Oct. 25, 2018 - Innotech Windows + Doors introduces its highest performing window system to date. The new Defender 88PH System is a Passive House Institute (PHI) certified component – a distinguished recognition by the world’s most rigorous energy-based building standard.

Aug. 9, 2018 - BDG & Partners, a privately held Canadian fund, with its head office in Montreal, and Caroline Dallaire, have announced acquisition of P . H . Tech and its subsidiaries as of August 1, 2018.

Top suppliers to Canada’s door industry shared some of their latest product innovations.

June 18, 2018 - Tru Tech Doors is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Philip Orsino as its new Chairman.

June 5, 2018 - Masonite International Corporation today announced that it has completed the acquisition of the operating assets of the wood door companies of AADG, Inc., part of ASSA ABLOY, which includes the brands Graham Manufacturing Corporation and The Maiman Company.

June 5, 2018 - AmesburyTruth is pleased to announce that it has resolved a patent infringement lawsuit with Vision Industries Group, Inc. where Vision has agreed to stop selling the inverted block and tackle balance systems at issue in the lawsuit from June 2019 until January 2022. AmesburyTruth filed the lawsuit styled Amesbury Group, Inc. v. Vision Industries Group, Inc., Case 2:17-cv-07303 (D.N.J.) on September 20, 2017, alleging that Vision’s inverted balance systems infringe AmesburyTruth’s U.S. patent Nos. 8,424,248 and 9,580,950 related to inverted balance systems. Vision denied all of the allegations of the lawsuit.

April 10, 2018 - Interlock USA has partnered with Synergy Sales Group, expanding its sales coverage and reach throughout Ontario, Canada.

Mar. 8, 2018 - AmesburyTruth has announced that it has entered into a conditional agreement to acquire Ashland Hardware. The acquisition will enable AmesburyTruth to broaden its hinged window, hung/sliding window and patio door product portfolios. For more than 80 years, Ashland Hardware has been a leading provider of residential window and door hardware to the fenestration industry, supplying wood and vinyl window/door fabricators throughout North America.

Feb. 8, 2018 - Bill Priest has joined the Roto North America team as the Research and Design Manager within the Product Innovation Process. Priest has an extensive background in research and design, with more than 20 years’ experience. He has earned a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace and a Master’s Degree in Finance.

Screenco Manufacturing has announced the acquisition of Groupe Promax. Promax is a leading manufacturer of patio door screen products located in Quebec City. This acquisition allows Screenco to cover the entire span of North America from east to west. With added production capacities, diverse product offerings and advanced manufacturing technologies, Screenco now has the ability to better service the North American fenestration industry.

Jan. 17, 2018 - JRC United and OrePac have been working hand in hand over the last few months to determine which door machines would help OrePac best to achieve its always increasing production goals. Today, both enterprises are proud to announce they have concluded a multi-million dollar deal that will help OrePac consolidate its leading position in the door industry.

Nov. 23, 2017 - A look inside a home showcasing big glass performance in a NetZero build.

Jan. 14, 2019 - The FENBC Technical Conference 2019 is ready to go!  The FENBC Technical Committee have put together another great program for the fenestration industry.

One of FenCon 18’s sessions surprised with the level of interest and “robustness” of the engagement in an informal follow up meeting – cold climate installation detailing. Jon Eakes invested considerable time, experience and cost to develop some unique concepts and details to execute a higher quality of effective and appropriate installation. A roomful of attendees were quite impressed with the level of detail that had been developed.  The resulting discussion ended up creating an “unplanned follow up” meeting the following day with a group including highly qualified building envelope engineers.  Months later, Jon Eakes was actively pursuing further finetuning and testing of installation concepts by way of some of Canada’s more advance technical training colleges, specifically George Brown College in Ontario and Red River College in Winnipeg.

Jan. 7, 2019 - Registration is now open for the American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) 82nd Annual Conference, to be held Feb. 25-28, 2019, in Indian Wells (Palm Springs), California, at the Hyatt Regency Indian Wells. The early bird rate is guaranteed through Jan. 28, and attendees are encouraged to book before this date. The AAMA Western Region 2019 Winter Summit immediately will follow the conference in the same location. Separate registration is required.

