rated products for years, andwe’re thrilled to offer customers anew product that meets the extendedfire rating with the beauty of woodveneers,” said Jim Snodgrass, salesmanager. “Historically, when fire rat-ings were required, steel doors werethe only choice. With the availabilityof wood veneer-wrapped fire-rateddoor frames, designers can nowmatch frames, doors and mouldingsto create more elegant interiors.”❙❙➤ www.contactind.com

Booth #C7255Lincoln Adds OperatingSidelites to Swing Patio Doors

Lincoln Windows will takeadvantage of IBS to introduceoperating sidelites to comple-ment its swing patio door productlines. Features of thenew product include anindependent frame thatcan be mulled to a dooror installed separately, athree-point locking sys-tem to provideenhanced security, nar-row or wide stiles, a fullscreen. The hardware isHoppe’s thumb-bolthardware available in

ten finishes including: white, pol-ished brass, oil-rubbed brass,antique brass, faux bronze, satinnickel, antique nickel, brushedchrome, polished chrome andmatte black. ❙❙➤ www.lincolnwindows.com ❙

Booth #N2443Lift and Slide Easily with New Doors from Kolbe

Kolbe says its new TerraSpan™ lift and slide doors are perfect for sustainableprojects and offer expansive, easy-to-operate openings that transition betweenindoor and outdoorliving spaces unob-trusively. Part ofKolbe’s Ultra Series,the TerraSpan doorsmatch its full line ofa l u m i n u m - c l a dwood windows andentrance doors.

The doors canincorporate up to 10panels per unit witha 12-foot maximumpanel height. Eachpanel is 2.25-inchesthick and requiresminimum space when open—either nesting behind one another, or recessinginto a pocket opening to disappear completely from view.

The company says the doors are perfect for a sustainable design project asthey allow great amounts of natural light and contribute to natural ventilationwhen open. The doors are also available in energy-efficient glass options andenvironmentally friendly finishes.

The TerraSpan doors feature multi-point locking hardware and may beselected in finishes such as brushed chrome and oil rubbed brass. The extrudedaluminum can be finished with durable anodize or versatile paint in a standard,specialty or custom colors on the exterior. ❙❙➤ www.kolbe-kolbe.com

Want to Survive thisEconomic Climate?continued from page 39

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W hile many in the indus-try didn’t know what toexpect from the

GlassBuild America Show, heldOctober 6-8 in Las Vegas, therewere door and window manufac-turers in attendance looking forproducts that can help differentiatethemselves from the competition(see sidebar on page 45).

“Manufacturers are here lookingfor new products and solutions forhow they can make a better win-dow which will set them apart fromthe competition,” said StephenKirkpatrick of Weiss USA.

And they were making purchas-es. Graco’s Dave Behrens reportedon the first day of the show that allbut one piece of equipment hiscompany brought was sold.

But while many manufacturersdidn’t make it to Las Vegas, followingis a sampling of what was on display.

MachineryWhile many machinery compa-

nies opted not to exhibit atGlassBuild, others had smallerbooths than in previous years anddidn’t bring their machines to theshow. One of these companies was

Joseph Machine, though the com-pany did introduce a new productin a unique way.

The company unveiled what ittouted as its “Next GreenProduction System”—a SashWelder/Cleaner Pass-ThroughProcess. This includes a four-pointwelder with pre-loader, automatedwelder/cleaner transfer and a four-point cleaner. The machine canproduce 1,000 squares per shift,and only requires a one-personoperation. The compact machineonly requires 308 square feet offloor space.

Still Shopping

Despite the Economy, Manufacturers Did Travel to Vegas Looking for the Latest Products

by Penny Stacey and Tara Tafferadoor

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eight-hour shift, and features aprogrammable controller.

Wes Schneekolth, regional salesmanager, stressed the benefits ofhaving an affordable system for asmaller-sized manufacturer.

“They don’t need a Cadillacwhen they can have a Chevy,” hesaid.

Billco featured its BioClean WaterCare System, which the companysays simplifies the process for main-taining a glass washer. Each tank’svolume of water is circulatedthrough an ion generation processwhich helps neutralize bacteria andalgae. Additionally, treated water cir-culated through the machine, sohard to reach areas and componentscan be reached by the residual ions,providing further cleaning withoutthe use of harsh disinfectants.

Those looking for packaging solu-tions and how to save money in thisarea may have been interested inEAM-MOSCA’s strapping machinethat is designed to cut down onpackaging—and packaging costs.The machine is quick and secure,according to company representa-tive Tom Casso, and is safe to use.

First-time exhibitor VinylLinkoffered not only a new machine, buta new way of thinking. The compa-

ny’s founder and president, FrankLesusa, brought together severalsuppliers from throughout theindustry, including SturtzMachinery and Fenetech, to createa system that notches vinyl profilesso they can be folded—rather thanassembled by hand. The companyoffers two programs, one in which amanufacturer can purchase theequipment, and another, cheaperprogram in which the companybasically leases the equipment fromVinylLink. The main advantage tothe system, Lesusa says, is the sav-ings—in both material and usersneeded to assemble vinyl frames.

“This is a prime time for us,because we save the customer $12on every window,” he said.Likewise, every vinyl window creat-ed via the VinylLink system saves 18inches of vinyl lineal, according toLesusa.

Erdman Machinery carried alarge display of machinery to theshow, but its newest addition is theErdman IG Secondary Sealer, whichincludes a controls system coupledwith its fluid metering system.According to the company, thecombination provides consistent

december

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Top left: Truseal attracted a lot of attendees to its environmentally friendly designedbooth. Right: EDTM had a new energy meter that it demonstrated for attendees.

continued on page 44

“The size of our booth is theamount of space this machine willtake in a plant,” said Chris Cooper,senior sales engineer.

Carlson did bring a new machineto show—the ProMax Frame/SashClamp targeted toward smaller-sizedmanufacturers who make approxi-mately 400 to 600 units per day.

The machine squares, clampsand fastens a variety of wood win-dow frames or sash, and isdesigned for fast material place-ment and finished productremoval. It is capable of producingmore than 400 frames or sash per

results at speeds up to 20 inchesper second. The system can applyboth hot, cold and two-partsealants, and is designed to ensurethe seal at corners and thestart/stop position. Likewise, itprovides adjustable sealant fill viapositive displacement pump, auto-matic sizing and sealant applica-tion, and is offered in either the6000 or 7000 series.

