Opening Thoughts from the President & CEO

We’ve spoken before about how green building has been one of the few relatively bright spots in an otherwise difficult economic climate. Green building holds the promise of lowered energy bills for homeowners and commercial building tenants and more energy efficient structures, which help ease our demand on energy, and ultimately on oil, from both foreign and domestic sources.

 Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. to take part in a Lobby Day supported by Building Star supporters, which included a full day of meetings centered on the Building Star legislation.

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AAMA Offers New FenestrationMasters™ Professional Certification
AAMA is launching a new nationwide program for professionals in the window, door, skylight, curtain wall, storefront and sloped glazing industries during the GlassBuild America show held in Las Vegas, NV (Sept. 14-16). The AAMA FenestrationMasters™ program offers training content based on consensus-based AAMA standards.

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Window Sill Heights Discussed at Final Action Code Hearings
The May International Code Council Group A+ final action hearings held in Dallas, TX, provided many favorable outcomes for our industry. One topic of discussion was that of window sills.

For residential occupancies built under the 2012 International Building Code, the required height of operable window sills that are more than 72 inches above exterior grade will be 36 inches or more above the interior floor, while for the same occupancies built under the 2012 International Residential Code the required height will be 24 inches.

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AAMA Residential Air Infiltration Web Page Answers Homeowners’ Questions
The AAMA Air Infiltration Education Task Group has completed an informational website created for the purpose of educating homeowners on residential air infiltration.  

The webpage offers background information on air infiltration in the home as well as detailing some of the factors that cause homeowners to feel air coming into homes around windows, doors, skylights, electrical outlets, walls, floors or the roof.

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AAMA APG & RPG Voting on Certification Extension Task Group’s AAMA 103 Ballot
The Certification Extension Task Group developed guidelines for selectively extending some product certifications beyond the current four years.

The current ballot that has been sent out to AAMA’s Architectural and Residential Product Group members is a re-ballot of a proposed new section to AAMA 103 (Procedural Guide for Certification of Window and Door Assemblies), along with new forms to be used in the process. The procedural text and documents are being re-balloted due to the lack of response to the previous Product Group ballot.

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AAMA Offers Free Guest Passes to GlassBuild America Show
GlassBuild America: The Glass, Window and Door Expo is approaching. The show will be held September 14-16 in Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Convention Center. 

The show will feature over 150,000 net square feet of exhibit space. The show floor will showcase glass processing equipment, window and door manufacturing equipment and the latest technologies for all types of glass and fenestration products in North America. AAMA is offering free guest passes to attend GlassBuild America.

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AAMA Publishes Life Cycle and Anchorage Documents 
The American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) has published documents relating to fenestration anchorage and life cycle testing.

AAMA 910-10, Voluntary “Life Cycle” Specifications and Test Methods for AW Class Architectural Windows and Doors is a specification and test method intended to model, through accelerated testing, the normal wear that can be expected during the life of a typical architectural window or door product.

The newly created AAMA TIR-A-14-10 Fenestration Anchorage Guidelines serves as a companion document to AAMA 2501 (Voluntary Guideline for Engineering Analysis of Window and Sliding Glass Door Anchorage Systems) and offers engineering rules and guidelines in the design of anchorage fasteners for windows and doors. The document provides an overview of the issues that must be addressed during anchorage design and analysis.

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Data Needed for Next Version of COMFEN
The Center for Sustainable Building Research - University of Minnesota has been tasked by the team at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) to gather framing information for the next version of COMFEN. COMFEN is a tool designed to support the systematic evaluation of alternative fenestration systems for project-specific commercial building applications. 

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AAMA 800-10 Now Published
Sealants used to fill the gaps between structural components as a means of preventing infiltration of water and air represent a very small part of the cost of a wall system but play a major role in its performance. Sealant plays a pivotal role in the integrity of a building’s roof-to-ground Weather Resistant Barrier (WRB) by integrating fenestration mounting frames, flanges and flashings with the drainage plane to provide reliable protection against water penetration as well as energy-robbing air infiltration.

AAMA 800-10 is a compilation of standards, specifications and test methods for determining the performance of compounds, sealants, and tapes used in the manufacture and/or installation of windows, sliding glass doors and curtain walls to prevent air infiltration and water leakage.

Read the full article on the Wall Interface Council website.

Wall Interface Council Committee Activities
The task groups and working groups under the direction of the Wall Interface Council have been publishing and revising documents as well as creating multiple continuing education courses. A further explanation of the following activities are included in the Committee Activities article.

• FMA/AAMA 100-07 Revision Goes to Ballot
• Cellular Tape Post Yield Working Group Looks at Tape Carrier Failure
• Standard Development Activities Abound
• Liquid-Applied Flashing
• Window Installation in Stud Frame Construction
• Simulated Divided Lite Adhesive
• Flashing Sealant Compatibility Standard Project Reboots
• Wall Interface Council Continues Development of Two Continuing Education Course
• Determination of Sealants to be Included in AAMA Green and Sustainability Specification

Read the full article on the Wall Interface Council website.

EPA Announces Availability of Information on Safe Renovation and Abatement of Buildings
EPA has recently posted new information on their website regarding safe renovation and abatement of buildings that have polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-containing caulk. This information is meant to provide contractors, parents, teachers, and school administrators a general overview of the practices a contractor should consider when conducting the renovation and/or abatement of a building that has PCB-containing caulk.

Read the full article on the Wall Interface Council website. 

Vinyl Windows Maintain Strong Presence in the Residential Window Market
The AAMA/WDMA 2009/2010 U.S. Industry Market Studies were published and released in May. This report is compiled by Ducker Research Company and combines the Market Size Report, the National Statistical Review, the Channel Distribution Report, eleven Regional Statistical Reviews, and the Installation Practices and Procedures Report. According to the recent studies, vinyl windows continue to maintain a strong presence in the residential window market.

Read the full article on the Vinyl Material Council website. 

AAMA’s VMC Environmental Stewardship Committee Points out Misstatements made about Vinyl Fenestration Products
The VMC Environmental Stewardship Committee maintains a watch on environmental impact science as well as misstatements about vinyl fenestration products and will take action as needed to promote the distribution of accurate information.

A bit of a ripple ran through the PVC community in April when a release from Plastics News (a Crain Communications e-publication serving the plastics industry) noted the EPA’s addition of 16 new substances to its TRI and stated that vinyl chloride was among the new additions.

Read the full article on the Vinyl Material Council website.