Fenestration Conversations

How would it be if all the databases and charts and spreadsheets and regulations and tiers defining whether our products comply with sustainable building laws just…went away? Replaced by one number: – the only number that matters – the amount of carbon dioxide emitted over a building's lifetime as a result of its manufacture, construction, use and disposal. Partner at Layton Consulting, Jonathon “JoMo” Layton joins the podcast to chew over this radical idea and lend his expertise to the question of whether it could work and how it would affect us all.

High-profile wildfires doing substantial property damage to urban areas in B.C. and Alberta have spurred NRCan to look at creating Canadian building standards for wildfire resistance. The consultation process has just begun, but it seems likely that some day soon we may see new codes requiring resistant windows, doors and other components in wildfire-prone areas. What might these rules look like? How do we determine if a product is sufficiently resistant to external fires? And what is the science behind making frames and glass that resists fire and prevents heat transfer to the home interior? Robin Urquhart has worked on rebuilding communities destroyed by wildfires and joins the Conversation to share his deep knowledge of this topic.

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

David Cooper has been researching and developing vacuum insulating glass for over a decade and chairs multiple international standards committees that will define how it can be used, how its quality can be assessed and how to test its performance. With demand for VIG growing and producers multiplying, specifiers and contractors need guidance on what to look for in these products – guidance that may be coming soon in the form of balloted ASTM standards for durability and load tolerance. Cooper joins The Conversation to explain where these efforts are at and to update us on the state of VIG technology and availability.

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

Keith Daubmann is an owner of MY Architectural Glass and MY Shower Door, a glass fabricator and custom glazing contractor serving southwestern Florida. What makes Daubmann unique is his thunderous presence on social media, running accounts with around 30,000 followers and hosting a weekly YouTube show, Hard Hat Highlights. He claims he has never had a guest on his show that didn't become a client shortly after. Daubmann joined The Conversation to talk about how to use social media in the glass business and how it can do a lot of the work of building trust with prospects before you even meet them.

Langley, B.C.,-based Cascadia has published its first environmental product declarations for its fibreglass fenestration systems and its happy it did. Marketing manager Chris Guelpa joined the Conversation to talk about the process; the help they got; the markets and opportunities the EPDs are opening up; and how fibreglass stacks up in the embodied carbon discussion.

Movember is back with an added focus. The popular fundraising drive for men's health has added support for mental health to its efforts along with prostate and testicular cancer. Mitch Hermansen joined Annex Business Media publisher/editor, Patrick Flannery, to talk about why these issues are important and what we in the construction community can do to help the guys who work for us.

Those of us who ship product across provincial borders have probably noticed that it can be easier to ship to the United States than inside our own country. Recently, the federal Committee on Internal Trade has announced a pilot program that would see any province's trucking regulations acknowledged in all the others'. Duncan Robertson, senior policy analyst for Nova Scotia, joins the podcast to talk about this small step toward actual free trade within Canada.

Natural Resources Canada is working on a new label that will be required to be displayed on manufactured window products that are shipped across provincial borders or imported into Canada. The label would display the same energy efficiency information as NFRC, CSA and Energy Star labels, and could act to replace them if the manufacturer desired. Adam Buist is helping to develop the new label and joins Fenestration Conversations to explain the work, explore the benefits and challenges, and update us on the status of the project.Adam invites questions and outreach at adam.buist@NRCan-RNCan.gc.ca.Fenestration Review's article about the program here: https://www.fenestrationreview.com/one-label-to-rule-them-all/

New standards for energy efficiency and low carbon impact in construction are demanding new skills in the trades – skills your young workers might be more familiar with than you are. Chad Flinn, associate vice-president of academics at Red Deer Polytechnic, and Judi Varga-Toth, manager of the ImpAct-Climate program at Colleges and Institutes Canada, are working to educate today's construction industry in how to design and install the elements of net zero buildings. Learning needs to be ongoing in this time of rapid change, and Flinn and Varga-Toth share insights and free online resources in this episode of Fenestration Conversations.

The steadily rising concern with environmental protection has brought concerns about the amount of plastic we put into landfills and oceans. Durable plastic products, such as vinyl window frames, are in danger of being swept up in government efforts to mitigage these risks. Tony Vella of Vision Extrusions Group and chair of the Vinyl Insitute of Canada has been working hard to educate decision-makers about the difference between durable PVC and single-use plastics. He joins the Conversation to let us know about the proposed federal Plastics Registry, the state of play with the issue generally and his efforts to bring some sanity to the public discussion.