Oemme displayed its AS 260 GAnumeric control assembling unitduring the event. The CN thermalbreak profile assembly machine hassix fully controlled axes and fourpairs of assembling disks with auto-matic adjustment of the distancedepending on the height of thepolyamide bars. In addition, it isequipped with an automatic systemfor increasing the bar advancementspeed at the entrance and exit.

The system is controlled by a PCtouch screen with an LCD monitorand is designed to be operator-friendly.

Hardware Roto Hardware was one compa-

ny that took more space at thisyear’s show so it could display itsnew booth. The company also hadnew products on-hand, includingPatio Life for the lift and slide mar-ket. “The handle lifts the sash andno force is required to lift the doorfrom the sill,” said Roto’s Dan Gray.

“It’s almost effortless,” he said.“There is nothing like it.”

Advantage Manufacturingoffered its latest multi-point locksfor casement windows, multi-pointlocks for European profiles, four-bar hinges for European profilesand four-bar hinges integrated withreleasable limit devices.

Truth Hardware displayed itsmulti-point mortise locks forrecessed surface mount applica-tions. Made from stainless steel,Truth’s Matt Kottke said this partic-

ular piece of hardware “was quitepopular at the show.”

In addition, Truth offers somenew handle and cover designs inboth its Maximum and Encorelines. The designs were created tobe distinct aesthetically, and comein a wide variety of finishes anddecorative paint options.

The company’s Twin Latch, acomposite positive-action lock,designed to be small and compact,also was a new launch.

Fapim showcased all of its doorand window hardware options,including its Horus handle, which isdesigned with die-cast aluminumwith a snap-back action and screw-cover base. The spring and washesare made form stainless steel, and itcomes with an 8-mm square pivotand fixing screws in galvanized steel.Likewise, the company displayed itsVenice Top and Venice hinge withfast clamping, designed for doorsmade with window profiles.Company officials say the hinge isboth aesthetically and technicallyadvanced, and the two products jointogether features that previouslyappeared to be incompatible: thebearing capacity and possibility ofadjustment, combined with a quickassembly. The hinges are pre-assembled and can be applied with-out additional work on the profiles.

Components According to John Kessler of

Caldwell Manufacturing, attendeeswere wowed by the company’s newMega Lift™ Hybrid Balance System,which has a patent pending.

The product supports a sashweight of 114 pounds, the averageforce to open it is 11 pounds, and toclose is 26 pounds.

“People are very interested in

this product,” he said. “It’s ideal forheavy window applications.” Headded that the product, which hasa 130-pound capacity, only requiresa pair of balances.

“Anything that would come closeto that would need four balances,”he said.

One industry supplier, Tecniplast,promoted its jamb extension boardsduring the show. Though these aredesigned for residential manufac-turers and the company has stuck tothis side of the business, companyrepresentatives reported their U.S.business is down.

“I don’t think it can get worse,”said Jacques Millen, who says thecompany has seen an approxi-mately 60-percent decrease inbusiness in the United States sincelast year. He reports, however, thatbusiness in Canada remainsstrong.

Despite the down economy therewere some first-time exhibitors inLas Vegas, including Teel Plastics.The company began manufactur-ing protruded fiberglass windowprofiles recently. Though 60 per-cent of its products still are focusedon other industries, a companyrepresentative said the companymoved into the fenestration indus-try to meet a need for wood win-dow manufacturers that offer alu-minum-clad products.

“Manufacturers are looking forsomething with better thermal per-formance than aluminum,” saidone company representative, not-ing that the revised ENERGY STAR®

regulations currently under reviewwill make the need for this evenmore imminent.

Contact Industries was also try-ing to reach wood/composite man-ufacturers with its new profiles,

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Still Shoppingcontinued from page 43

A lot of residential business is moving toward higher per-forming thermal products. That’s a real shift in the market.

—Mark Silverberg, Technoform

december

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45

which can be wrapped in numer-ous species of wood, with no needfor special machinery.

Dapa Products introduced anew foam screen spline that it sayswill meet various requirements ofdoor and window manufacturers.The company says use of the prod-uct will help reduce inventory asone size will work for several differ-ent screen channels. The companyadds that the spline does not hard-en in colder months or soften inwarmer months.

Gossen Corp. had a new cellularPVC profile on display. The profileis available with a Sherwin-Williams finish and is heat-resis-tant. It’s designed for high-enddoors and windows.

SoftwareIn an economy in which manu-

facturers are trying to optimizetheir businesses and become moreefficient, there was no shortage ofsoftware manufacturers, includingFenetech, on-hand at the show.The company launched a web cen-ter recently, making it possible forwindow manufacturers to utilize itstools via the web.

“The web center tool allows win-dow manufacturers to generatequotes for their customers online,”said company president Ron Crowl.

NetApps was offering anotherway to save time and money—byproviding a software package thatprovides services throughout thelife of a door or window, from thein-home quoting process rightdown to the manufacturing floor ofthe plant.

“You save time, you save money,”said Alain Ackad, sales manager forthe Quebec-based company. “Theworld is getting smaller and wewant to be a part of that for manu-facturers. We want to give manufac-turers a way to help them out in thishard time.”

Ackad’s goal, he said, is for thecompany to become the “Expedia”of the door and window market.

PMC Software’s booth had a spe-cial theme for the current econo-my: “Look ahead.” The booth wasfilled with stacks of large, faux bills,to represent its latest softwarerelease.

“It’s a program we’ve developedto decrease material usage,” saidRon Chill, sales manager for thecompany. Specifically, Chill says itssoftware can decrease a company’suse of vinyl lineals by 4 percent—for a total of $1.9 million a year.

Education and EnergyMany suppliers used the show as

an opportunity to educate manu-facturers regarding energy-relatedissues such as the upcomingENERGY STAR changes (see relatedarticle in DWM November, page 4).

Truseal’s booth conveyed whatthe new ENERGY STAR requirementswould mean for manufacturers.The company had a series of chartsat its booth showing what types ofglass and spacers would berequired to meet the ENERGY STAR

requirements in 2009 and 2013.