There is an almost continual “chatter” in the current business environment about taking advantage of AI (artificial intelligence) and there definitely are parts of software operating technologies that take advantage and deliver.  However, there are MANY examples of that journey becoming a VERY painful (millions of $ misspent?), costly and even unproductive processes.  Let’s take a quote from Jorma Vitkala, GPD Finland and slightly modify it to suit our purposes, “The idea that 'knowledge grows, as knowledge is shared' is crucial to continuing the development of deeper friendships and cooperation between all the players within the window and door manufacturing industry . . especially including the development, implementation and successful use of software technology!”

“Our competitiveness demands we exploit Lean because it is the foundation for the advanced manufacturing technology to come.” – David Hogg, ATJ Insights, FenCon19 presenter. FenCon 19 has developed a short but intense window and door manufacturing conference that is even more focused on Lean (Continuous Improvement) with even more highly qualified and knowledgeable/experienced speakers.  Let’s just take a quick look at some of the highlights in what a driven manufacturing expert will encounter.

Vern Campbell is a professional engineer with extensive experience in both the manufacturing and service sectors.  Vern spent ten years at Manitoba Hydro, first in financial planning and then leading their Strategic Planning and Quality Improvement Initiative. In 2000, he moved to Northern Blower, a 200 employee custom fan manufacturer serving the North American industrial market, initially as a consultant and then as General Manager. 

Bill Fast, retired founder of Willmar Windows and C.P. Loewen award winner, was thanked by Fenestration Manitoba at its Holiday Networking Event on Dec. 11 for his generous donation of 50 backpacks towards the association's drive to help the homeless through Siloam Mission. The donation was valued at $2,000 and led all donors. In all, FenMan collected 347 backpacks, each packed with items such as soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, towels and other essentials to make life a little easier for Winnipeg's homeless.

The first visit to Quebec City in 36 years . . and only to find an absolutely gorgeous winter setting in old Quebec City, upper and lower! A visit to another window equipment supplier – Protomach – and a set of deeper insights into another Canadian family success story. Engagement and insights through several important Fenestration Canada committees – Technical and Fabricator Council.

Fenestration Manitoba has been spearheading the development of a short but intense manufacturing-focused conference very centrally locatedin a North American context and in a very cost-effective location, format and context.  Each of the first two years included a three-stream day of one-hour sessions with lots of focus on manufacturing, automation, continuous improvement (or Kaizen) as well as a few additional topics such as materials and finishes.  Each year also featured a keynote speaker with a focus on the future and how it will impact our manufacturing activities.  Each initial year also resulted in a very positive rating from sponsors, exhibitors and attendees.  FenCon 19 intensifies those primary elements with a few additional features and components.

Privately, many wondered how WinDoor's first edition in Quebec City would be received. Would the added distance from the big centres of Toronto and Montreal depress attendance? With over 750 window and door industry folk walking the show floor on the first day alone, the answer turned out to be a resounding "No." Organizers and exhibitors were pleasantly suprised at the robust turnout that included many new faces not always seen at the show's traditional venues.

Dec. 3, 2018 - Mrs. Jennifer Small, President of Fenestration Canada, is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Stéphane Labelle as Executive Director.

WinDoor 2018 will take place Dec. 3 to 5 at the Quebec City Convention Centre in Quebec City. It's the first time Canada's window and door show has been held in this historic city. Once again, Fenestration Canada has upped the interest level with not one but two social networking events, show-floor exhibitor demos and a huge education program including a stream for commercial glaziers and fabricators. But it's the destination that will take centre stage - Quebec City in the Christmas season is not to be missed.

There are many variations on how to install a window into a wall, largely differing between new construction and renovation, but there is one almost universal principle presently in practice: stop both the water and the wind at the outer face of the crack between the wall and the window – the window/wall interface.