By Anton Van Dyk's count, there are now up to 15 separate areas where fenestration products have to demonstrate compliance to one regulatory regime or another. Embodied carbon will soon become another, yet both end users and manufacturers have been slow to understand things like Environmental Product Declarations and how they will affect product development. Van Dyk and Layton think the approach to lowering the carbon cost of our buildings has created confusion. They join the podcast to outline their vision for how we should go forward.

When information technology is the topic, media outlets across the country turn to Carmi Levy to explain what is going on and give them the deep background on the issues. So we invited him to the Conversation to share some very practical advice on how to think about your IT department and personnel and how to source and vet providers that will make your life and business better, not worse. Choosing the right people, in-house versus outsourcing, common pitfalls to avoid, how to choose the right product, what to expect from a vendor – Levy has seen it all and we discuss it all.

Terry Adamson, technical director for Fenestration Canada, joins The Conversation to preview the proposed changes to the National Building Code related to window and doors. Wider door openings for accessibility…tighter air tightness…solar heat gain requirements…upper storey window fall protection…glazing guard loads…it's all here in an information-dense download.

Cornerstone, owner of Ply Gem and Northstar, has made some significant investments to double capacity in several key manufacturing areas including insulating glass and extrusions. Marketing manager Richard Hill joins the Conversation to tell us what they did, why they did it and where they hope it takes the company in the future.

As executive director of the Canadian Association of Consulting Energy Advisors, Cindy Gareau has been intimately involved with the federal Greener Homes Initiative rebate program for energy-efficient home upgrades and other rebate programs across the country. She joins Fenestration Conversations to update us on the status of the program and what led to its sooner-than-expected demise at the start of this year. She also has many valuable perspectives on rebate programs in general and the role of energy advisors in Canada's ongoing project to upgrade the energy performance of housing. Plus some breaking news about the possibility of a Greener Homes 2.0!Note: A correction has been added to this podcast at the end. Please note the deadline for energy advisor pre-audit submissions to Greener Homes Grants through Enbridge in Ontario was Feb. 5. Fenestration Review regrets the error.

Our fast-changing world of tightening energy standards and embodied carbon is challenging us all to look at different design approaches and different materials. Enter a true Canadian glass innovator – Advanced Glazings in Sydney, N.S., and their Solera and SoleraWall products that use an aerogel fill to make translucent architectural glass products with energy performance similar to vacuum insulated glass. CEO Satterwhite and founder and president Milburn join the podcast to explain aerogel; discuss the performance characteristics; talk about how daylighting can meet esthetic, health and energy conservation needs; and reveal how they have found success with a product few glass companies in the world have the expertise to make.

Another year has gone by and it's time for a high-level view of our business conditions and results in 2023. Marvin Cruz, research director, and Christina Santini, national affairs director, for the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses join Fenestration Conversations to tell us what they are hearing from small and medium-sized businesses across the country. We hit inflation, labour shortages, regulations and red tape, credit card fees, housing and more. Happy holidays to everyone and all the best for 2024!

Fenestration Review columnist Anton Van Dyk – The Window Geek – has recently left window manufacturer Centra to join Layton Consulting, a Surrey, B.C,-based building engineering firm. He joins the Conversation to give us the view on the consulting business and the issues he'll be addressing from the perspective of a guy who has had to design and sell the products that architects, governments and project owners specify. The big topic: how fast things are changing and the challenges and opportunities that are popping up for us all.

Fenestration Canada is offering scholarships to members to encourage continuing education in the window and door industry and to encourage young people to take up their parent's trade. It's part of the ongoing search for talent that's challenging all of us to find the people to fuel growth and take our industry into the next generation. Former FenCan president, Allan Doyle, is leading the scholarship program and joins the Conversation to tell us all about it then to share his perspectives and opinions on the labour supply, immigration, training, public schools and what is and is not working when it comes to labour force development. They're good talkers out in Richibuto, N.B., so you'll enjoy your time with Allan in this podcast.

WinDoor 2023 is coming Nov. 15-16 in Toronto and Fenestration Canada operations manager Laine Atkins joins the Conversation to tell us all about it. WinDoor has been Canada's largest and only national show for window and door manufacturers and dealers for decades, but now it's expanding its focus to take in the commercial “aluminum” side of the industry. Join us to get Laine's sneak peek at the show then make your plans to join us at WinDoor!