Amid Market Woes, Manufacturers Continue to Seek New Products and Solutions

While the news is saturated lately with plant closings and layoffs, therewere manufacturers at the show who had a positive attitude andreported success at their respective companies.

Geoff Roise, president of Lindsay Windows, a company with plants inMissouri and Minnesota, admits that it’s a challenging year, and that his salesreps have to work harder than ever for each order. But Roise is upbeat and istaking steps to invest in new products so when the market picks back up he willbe ready.

Roise was looking for a new glass washer and, while he said there wasn’tmuch new in this category, he did talk to manufacturers about improvementsmade to existing systems. He was also looking for different silicones.

“This would have been an easy year to skip,” says Roise. “But you always findsomething new here.”

He found a company that offers clothing for workers in the glass area of the plant. “I never would have run across this company if I wasn’t here,”he said.

Jeff Ackerson, president of Vinylite Windows in Fergus Falls, Minn., says hiscompany is very busy, and was at the show to look for more products andoptions it can add to its windows.

“There is not nearly as much equipment here which is disappointing as I amlooking to purchase new equipment,” he said.

But he looked at different grid options particularly, as the company servesthe remodeling market more so than it has in the past.

While many companies are struggling, Ackerson says Vinyllite has to look atits capacity issues, so that when the market picks back up again it will be readyfor more demand.

Roise is following a similar strategy. One year ago the company purchasedthe assets of Sunroom Concepts.

“That industry is really challenging,” said Roise. “We’re trying to come upwith new products for that market so when the market comes back we’ll be ready.”

continued on page 46

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Next to each map and chart,Truseal also had an example of awindow unit that could meet thoserequirements.

And while many in the industryare wondering if they will be ableto meet these new requirements,even in 2013, Truseal’s Ric Jacksonsays, “You can build the window ofthe future today.” And the exam-ples at the booth showed themhow to move toward that goal.

Edgetech IG had a uniquetheme at its booth that attractedmany attendees. Companies whoentered the booth could enter“Edgetech University.” Attendeeswere given a notebook, an insulat-ing glass (IG) certification manualand a report card to take with themas they visited the different educa-tional stations throughout thebooth. All attendees who complet-ed the program were entered into adrawing to win $2,000 toward IGcertification.

Edgetech had representativesfrom the Insulating GlassManufacturers Alliance, theNational Fenestration RatingCouncil and Architectural Testing

at their stand to answer questionsand help educate attendees con-cerning IG certification.

Also at the booth was a“MythBuster” station where,according to Edgetech’s BrianKress, a few big myths were beingbusted.

“Because our product is siliconefoam, the competition says it mustbe metal to be strong. They say youcan’t meet hurricane wind loadswith silicone,” said Kress.

Kress explained to attendees thataccording to extensive testing per-formed by Edgetech silicone canindeed perform extremely well.

“What makes us good is what thecompetition says makes us bad,”says Kress.

He also pointed out that metalbars won’t meet the new thermalperformance requirements that willsoon be put in place (see relatedstory in September DWM, page 22).

Mark Silverberg, general man-ager for Technoform GlassInsulation, also discussed thermalperformance.

“A lot of residential business ismoving toward higher performing

thermal products,” he said. “That’sa real shift in the market.”

He adds that his company is get-ting a lot of calls concerning thenew forthcoming ENERGY STAR

requirements.“We get a lot of calls from people

who want to know how to improvethe thermal performance of theirwindows,” Silverberg said.

Electronic Design to Market Inc.has long been a manufacturer ofproducts for proving energy effi-ciency, but now is finding the needfor its products is growing at arapid rate.

New at the show was the compa-ny’s WP4500, which is designed toshow the energy performance(including percent of ultravioletrays transmitted, visible light trans-mittance, infrared energy and solarheat gain coefficient) of a windowthat’s already been installed and isin use.

“It’s a much larger product, andit has a much wider opening,” saidEDTM’s Mark Imbrock.

Though Imbrock called thisproduct an extension of what hiscompany has been manufacturingin the past, he notes that lately cus-tomers are really looking for thistype of product.

“All of our calls lately are, ‘whatcan I do to show energy efficien-cy?’” he said.

Frank Lowe Rubber & Gasketalso offered an energy-efficientproduct, its new NeoGreen SettingBlocks, which the company saysare made of recycled rubber whilehelping manufacturers savemoney and preserve the environ-ment. They are available in incre-mental sizes from 1⁄16 to ¼ inches.

Next year’s GlassBuild Americashow will be held September 30-October 2 in Atlanta. ❙

Penny Stacey is assistant editor and TaraTaffera is the editor of DWM Magazine.

Still Shoppingcontinued from page 45

Glasslam was busy throughout the show as it showcased several new products forattendees.

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Stiles would like to welcome you into our family of window and door production

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strong, but flexible, foam carrier.These two tapes are designed toresist moisture, humidity and heat,and company officials say the flexi-ble foam also allows for smoothradius corners.

The ARclad glazing tapes can beused for sealing window assembliesin plastic, vinyl, metal and woodframing systems, and they create animmediate bond with no cure timeand offer high cold flex, low odorand cyclic shock resistance.❙❙➤ www.adhesivesresearch.com

Cut Down Surface Energywith Latest from Adchem

Adchem Corp. has developed asecond-generation muntin bartape for low surface energy materi-als. The new LSE SDL (Low SurfaceEnergy Simulated Divided Light)tape system is designed for usewith Kynar 500® pvdf resin basedcoating systems, Vitrasil® acrylicpolyester and powder-coated fin-ishes. These tapes, like Adchem’sother systems, eliminate the need

for liquid silane adhesion promot-ers, according to the company.

The LSE SDL series provideslong-term indoor and outdooradhesion to a variety of windowsubstrates, including easy-to-cleanand “low-maintenance” glass. Thesystem also bonds to cellular PVC,vinyl, primed and unprimed wood,plastic, and painted aluminummuntin bars.

Adchem’s muntin bar tapes are

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Introducing...