A recent poll commissioned by Reno-Assistance found around two-thirds of Canadians don’t trust general contractors and have similar levels of distrust for specialty contractors. Fenestration contractors weren’t specifically broken out in the information online – no doubt we score much better (gulp).

A relaxed and upbeat atmosphere prevailed at the Siding and Window Dealers Association golf tournament on Sept. 20 in Cambridge, Ont., with many of the participants clearly welcoming the opportunity to break away from this summer's grind of desperately trying to fill the glut of GreenON orders before the Oct. 31 deadline. Music played from golf carts, the beverage carts were popular and at least one golfer committed a serious dress code violation (see photo).

Ah, the rebate – always great for the customer (unless it’s too little or too onerous) but can be a bit of a mixed blessing for retailers and manufacturers. That certainly seems to be the case with rebates for energy-efficient residential windows across Canada.

It all started in 1990 as a small family business, in a small office, within a small house. Today, London, Ont.,-based Heritage Renovations is a multi-award-winning company and highly recognized provider of windows and doors across southern Ontario.

With construction season in full swing, a new Reno-Assistance survey conducted by Ipsos across Canada has found that two in three Canadians (64%) do not trust general contractors. Confidence levels are even lower for some specialized contractors. The most trusted building professionals among those surveyed are electricians, yet nearly half (47%) of Canadian homeowners do not trust them either.

Fenestration Canada has released a statement in reaction to the cancellation of the GreenON window rebate program in Ontario.

When did an entry door go from being the focal point of the house to being just another opening to fill?  Houses used to be designed around the front entry so that when you drove down the street your house would have that “wow” factor because of the front entry. 

As you might know firsthand, we now live in the age of the internet-savvy consumer – those who research every corner of the internet for ideas and solutions for everything from home renovations to healthcare. But if you ask door-makers (or doctors, veterinarians, farmers and many more, for that matter) whether internet browsing on sites like Houzz or Pinterest can be a case of too much of a good thing, the answer will likely be a resounding yes.

Brace yourself: tradeshow season is coming. One does not simply show up at a tradeshow and start exhibiting. Winter is almost over and now is a great time to get prepared.

The Ontario government has announced a rebate program enabling homeowners to receive up to $500 per window to a maximum of $5,000 per project when they install Energy Star-certified windows from a list of approved dealers. The program is offered through the Green Ontario Fund, an agency set up to promote energy-efficient construction and renovations.

In a business era that has manufacturers vertically integrating their sales model, it might seem counterproductive for a manufacturer to focus on the window and door dealer, but in the case of Euro Vinyl Windows of Woodbridge Ont., that’s precisely what they did with Kempenfelt Windows of Barrie, Ont.

In its fall economic statement, the federal government has announced its intention to allow businesses to write off the entire cost of machinery used for manufacturing and processing the same year it is put into use. This is up from the 25-per cent writeoff allowed in the first year presently.

Fenestration Canada's Fabricators Council, a closed group for fabricator members only, has quickly become one of the more influential bodies within the organization. Gary Blad of Loewen Windows sits on the Council and gave Fenestration Review an update on what was discussed at this years' WinDoor in Quebec City.

Oct. 25, 2018 - Deceuninck North America's Revolution XL Tilt & Turn window is now a certified Passive House Component, representing the global pinnacle of high-performance sustainability.

Cam Drew is a busy guy. As the managing partner of Chemainus, B.C.,-based Thermoproof Windows and Doors, Cam has the same responsibilities that any person in charge of growing a busy manufacturing and installation company with more than 50 employees would have.

Duxton Windows and Doors in Winnipeg is looking for a production/purchasing manager.

According to Al Jaugelis, senior fenestration specialist at RDH Building Science in Vancouver, one of the main struggles pre-hangers have when dealing with the North American Fenestration Standard for air/water/structural performance of doors is understanding that lab testing evaluates doors as a system, but the test does not qualify the individual components.

Fenestration Canada held a meeting of its Fabricators Council at its Spring Conference in Calgary earlier this month. Brad Fevold of Marvin Windows and Doors and Gary Blad of Loewen Windows reported on the Council's activities to Fenestration Review. The Fabricators Council is a closed meeting only for FenCan members who manufacture windows and doors.