Fenestra Purchasing Co-Op leverages the combined buying power of its 42 window and door manufacturer members to obtain rebates on purchases from selected suppliers, yes. But as Frederick Gauthier, Fenestra general manger, explains in this episode of Conversations, the group delivers much more to its members. At two meetings a year, Fenestra members get together to share knowledge and build relationships that float everyone's boats. Gauthier explains the group, what it does and its future plans, then we move on to pick his brain about what Fenestra members are seeing in the market and in the days and years ahead. Find out more at fenestra.coop.

Suhel Kachwala's last name means “glass man” in Parsi. It doesn't get a lot more fitting than that, because Kachwala is the second-generation managing director of FG Glass, one of India's largest glass fabricators. His father and uncle started the business in 1976, the year he was born, and now he runs it alongside his brother and two cousins – all engineers. Kachwala's business brings him to North America several times each year, so he is in a perfect position to tell us about the Indian glass industry, what is trending in Asian façade design and how the North American and Indian businesses are different. It was a fascinating conversation…enjoy!

Amy Roberts, Canadian operations and glass technical director for the Fenestration and Glazing Industry Alliance, has been looking into where we might find the skilled and unskilled labour we are all lacking in our operations. Roberts' research has revealed that there are several provincial and federal programs – some with hundreds of millions of dollars in funding – aimed at helping you recruit, train and pay new entrants into your workforce. Especially if those workers are from under-represented groups. She joins the podcast to discuss what that challenges are in finding the staff we need; what the barriers might be to our system generating those workers; and how the present system works and could work better. Immigration, apprenticeship and inclusion are all on the table.Federal resources for recruiting and trainingConstruction Career Pathways – BuildForce CanadaEconomic Mobility Pathways Pilot – Immigration and Citizenship CanadaTemporary Foreign Worker Program – Ministry of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability InclusionSkilled Trades Awareness and Readiness Program – Employment and Social Development Canada

President and COO of ODL, David Klein, joins the Conversation to discuss the company's recent spate of acquisitions in Canada, including well-known door manufacturer, Tru Tech. Klein brings perspective from his time in the automotive and appliance industries to the discussion and goes over the strategy behind the acquisitions; the trends in the door business now; the unique nature of the Canadian market; and the thinking behind regional manufacturing. It's a fascinating look inside one of the industry's biggest suppliers as it moves into a wider portfolio of products and services.

New concepts are emerging in construction contracts aimed at bringing project owners, contractors and subcontractors closer together as partners rather than bosses and hirelings. But to navigate these new structures, especially on today's larger P3 projects, glazing contractors are going to need to be prepared for a world of enhanced transparency, data collection and communication. Michelle Throssell and Barb Hooley help contractors sail these stormy seas through international project management consultant, Turner and Townsend, and join Glass Talk to explain some of the new jargon, outline the benefits of integrated project management and give us a sneak peek at what's going to be asked of us in the years ahead.

Fenestration Conversations host Patrick Flannery reconnects with an old friend who is now a lecturer in mechanical engineering with a focus on fenestration technology at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. Thomas Simko has travelled the world researching the latest concepts in glass, glazing and building facades and he joins the podcast to give us the view from Down Under. Simko's message is compelling: Australia lags North America significantly in its use of high-performance glazing, but that is about to change with tightening energy efficiency rules that will drive a new demand for insulating products and advanced framing systems that combine narrow profiles with support for large-format glass and better energy efficiency.To see more of Thomas Simko's work, check out:Optimal Window Designs for Australian HousesVacuum Glazing: Development, design challenges and commercializationPerformance Criteria for Residential Zero Energy Windows

Fenestration Conversations checks in with Fenestration Canada to hear about the year ahead, and what a year it's going to be. The association has big plans starting with an all-in commitment to serving the commercial side of the glass industry. Long known as the “residential” Canadian association, Fenestration Canada is acknowledging that many of its members and prospective members work in aluminum as well. So they've added two new staff members who will be well-known to glazing contractors around the country. Speaking of well-known, Jean-Francois Kogovsek is back at Fenestration Canada doing business development on the residential side. And that's only the start of the announcements and updates Labelle shares.

Executive director of the Siding and Window Dealers Association of Canada, Jason Neal, joins Flannery for some industry gossip and a look back at the top stories of 2022. Interest rates, Bill 23, labour shortages, corporate moves, rebates and more are all on the docket. Pour yourself some holiday cheer and have a listen! And happy holidays and happy new year from the whole team at Fenestration Review.