COMPONENTSIncrease Your Options with Contact

Contact Industries’ veneer profile-wrapped components aredesigned to enable door and window manufacturers to offer abroad array of options to customers.

“The window manufacturing process is such that attemptingto change from traditional species, such as pine, to somethinglike cherry or alder, or even teak or sapele, in order to meetcustomer demands for product variations is exceedinglyexpensive if the OEM is working with solid components,” saysPete Himes, industrial sales manager. “We can reduce thatexpense significantly by providing wrapped components in awide variety of species, with proprietary component designsthat don’t require expensive changeovers at the OEM’s facility.”

Contact previously supplied both solid and profile-wrappedcomponents to customers, and now has expanded that capabil-ity to provide wrapped components in more than 200 different veneer species, as well as a wide range of vinyls, foils andfilms. The components can be engineered to each manufacturer’s proprietary designs using a wide range of substrates includ-ing finger-jointed pine, aluminum, extruded vinyl, LVL, MDF, fiberglass or just about any combination of these materials.

Components can be provided ready to assemble and finish, or prefinished using a variety of paints, stains and topcoatswith UV curing capability. ❙❙➤ www.contactind.com

continued on page 50

http://norfield.com

designed to maintain high shear,tensile and cleavage strength whileproviding resistance to air, water,detergents, moisture, ultravioletlight and dust. The new LSE SDLproduct is available in .032 black. ❙❙➤ www.adchem.com

Reduce Errors Like a Pro Tremco has introduced the

Proglaze ETA EngineeredTransition Assembly which pro-vides a way to simplify the installa-tion of transitions from window towall assemblies. The product ismechanically attached to the win-dow or wall assembly so it ensuresa continuous compatible seal,according to the company. Thisallows it to absorb dynamic move-ment and wind loading stresses

without pulling apart. The compa-ny adds that it provides single-source accountability and helps toreduce workmanship errors.❙❙➤ www.tremcosealants.com

Sealant Designed toWithstand Fires

Touch ‘n Seal has introduced apolyurethane sealant called GunFoam II. Gun Foam II is designed towithstand flaming and is a type Vresidential fireblock. It is orange incolor and seals gaps and cracks,and also resists air infiltration bycreating a moisture vapor barrier.According to the company, thesealant cures quickly and is tack-free in around 10 minutes and has ashelf life of 18 months. ❙❙➤ www.touch-n-seal.com

Get a Finished Edge with Royal S4S Trimboard™

Royal’s new S4STr i m b o a r d ™ ,which uses100-percentcellular vinylPVC tech-nology, isdesigned tooffer a truefinished edgeby eliminatingthe open cell edgesof traditional trim board. TheTrue Square™ 90°, Stay Clean™extruded edges have a smoothfour-sided finish with Royal’s trade-mark Poly Select® surface, designedfor durability, with no exposed orcell structure to sand, fill or paint.The S4S Trimboard is available inthree standard thicknesses (5⁄8, ¾and 1 inch), five standard widths (4,6, 8, 10 and 12 inches) and standard18-inch and custom lengths.

Royal S4S Trimboard is available inboth Smooth/Smooth and reversibleWoodgrain/Smooth finishes. It isready to install, paintable and can beinstalled edge to edge with RoyalTrimboard sheet products.❙❙➤ www.royalmouldings.com

MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENTOmega Offers the Right Fit for Bending Operations

Syn-Tec says its Omega family ofdry vinyl bending products is theonly purchase manufacturers needto make order to bend profiles andrealize profits. The Omega has aheating chamber that can heat upto eight profiles at one time and canproduce up to 20 bends per hour.

The Omega 2000 EZ Bend RadiusTable has a 8 by 12-foot table sur-face and universal tool set.Additionally, the company says the

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CONTINUED

Introducing...

HARDWAREHafele System Designed for All-Glass Sliding Doors

Hafele America Co.’s new HAWA-Puro is a hardware system designed for all-glass sliding doors. According to the company, the system integrates its toptracks in both sheetrock and suspended ceilings, thus making the hardware sys-tem invisible. Likewise, company representatives say the runner-bearing tech-nology allows doors up to 330 pounds to move quietly and effortlessly. It isequipped with a patent-pending wedge suspension designed to provide rapidheight adjustment and easy installation.❙❙➤ www.hafele.com/us

continued on page 52

• Displays 8 full-sizedwindows in just over4 feet

• Holds aluminum,vinyl, and woodwindows

• Windows easily rollin and out of a self-contained metal unit

• Now available for 3 1/4” thick and4 9/16” thick windows

ARIEL DOOR DISPLAY

• Displays 12 door slabs in just under 3 1/2 feet wide

• Holds entry doors, interior doors,and storm doors

• Doors easily roll in and out of aself-contained metal unit

• Costs less than other displays that only hold 3 or 4 doors

Tel. 905-886-1066 • Fax 905-886-1266 • www.emidisplays.com

KIARA WINDOW DISPLAY

TRIANGULAR DISPLAYS

• Custom-made to fit window and door sizes of your choice• Aesthetically engineered in a modern design to accent the

windows’ and doors’ architectural features• Perfect for showrooms, mall shows, and home and trade shows

www.emidisplays.com

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wrap-around profile bending tech-nology minimizes profile stretchand distortion. Syn-Tec adds that asize change is possible in 30 sec-onds or less compared to other sys-tems that can take up to 20 minutes. ❙❙➤ www.syn-tec.info

Graco® Redesigns the Flow of its Systems

Graco has redesigned its Therm-O-Flow 20 and 200 bulk melt sys-tems with new technologies, pro-viding quieter operation, betterperformance, longer service lifeand improved process efficiency,according to the company.

Therm-O-Flow systems featurethe new NXT™ Air Motor, whichthe company refers to as its nextgeneration of air motors, as well as

the patented Mega-Flo™ platen,which offers industry-leading meltrates, even with high-viscositymaterials.

In addition, this system featuresEasyKey™, an easy-to-use intuitivecontrol that displays actual and setpoint temperatures, a materialtotalizer that can be reset to trackmaterial usage and a seven-dayautomatic startup timer. The sys-tem supports self-diagnosticswhich allow for predictive and pre-ventative maintenance strategies,and includes sensors that signalwhen drum changes are needed.