I attend trade seminars whenever and wherever available, yet, almost without fail, the question that continually arises during a break in the action is “what are you doing for software?” We are on our fourth generation of software. Our first version was a spreadsheet that gave us, on reflection, no more than a suggestion of cut sizes, with the saw operators and assemblers recalculating on the fly.

To hear Frank Bruno tell it, there may be no more fitting place to found a fenestration operation than Woodbridge, Ont. He was a mere 16 years old when he joined Everlast Aluminum, a small aluminum shop, back in 1961. Over the next six decades, the company not only changed its name to the Everlast Group, but also changed its location, from cramped quarters in midtown Toronto to a cavernous 45,000-square-foot facility in Woodbridge. 

The function of organic solvents in paint relates to certain properties. They facilitate the paint’s application, it’s drying and the formation of a regular paint film. During application and drying, the solvent evaporates. Ideally a dry paint film no longer contains solvent. However when they evaporate, these solvents release Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) into the atmosphere with a negative, toxic impact on health and safety and the environment. 

Lamination can be a great finish option for windows. Laminate is a multi-layer construction of high-grade materials. It is constructed to ensure an extended resistance to weather conditions and colour stability. One of the greatest features of laminate is its scratch-resistance.

Don’t blink, or you might miss Port Elgin, N.B., population 450. For tourists, at least, it’s usually a blip on their way elsewhere. But if you do take the turn, you’ll find a small community that’s been at the crossroads of commerce in New Brunswick for hundreds of years.

Fenestration Canada has responded to Natural Resources Canada's discussion paper on future window and door code requirements and energy regulation. In a document authored by FenCan technical consultant, Jeff Baker, the association has laid out its position on several issues that will influence policy going forward. The response was submitted as part of the industry consultation period that has been extended to the end of the year. 

The Energy Step Code Council of B.C. has released a document outlining its timeline for stepped code changes to bring new buildings built in the province to 80 per cent Net Zero compliance by 2032. The paper mentions windows specifically and suggests a rating system to record the overall energy efficiency of homes. Various incentives for homeowners and manufacturers are also discussed.

Fenestration Canada holds committee meetings in conjuction with WinDoor where important work is done to advance the industry and the association. Fenestration Review sat down with Technical Committee chair Robert Jutras of UL/CLEB to discuss the activities of this group, which informs members about upcoming changes to industry standards and sends representatives to standards-making bodies to provide industry input to their deliberations.

Nov. 22, 2018 - The Fenestration Canada Installer Certification Program has been developed by Fenestration Canada in conjunction with industry stakeholders to provide a level of assurance that an individual possesses the competencies deemed necessary to perform the job function of a fenestration installer. The certification is designed to complement Specifier requirements (e.g. Specifiers/Homeowners wishing to add certification as an installation requirement or companies wishing to add certification as a job prerequisite) and other accreditation programs offered by other regional/national verification bodies.

Nov. 12, 2018 - The American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) updated a document describing a standardized test to evaluate heat build-up effects due to infrared (IR) exposure on fenestration products. AAMA 1506-18, "Voluntary Test Method for Laboratory Heat Build-Up Effects on Fenestration Products," intends to determine the effects of heat rise on fenestration product assemblies intended for vertical installation. This document was first released in 2004. This is its first update.

Natural Resources Canada has released a discussion paper to kick off consultations about the future direction of federal energy standards for windows, doors and skylights. The agency is seeking industry input on the best way to measure the energy efficiency of these products (especially windows), labelling requirements and enforcement strategies. Stakeholders can submit comments to NRCan until Nov. 30.

Oct. 24, 2018 - The co-founder of a firm specializing in corporate sustainability programs led those attending the American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) 2018 Fall Conference in a discussion about why sustainability should matter to the fenestration industry. Tad Radzinski, P.E., ISSP-CSP, LEED® AP, SFP and co-founder of Sustainable Solutions, presented "Transparency Training: Utilizing LCAs and EPDs to Drive Sustainability," which outlined what is driving transparency and why it is crucial for a successful enterprise.

