W&D Weekly - June 4, 2008 | Vol 3, Num 23
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AAMA Takes on Green at Summer Meeting

AAMA started work on a new green rating system for fenestration products at its summer conference this week. The group also heard an update on DOE initiatives. ..

Hershey, Pa.—The American Architectural Manufacturers Association started work on a new green rating system for fenestration products at its summer conference here this week. The group also heard an update on Department of Energy initiatives in developing new window and door technologies.

“We want to be the ones defining what a green product is,” said Tracy Rogers of Edgetech IG, who is chairing the committee responsible for developing green specifications that might be covered in an AAMA program. Rogers started with a list of criteria paralleling the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating system for buildings, and asked the group to review potential approaches to rating energy performance, recycled content, type of wood used and factory-finishing methods. The initial draft proposal suggested that a points system similar to that used in LEED would be used to establish a product’s level of “greenness.”

Edgetech’s Tracy Rogers led the discussion of potential product criteria to be covered in an AAMA green rating program.


One of the biggest questions to address in a new program would be energy performance, it was agreed. Attendees asked whether it would be better for an AAMA program to reference Energy Star or ASHRAE performance requirements, or create new and different requirements. Some suggested that an AAMA standard that was not as strict as Energy Star criteria would not be accepted in the market. Others noted that it could be dangerous to tie the document too closely to Energy Star, given the fact that DOE has stated a goal of having only 25 percent of products in the market qualifying for that label. “Do we want only 25 percent of the products capable of being green rated?” an attendee asked.

Another alternative suggested that an AAMA green standard could even go “beyond energy,” and let green customers rely on other rating programs to assess energy performance. Finally, another suggestion was for AAMA to address energy based on features, such as warm-edge spacer or thermal breaks, used in a product.

The task group developing the new green specifications set a goal to have a full draft ready by AAMA’s annual meeting in the beginning of 2009. The efforts, which focus on product properties, represent phase one in the development of an AAMA green program. It eventually plans to look at production and process issues in a phase two of development.

DOE RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
Also highlighting the AAMA meeting was a presentation from Marc LaFrance, technology development manager for DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, reviewing DOE’s research and development activities related to windows and doors. He started by noting that the percentage of the nation’s energy consumption going to buildings was getting higher, suggesting that buildings are falling behind other sectors in terms of increased energy efficiency.

One prime goal for DOE today is zero net energy homes by the year 2020. While it can be done already, it is not currently cost effective, he noted. Discussing windows research in particular, LaFrance reported that funding has actually been down over the past seven years, but it is growing again, rather than decreasing; reflecting the increasing attention being placed on energy efficiency. Current efforts include next-generation window research focusing on dynamic glazings—those changing from clear to tint—and highly insulating windows, using a non structural center lite in an insulating unit. DOE is currently looking to fund commercial ventures looking at such technologies, as well as looking for potential customers that could generate enough demand to help commercialize these products.

A key point about energy policy, LaFrance noted, is that the “end game is code adoption, enforcement and widespread penetration.” Looking at its research efforts, as well as programs like Energy Star, LaFrance added, “All these things are moving forward together to move the industry from a double-paned package to pretty much a triple-paned package.”

LaFrance offered a brief update on DOE plans to make the Energy Star criteria more stringent, reporting that DOE is now considering a two-phased plan instead of three. It is now looking at establishing one new set of criteria for 2009 and a second for 2013. One assumption that has been made is that krypton will not be widely available for use in IG units, he added. Various trade-off proposals are being considered for Northern climates, enabling homeowners to take advantage of higher solar gain in certain applications, he suggested, while adding that it’s unlikely there will be any trade-offs in the South.

DOE would also like to see the building code go to a higher U-value minimum for Northern climates, LaFrance noted, also suggesting that code requirements for IG certification might also be helpful. This market, he added, would be well served by development of a lower U-value/high solar gain product.

The AAMA summer meeting concludes today. Look in next week’s WDweekly and the August issue of Window & Door for more details. JGS

All Weather to Open Nova Scotia
Distribution Center

All Weather Windows will soon open a new 23,000-square-foot distribution center just outside of Halifax, Nova Scotia. ...

All Weather Windows will soon open a new 23,000-square-foot distribution center just outside of Halifax, Nova Scotia that the company says will make Canada’s largest independent window and door manufacturer a “true national supplier.”

“This takes us coast to coast,” says All Weather national marketing manager Aaron Latimer. “It will allow us to serve our Atlantic customers with similar lead times that we offer customers throughout Canada.”

The new facility, which will be located in Dartmouth, will open July 1 and distribute the full line of All Weather products.

All Weather opened a 100,000-square-foot facility in Mississauga, Ontario in September 2006, as part of the company’s efforts to become a national supplier.

“We don’t care where [in Canada] you are doing business with us; we’ll keep all orders within that three-week lead time,” Latimer says.

Latimer adds that All Weather has no other immediate expansion plans.

Plymart to Shut Down Window and Door, Most Other Operations

The building products dealer will shut down about 75 percent of its business, including its window and door operations and lumber
business. ...

Building products dealer Plymart will shut down about 75 percent of its business, including its window and door operations and lumber business.

The 40-year-old Norcross, Ga.-based company will retain its specialty products divisions, including stairs, wire shelving, garage doors, mirrors, locks, shower doors and shutters. Company officials note that window and door operations are not part of the company’s specialty line of products.

The company says that it will continue to maintain its Web site and catalog.

In 2006, Plymart was named ProSales Dealer of the Year, with about 1,100 employees, and was considered a leading innovator. Now, the company reports that staff will be pared down to about 250. In an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Plymart spokesmen blamed the current housing downturn for the radical reduction in operations.

HIG Makes Bid to Acquire Shapes/Arch Holdings

The Miami-based private equity group is making a bid to acquire the parent company of Accu-Weld. ...

The Miami-based private equity group HIG Capital LLC is making a bid to acquire Shapes/Arch Holdings LLC, parent company of Accu-Weld LLC, the manufacturer of replacement windows and entry doors, and Ultra Hardware Products, according to a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Citing the decline in the construction markets, Shapes/Arch, based in Delair, N.J., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March. At the time, the company planned to re-organize and emerge from bankruptcy with the financial support of Philadelphia-based Versa Capital Management. Creditors, however, objected and Versa dropped out.

According to The Deal, a new reorganization plan was approved by a New Jersey bankruptcy court last week. Under the plan, HIG Capital has committed to acquiring Shapes/Arch for $90 million at an auction, open to competing bids, scheduled for June 27. A confirmation hearing is scheduled for July 8.

HIG Capital, with more than $7 billion of equity capital under management, is currently involved in the window and door industry through its acquisition of Canadian manufacturer Gienow Windows & Doors last year.

In addition to Accu-Weld and Ultra Hardware, Shapes/Arch also operates Shapes LLC, an aluminum extrusion business.

...

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Proposed Bill would Make Loan Limits Permanent
From The Mercury News
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Trade Group says Manufacturing Recovery still Slow
From the Associated Press
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