Therm-O-Flow units are inte-grated easily with a second Therm-O-Flow for tandem operation,according to the company. ❙❙➤ www.graco.com

HARDWAREMagnolia Upgrades Safety Warning Tab for Screens

Magnolia Metal’s first-genera-tion screen cor-ner is not only ascreen corner,but also servesas a workablelift tab and fea-tures a safetywarning on it.In addition, thecompany hasupdated thesafety warningtab so that itcan be splinedin during the fabrication of an

continued on page 54

CONTINUED

Introducing...

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1. Please check the ONE category that BEST describes the business activity of your company:1000 � Manufacturer of windows1100 � Manufacturer of windows and/or doors and/or skylights2000 � Manufacturer of doors3000 � Manufacturer of skylights or other fenestration products4000 � Suppliers of fenestration components or equipment (including glass)6000 � Engineer firms, utilities or other involved in energy management9000 � Others allied to the field, please specify:_______________________

2. Please check ALL the products or materials your company manufactures:

A � Wood B � Aluminum C �GlassD � Vinyl E � Other Metals

4. Classification by title (choose the best):A � Owner/president E � Marketing managerB � General or senior manager F � Purchasing managerC � Plant manager or engineer G � Energy expert or consultantD � Designer H � Other

PLEASE COMPLETE THIS ENTIRE FORM AND FAX IT TO 630/482-3003OR SUBSCRIBE ONLINE AT WWW.GLASS.COM/SUBCENTER.PHP

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Subscriptions are free to all qualified recipients at U.S. addresses. Addresses outside the U.S. please add $80 per year. By checking yes and signing this form, I also agree to allow publisher to contact me via fax and/or telephone in the future.

MY BUSINESS IS ENGAGED IN THE MANUFACTURING, FABRICATING OR DISTRIBUTION OF DOORS AND WINDOW PRODUCTS.

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3. Please check ALL the types of work your companyperforms:

C � Commercial R � ResidentialB � Both O � Other

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5. Number of employees at this location:A � 1-4 B � 5-9 C � 10-19 D � 20-49E � 50-99 F � 100+

6. What other publications do you receive?

2 � Fenestration 1 � Window and Door

http://www.erdmanautomation.com

insect screen, so that it can work with all insect screenframe profiles universally.❙❙➤ www.magnoliametal.com

G-U Hardware and Norfield Team Up G-U Hardware (a division of the Gretsch-Unitas

Group), and Norfield Industries of Chico, Calif., havecollaborated to produce the G–U multi-point door lockjig. The multi-point door lock jig’s unique feature is itstemplate-based system, making it extremely flexible, sothat it can be used on current and new hardware,according to the companies. It can also:• Accommodate standard door heights (6 foot 8 inches,

8 foot and beyond);• Work on door thicknesses from 1 ¾ to 2 ¼ inches;• Offer three-point matching in one set-up;• Provide for 30- to 70-mm backsets in 5-mm incre-

ments; and• Offer center alignment to Euro-groove.

WOOD REPAIRRepair Wood Issues with KNOT-TEC™

The KNOT-TEC wood repairsystem from Power Adhesivesgives manufacturers the abilityto utilize an entire piece ofwood, rather than cut it beforea knot or defect. This elimi-nates waste, increases yieldand maximizes the use of thematerial.

The KNOT-TEC system alsoallows manufacturers to makeuse of formerly discarded wood in the manufacturingprocess that, due to defects, could not be used in the finalproduct.

MACHINERYArcmaster Does It All

The new Arcmasterfrom Charles G. G.Schmidt & Co. Inc. isdesigned to fit theWilliams & Hussy moulder and similarmachines and enables the user to make straight, curvedand elliptical mouldings on these machines. TheArcmaster is designed with a built-in removable fence, sothat once it is mounted on the machine it can stay on forall applications. Three bearings are mounted on the mainplate to keep the wood in place for precise cuts, accord-ing to the company. ❙❙➤ www.cggschmidt.com ❙

www.dwmmag.com

CONTINUED

Introducing...

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Get AutomatedWith up to 850 Sash per Shift inunder 1200 square feet !

stürtzMachinery, Inc.

Stürtz Machinery Inc.30500 Aurora Road · Solon, Ohio 44139Telephone 440-248-4009 · Telefax 440-248-4018info@sturtz.com · www.sturtz.com

Winner of the 2007Crystal Achievement Awardfor Most Innovative Machine!

The Stürtz Compact Sash Line offers a space saving solutionfor high production welding and cleaning with capacity forup to 850 welded and cleaned sash per shift in under 1200square feet, and with only one operator!The close proximity of the double stack welders allows oneoperator to efficiently load both machines. Upon removalof the welded sash via a high speed belt system, the weldersautomatically size for the next cycle. The belt system then

feeds the sash into a four head cleaner designed to clean allfour corners simultaneously in approximately 25 seconds.The cleaner can be outfitted with optional tilt latch routingand pivot bar insertion drilling.

» Find out more about Stürtz today by calling 440-248-4009.www.sturtz.com

Ones to Watch

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COMINGS AND GOINGSMertz Named CaldwellPresident and CEO

Eric Mertz has been appointedpresident and chief executive offi-

cer (CEO) of CaldwellManufacturing, effec-tive October 27. Aspart of a planned suc-cession, outgoingpresident and CEOTed Boucher will con-tinue with the compa-

ny in the new position of chief busi-ness development officer and vicechair of the board.

Most recently, Mertz served asCEO of European operations forInalfa Roof Systems Group. Prior toInalfa, he spent six years in engi-neering and management roles atDura Convertible Systems.

In his new role of chief businessdevelopment officer, Boucher willidentify opportunities to expand

Caldwell Manufacturing’s presencein the fenestration market by culti-vating key customers, developingprospects, seeking potentialalliances, and attending trade asso-ciation meetings. As vice chair, hewill assist in recruiting board mem-bers and provide board oversight ofthe management of CaldwellManufacturing.