As I prepare to write this column, I am about to celebrate 30 years of “marriage” – in the sense of a long-standing relationship with a supplier. For the most part, it has been a very rewarding partnership.

Natural Resources Canada has released its Roadmap outlining its recommendations to push the Canadian fenestration market to deploy more energy-efficient products over the next 20 years. The Roadmap will constitute part of Canada's strategy to meet its commitments under the Paris Accords to lower greenhouse gas emissions. The document will be presented to the First Ministers meeting planned for this fall. It was developed following two workshops and extensive other consultations with industry and makes recommendations for initiatives to promote and fund research and development, information and awareness, training, incentives and codes and standards development. In short, the Roadmap will be setting the direction for government regulation of windows for the foreseeable future.

Mar. 26, 2018 - The American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) recently released an updated document establishing performance requirements for fiber reinforced thermoset profiles for use in fenestration products. AAMA 305-18, the Voluntary Specification for Fiber Reinforced Thermoset Profiles, was last updated in 2015.

Natural Resources Canada is circulating proposed changes to the Energy Star standards for residential windows and doors. The changes would constitute a signficant tightening of the standard resulting, NRCan says, in the disqualification of 75 per cent of the Canadian products that presently qualify. 

Big attempts are underway in Canada right now to do nothing less than change the way we build and buy windows. Ontario launched its GreenON rebate program in December, with approximately the same results as a North Korean missile test. It caught (almost) everyone by surprise; generated jubilation in some, anger and alarm in others; cost a lot of money the cash-strapped state can’t afford; and has so far completely failed to hit its target, though the attempt may set the stage for future success.

Nov. 20, 2018 - PayNet reports that the PayNet Canadian Small Business Lending Index (CSBLI) edged up to 123.1 in September 2018 from 122.6 in August 2018. The index is up 6.3% year-over-year, marking its fifth consecutive year-over-year gain after 10 months of decline.

Oct. 29, 2018 - The Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW) and the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) have collaborated to create a free e-course to help identify and safely control sources and products containing nanomaterials in the workplace, to protect workers from harm.

Oct. 24, 2018 - In the face of progressing technology, a phone full of confusing or only partially understood apps can seriously slow down productivity and overall workflow.

The PC government of Ontario elected earlier this year has announced it will "wind down" the Ontario College of Trades, set all journeyperson-to-apprentice ratios to one-to-one and put a moratorium on adding new compulsory trade classifications or reclassifying existing classifications. It has also promised an unspecified "replacement model for the regulation of the skilled trades and apprenticeship system" by early 2019. 

When I eventually pass, there are three things I will not be remembered for: one, being the designated driver, two, being a neat freak and, three, being able to accurately predict currency exchange rates.

Sept. 6, 2018 - Canadian municipalities issued $8.2 billion worth of building permits in July, down 0.1% from June. The decrease was mainly attributable to lower construction intentions in British Columbia.

Aug. 8, 2018 - In June, Canadian municipalities issued $8.1 billion worth of building permits, down 2.3% from the previous month. The decline was the result of lower construction intentions for residential buildings, following a strong May.

July 26, 2018 - Mattamy Homes has announced that Pete Skelly has been appointed President of the company's US Group, effective July 25, 2018.

July 19, 2018 - The value of permits issued by Canadian municipalities increased 4.7% to $8.2 billion in May. This followed a 4.7% drop in April, the only month this year where municipalities reported a total value below the $8.0 billion mark.

June 29, 2018 - The Canadian and Quebec governments are working together to make long-term investments in infrastructure that will create jobs and economic growth, build inclusive communities and support a low-carbon, green economy—leading to a higher quality of life for all Quebec residents.

Summer in Coquitlam: my favourite time of year. On top of the usual long weekend shenanigans, my family and I are known to enjoy an occasional delicious ice cream cone from time to time. There is a great hand-crafted ice cream shop near our home at Rocky Point Park in Port Moody.