ODL® Promotes Jeff Mulder to President, COO

ODL Inc. has pro-moted Jeff Mulder tocorporate presidentand chief operatingofficer (COO). Mulderhas been with ODL for16 years and has heldmanagement positionsin a number of different areas of thecompany. Most recently, Mulder waspresident of the door glass division,in addition to being an active mem-

ber of ODL’s board of directors.A third-generation member of

ODL’s founding family, Mulder fol-lows a 45-year career that his father,Larry Mulder, had with ODL. Thecompany was originally founded in1945 by Mulder’s grandfather, CyMulder in his garage in Zeeland.

Prior to joining ODL, Mulder waswith Universal Forest Products.

Mulder assumes the leadershiprole from Dave Killoran, who willbecome chairperson of the board ofODL following the retirement ofODL’s current chairman, LarryMulder.

GED Appoints Reinhart as Director of Sales

GED Integrated Solutions has ap-pointed Dan Reinhartto the role of directorof sales. In his new po-sition, Reinhart over-sees both domesticand international salesactivities along withthe development andimplementation of sales strategies.

“Dan joined GED nine years agoand has excelled as a regional salesmanager since day one,” says BillWeaver, president and chief execu-tive officer for the company. “Hisextensive industry knowledge andexperience have earned him a greatdeal of respect…”

New National AccountsManager Joins Chelsea

Chelsea BuildingProducts Inc. a memberof the TessenderloGroup, has hired GaryHartman as the newnational accounts man-ager. Hartman bringsextensive knowledge

and a broad background in windowextrusion and window fabrication toChelsea and was previously with thecompany from 1985 to 1995. ❙

Edgetech Promotes ThreeEdgetech I.G. has promoted Mike Anderson, Mike Vachon and Vince Warne

to key roles in quality assurance and continuous improvement.Mike Anderson has been appointed to technical resource manager. Anderson

has been with Edgetech for five years, working in areas related to safety, qual-ity, productivity and service. In his new role, Anderson’s primary responsibilitiesinclude product quality testing and coordinating all daily activities within thetechnical group, specifically analytical testing, customer technical service,research and development and operational support. These are in addition to hiswork as global operations manager.

Mike Vachon has been appointed to director of continuousimprovement. Vachon has been a key player in developing for-malized employee training programs related to the principles ofLean manufacturing, Six Sigma, Kaizen and ISO certification,among others. Vachon has more than 30 years of business expe-rience almost exclusively within the fields of quality and contin-uous improvements for manufacturing and service industries.

Warne has been appointed to director of quali-ty assurance. He has been with Edgetech for four years, holdingpositions as business unit manager, operations managers andprocess engineering manager. In his new role, Warne and hisquality assurance team will oversee the execution of consistentquality of Edgetech’s manufactured products. Warne’s directresponsibility is to continue to drive Edgetech’s reputation in thedoor and window industry.

Mike Vachon

Eric Mertz

Jeff Mulder

Dan Reinhart

Gary Hartman

Vince Warne

Box 237 Lambeth Stn. London ON N6P IP9

phone: 519-472-0080 email: info@screencentersales.com

fax: 519-472-5494 web: www.screencentersales.com

toll-free: 866-652-0028

Leasing Options Available

www.dwmmag.com

January 12-17, 2009BAU 2009Organized by MunichInternational Trade Fairs.New Munich Trade Fair Centre.Munich, Germany.Contact: Carolin Schuetze at 646/437-1017 or visitwww.bau-munich.com.

January 20-22, 2009International Builders’ ShowSponsored by the National Association ofHomebuilders (NAHB).Las Vegas Convention Center.Las Vegas.Contact: NAHB at 202/266-8111 or visitwww.buildersshow.com.

January 26-27, 2009NWDA 2009 WinterMeeting and Table TopsSponsored by the Northeast Window and Door Association (NWDA).Trump Plaza.Atlantic City, N.J.Contact: NWDA at 609/799-4900 or visit www.nwda.net.

February 2-6, 2009Insulating GlassManufacturers Alliance(IGMA) 9th Annual MeetingSponsored by IGMA.Hyatt Regency Mission Bay.San Diego, Calif.Contact: IGMA at 613/233-1510 or visitwww.igmaonline.org.

February 1-3, 2009NASEO Winter ConferenceSponsored by NationalAssociation of State EnergyOfficials (NASEO).Omni Shoreham Hotel,Washington, DCContact: NASEO at 703/299-8800 or visithttp://www.naseo.org/events/winter/index.html.

February 15-17, 2009WDMA LeadershipSummit & CEO ForumSponsored by the Windowand Door ManufacturersAssociation (WDMA).JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa.

Tucson, Ariz.Contact: WDMA at 800/223-2301 or visitwww.wdma.com.

February 22-25, 2009AAMA 72ndAnnual ConferenceSponsored by AAMA.Loews Coronado Bay Resort.Coronado, Calif.Contact: AAMA at 847/303-5664 or visitwww.aamanet.org.

February 23-27, 2009EduCode 2009Sponsored by the Southern Nevada Chapter of the International Code Council.The Orleans Hotel and Casino.Las Vegas.Contact: Visitwww.educode.us.

March 2-5, 2009National FenestrationRating Council (NFRC)Spring Membership MeetingSponsored by the NFRC.Tucson Marriott University Park.Tucson, Ariz.Contact: NFRC at 301/589-1776 or visit www.nfrc.org.

March 16-18, 2009PVC Formulation 2009Organized by Applied MarketInformation Ltd. (AMI).Maritim Hotel.Cologne, Germany.Contact: AMI at +44 (0) 117 924 9442 or visit www.amiplastics.com.

March 25-26, 2009Glass Expo Northeast™ 2009Co-sponsored by DWM.Hyatt Regency Long Island at Wind Watch Golf Club.Long Island, N.Y.Contact: DWM magazine at 540/720-5584. ❙

BendingBending SolutionsSolutions

Not justNot justMacMachineshines

Along with our partnering manufacturers, providing a turnkey

Storefront extrusions,

windows extrusions,

solution for bending applications is what we are known for.

automotive tubing parts,

RV components, and a

variety of job shop parts

are a few of the industries

we have provided solutions for.

Your success is our business.

J & S Machine Inc.W6009 490th Ave.Ellsworth, WI 54011Tel: 715-273-3376E-mail: sales@jsmachine.com

Welcome to the Enhanced

dwmmag.com

DWM Magazine has redesigned its websiteand added many helpful new features.

• News items that are updated severaltimes per week

• New featured content • Surveys• Forum • RSS feed• Timely coverage of industry events

Bookmark it now!

DOOR & WINDOW MANUFACTURER MAGAZINE

™

THE FUTURE OF FENESTRATION MANUFACTURING

DWM

NowSHOWing calendar of events

To submit your industryevent, e-mail it tottaffera@glass.com

58

http://www.fenetech.com

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DIRECTORY OFSUPPLIERS

DOOR & WINDOW MANUFACTURER MAGAZINE

™

THE FUTURE OF FENESTRATION MANUFACTURING

DWM

Architectural GlassBent/CurvedPrecision Glass Bending Corp.P.O. Box 1970,3811 Hwy. 10 WestGreenwood, AR 72936800/543-8796; fax: 479/996-8962www.e-bentglass.comsales@e-bentglass.com

Door & WindowMachinery/Equipment

EDTM Inc.745 Capital CommonsToledo, OH 43615419/861-1030;fax: 419/861-1031www.edtm.comsales@edtm.com

GlasWeld Systems Inc.20578 Empire Blvd.Bend, OR 97701541/388-1156; fax: 541/388-1157

Stürtz Machinery Inc.30500 Aurora Rd.Solon, OH 44139440/248-4009; fax: 440/248-4018www.sturtz.cominfo@sturtz.com

MultiprocessingStürtz Machinery Inc.30500 Aurora Rd.Solon, OH 44139440/248-4009; fax: 440/248-4018www.sturtz.cominfo@sturtz.com

SawsStürtz Machinery Inc.30500 Aurora Rd.Solon, OH 44139440/248-4009; fax: 440/248-4018www.sturtz.cominfo@sturtz.com

Saws, Cut-OffStürtz Machinery Inc.30500 Aurora Rd.Solon, OH 44139440/248-4009; fax: 440/248-4018www.sturtz.cominfo@sturtz.com

Saws, Double-MiterStürtz Machinery Inc.30500 Aurora Rd.Solon, OH 44139440/248-4009; fax: 440/248-4018www.sturtz.cominfo@sturtz.com

Testing Equipment

Automated TestingSolutions, Inc.8301 Sunset Rd.Minneapolis, MN 55432877/784-1775;Fax: 651/846-6808www.automated-tests.com

Vinyl WeldersStürtz Machinery Inc.30500 Aurora Rd.Solon, OH 44139440/248-4009; fax: 440/248-4018www.sturtz.cominfo@sturtz.com

Door Hardware &Related Products

Setting BlocksFrank Lowe Rubber & Gasket10 Dubon Ct., Suite 1Farmingdale, NY 11735800/777-0202;fax: 631/777-2560www.franklowe.comsales@franklowe.com

Doors, ExteriorHurricane Glass DoorsDome’l, Inc.For Hi-Rise BuildingsNo Shutters Needed3 Grunwald St.Clifton, NJ 07013800/603-6635;fax: 973/614-8011www.domelinc.com

Hardware ComponentsG-U Hardware Inc.12650 Patrick Henry Dr.Newport News, VA 23602800/927-1097; fax: 888/454-0161

Truth Hardware Corp.700 West Bridge St.Owatonna, MN 55060800/866-7884; fax: 507/451-5655www.truth.comtruthsal@truth.com

Vita USA117 S. Cook St.Suite #237Barrington, IL 60010847/381-2914;fax: 847/381-2948www.reth-group.comvita-usa@reth-group.com

Winkhaus North America, Inc.1171 Universal Blvd.Whitewater, WI 53190262/472-8800;fax: 262/472-8900www.winkhaus.com

ConnectorsEduard Kronenberg GmbHDingshauser Str. 6-10Solingen, Germany 42655+49 (0)212/222 88-0Fax: +49 (0)212/222 88-999www.kronenberg-eduard.deinfo@kronenberg-eduard.de

Insulating Glass &Related Products

AirspacersAlumet Mfg., Inc. 3803 136th St. NEMarysville, WA 98271360/653-6666; fax: 360/653-9884www.alumet.com

Helima Helvetion Intl.PO Box 1348Duncan, SC 29334-1348800/346-6628;fax: 864/439-6065www.helima.dekmadey@helimasc.com

Muntin BarsAlumet Mfg., Inc.3803 136th St. NEMarysville, WA 98271360/653-6666; fax: 360/653-9884www.alumet.com

SpacersEdgetech IG Inc.800 Cochran Ave.Cambridge, OH 43725740/439-2338;fax: 740/439-0121www.edgetechig.com

Truseal Technologies6680 Parkland Blvd.Solon, OH 44139216/910-5100;fax: 216/910-1505www.truseal.com

Insulating GlassMachinery & EquipmentBystronic Glass Inc.13250 E. Smith RoadSuite HAurora, CO 80011720/858-7700Fax: 720/858-7701salesusa@bystronic-glass.com

GED Integrated Solutions9280 Dutton DriveTwinsburg, OH 44087330/963-5401; fax: 330/963-0584www.gedusa.com

SpacersEdgetech IG Inc.800 Cochran Ave.Cambridge, OH 43725740/439-2338; fax: 740/439-0121www.edgetechig.com.

McKeegan Equip. & Supply8411 Ronda DriveCanton, MI 48187734/459-5870; fax: 734/459-9837www.mckeeganequip.com

Information &Organizations

AssociationsAmerican ArchitecturalManufacturers Assoc. (AAMA)1827 Walden Office Square,Suite 550Schaumburg, IL 60173847/303-5859fax: 847/303-5774www.aamanet.org

Metalworking &Vinylworking

MachineryGED Integrated Solutions9280 Dutton DriveTwinsburg, OH 44087330/963-5401Fax: 330/963-0584www.gedusa.com

Misc. ProductsDisplays for Doors

and WindowsEmes Marketing Inc.68 Theodore PlaceThornhill, ON L4J 8E4 Canada905/886-1066;fax: 905/886-1266www.emidisplays.cominfo@emidisplays.com

SoftwarePMC Software Inc.Bartles Corner Business Park8 Bartles Corner Rd., Ste. 11Flemington, NJ 08822908/806-7824;fax: 908/806-3951www.pmcsoftware.com

Optimization ProgramsOptima North America Inc.3875 Boulevard St.-JeanBaptisteMontreal, QC H1B 5V4Canada514/645-8998;Fax: 514/645-8558sales@optima-america.com

Window Hardware &Related Products

Strybuc Industries2006 Elmwood Ave.Sharon Hills, PA 19078800/352-0800;fax: 610/534-3202www.strybuc.com

StiffenersAlumet Mfg., Inc.3803 136th St. NEMarysville, WA 98271360/653-6666; fax: 360/653-9884www.alumet.com

WeatherstrippingUltraFab Inc.1050 Hook Rd.Farmington, NY 14424800/535-1050; fax: 585/924-7680www.ultrafab.comsales@ultrafab.com

Window ComponentsExtrusions, VinylDeceuninck North America351 N. Garver RoadMonroe, OH 45050800/432-9560;Fax: 513/539-5402www.decna.biz

WindowsVinyl WindowsVEKA Inc.100 VEKA Dr.Fombell, PA 16123800/654-5589;fax: 724/452-1007www.vekainc.com ❙

Get in the Guide!Listings start at just $350!

Contact Janeen Mulligan at 540/720-5584 x112 or e-mail jmulligan@glass.com.

december

2008

61

Representatives NeededWinco is seeking additional representation in manyareas of the country. Winco offers a full line of archi-tectural aluminum windows and specializes in highend Blast Resistant/Historic Replication BlastResistant/Hurricane/ Ballistic and Tornado resistantproducts. If you have the contacts and interests pleasesend your résumé to: sales4@wincowindow.com

Employment/Help Wanted

Sales Manager Custom Engineered Commercial WindowsSouth Florida manufacturer seeks a sales manager toexpand its customer base and open new markets inthe Gulf and South Atlantic states. Require 5 years esti-mating, sales and project management experience inwindows, doors & hardware, storefront & curtain wall;or, related businesses selling custom manufacturedbuilding products. Skills selling, closing and negotiat-ing contracts in the public and private sectors a must!Compensation in the upper five to low six figures. E-mail resume to tom@escon.cc T. Harvey, EsconExecutive Search

CLASSIFIEDS

Window industry leader in Texasseeks upper-level sales profes-sional experienced in new, resi-dential and/or commercial con-struction. Candidates must beindustry established with a net-work already in place. Excellentincome opportunity includingpotential for profit-sharing.

TOP-LEVEL SALES PROFESSIONAL

If you're an industry superstar,please send your resume to:

dhatcher@gulfcoastwindows.com

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A D V E R T I S I N G I N D E X • D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8

66 Alumet Manufacturing Inc. 800/343-8360 360/653-9884 www.alumet.com

15 Cardinal Industries 952/935-1722 952/935-1722 www.cardinalcorp.com

63 Changshu Weier Glass Products Co. 86-512-52569644 86-512-52569544 www.weier-glass.com

21 Contact Industries 800/547-1038 503/221-1340 www.contactind.com

37 Design Tool Inc. 800/948-1038 828/328-4127 www.designtoolinc.com

1 Edgetech I.G. Inc. 800/233-4383 740/439-0121 www.certifyyourig.com

13 Electronic Design to Market Inc. 419/861-1030 419/480-1099 www.edtm.com

54 Elton Manufacturing 800/297-8299 905/878-9211 www.eltonmanufacturing.com

51 Emes Marketing Inc. 905/886-1066 905/886-1266 www.emidisplays.com

53 Erdman Automation Corp. 763/389-9475 763/389-9757 www.erdmanautomation.com

59 FeneTech Inc. 330/995-2830 330/562-8688 www.fenetech.com

5 Glasslam 954/975-3233 954/975-3225 www.glasslam.com

11 Glaston Italy/Bavelloni Brand 39 031 728311 39 031 7286318 www.glaston.net

58 J & S Machine Inc. 715/273-3376 715/273-5241 www.jsmachine.com

7 Joseph Machine Co. Inc. 800/457-7034 717/432-8184 www.josephmachineco.com

41 Nordson Corp. 800/683-2314 770/497-3656 www.nordson.com

49 Norfield Industries Inc. 800/331-0999 530/879-3140 www.norfield.com

22 Ruvo Manufacturing 800/568-7423 308/384-8326 www.triadruvo.com

57 Screen Center Sales 866/652-0028 519/472-5494 www.screencentersales.com

47 Stiles Machinery Inc. 616/698-7500 616/698-7521 www.stilesmachinery.com

55 Sturtz Machinery Inc. 440/248-4009 440/248-4018 www.sturtz.com

25 Synrad Inc. 800/796-7231 425/349-3667 www.synrad.com

3 Technoform 330/487-6600 330/487-6682 www.technoform.us

23 Truseal Technologies 216/910-1532 216/910-1506 www.envirosealedwindows.com

C2 Truth Hardware 800/866-7884 507/444-4762 www.truth.com

65 Urban Machinery 360/379-1576 360/379-4156 www.u-r-b-a-n.com

9 Winkhaus North America Inc. 262/472-8800 262/472-8900 www.winkhaus.us.com

Page Company Phone Fax Web Address

Industry Indices

The National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) hosted its Construction Forecast Conference on October22 and it’s not a surprise that the news was dismal. Experts in all facets of the industry offered their insightsfor the coming year along with numerous data collected from recent years.

NAHB Offers Latest Housing Data During Forecast Conference

door

&

WINDOWMANUFACTURER

64

Source: David Seiders, Chief Economist, NAHB

Source: Doug Duncan, Vice President and Chief Economist,Fannie Mae

Source: Mark Stein, Director of Forecasting, NAHB

Source: Mark Zandi, Chief Economist, Moody’s Economy.com

For more on the NAHB conference, as well as statistics from McGraw Hill's Construction Outlook, see feature article on page 26.

Urban Machinery125 Werlich Drive

Cambridge ON, N1T 1N7, Canada519-624-0080 • 519-624-8588 fax

sales@urban-machinery.com

192 North Otto StreetPort Townsend, WA 98368

360-379-1576 • 360-379-4156 faxurban@urban-usa.com

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