Dr. Mukhopadhya is a building science professor researching thermal testing and modeling at the University of Victoria and he joined Fenestration Conversations to explain his latest work on thermal testing that may open the door to understanding thermal performance of facades based on smaller test sample sizes. He also discusses measuring thermal transmission through building materials and what the future may hold for infrared imaging and standardization of thermal standard. Professor Mukhopadya is also working on embodied carbon evaluations and thermal bridging science – all critical topics of anyone involved in designing the high performance building envelopes of the near future.

The Fenestration and Glazing Industry Alliance continues to evolve into a truly North American organization for the architectural glass and window and door industries. It's most recent move is the absorption of Fenestration BC, the association created 10 years ago out of the merger of the Canadian Window and Door Manufacturers Association of BC and the Glazing Contractors Association of BC. With the retirement of long-time FenBC executive directior, Zana Gordon, FenBC went looking for new resources to steer the group and found a willing partner in the FGIA. FGIA chairman, Dan Parrish, and FenBC chairman, David Goldsmith, joined Fenestration Conversations to explain everything and map the course forward.

There are more government rebate programs out there than you can shake a stick at. Luckily, Bonny Koabel of AKR Consulting has a whole basket of sticks and spends most of her time shaking them at the various government agencies so you don't have to. Bonny joins Counter Talks to discuss the $547.5 million of funding that the Government of Canada has recently announced that offers everyone from provinces to small businesses incentives for the purchase or lease of eligible vehicles.

There are more government rebate programs out there than you can shake a stick at. Luckily, Bonny Koabel of AKR Consulting has a whole basket of sticks and spends most of her time shaking them at the various government agencies so you don't have to. Bonny joins Fenestration Conversations to explain three national rebate programs that can give substantial money back to homeowners building custom homes and renovating existing homes. Passing along this information to your customers could help overcome sticker shock and smooth the rails to a higher-value sale.

Thermal modeling for façade component certification is going to become a bigger and bigger part of our business as energy efficiency standards continue to tighten. Jonathan “JoMo” Layton and Taylor Wight join Fenestration Conversations to talk about the importance and uses of modelling in today's design process and how it might influence our efforts in the future. We discuss the new NBC tiered codes; Layton's experiences modelling designs around the world; the differences between Passive House and NFRC standards; the need to change our approach to solar heat gain; thermal bridging and more.

Aynsley Dueck is operations manager at Duxton Windows and Doors and has focused on bringing Continuous Improvement and Lean processes to her operation for several years now. She talks about just what these concepts are and how they can be applied to window, door and commercial façade manufacturing environments. We cover how to deal with the disruption and change that comes with reforming your processes; how to get employee and management buy-in and how to avoid some common pitfalls. We also look at some of the tangible and less-tangible benefits of CI and Lean, and pick up some specific tips from Aynsley that they've discovered in their CI journey.

We've watched the codes and standards tighten for years now, requiring windows and doors installed into new builds to meet ever-higher performance metrics for air/water ingress and insulating value. And they will continue to tighten as Canada's code authorities follow the federal Roadmap to make all new buildings built in Canada meet net-zero energy performance standards by 2030. But what about the inefficient existing buildings out there that represent a far larger proportion of the homes in the country and therefore a much bigger impact to carbon emissions? Never fear, regulators have not forgotten about them. Frank Lohmann, director of building science for the Canadian Homebuilders Association, joins Fenestration Conversations to talk about plans to update the existing buildings section of the National Building Code to add an energy-efficiency requirement for renovations and retrofits.

Slow clap for the 2020 National Building Code and National Energy Building Code that have been released at last after long delay. Gord Cooke of Building Knowledge joins the Conversation to explain what's in the new model codes for window and door providers, especially the tiered energy efficiency requirements that will probably soon be the law throughout the land. We've known about much of this for some time, but now it's here to inform our product designs for years to come.

Last year in Ontario, 30 percent of all the working people who died from opioid overdose worked in the construction industry. It's clearly time for we who employ tradespeople to pay some extra attention to this issue and be prepared to help those in our companies who struggle with substance use and misuse. To help, Jan Chappel, a senior occupational health and safety specialist with CCOHS, joined the conversation to give us some advice on what to look for in employee behaviour that might indicate a problem; how to address the issue; and where to find the resources both you and your employee might need.

Ottawa has tied its Greener Homes Grants to homeowners getting audits from certified energy advisors before they can install higher performing fenestration and take advantage of thousands of dollars in rebates. There's only one problem: there aren't nearly enough of these professionals in Canada to satisfy the demand for the program. As director of the School of Energy for the Resilient World Institute, Leon Wasser trains energy advisors and is therefore in the perfect position to tell us what an energy advisor is, what their role is in getting the Greener Homes Grant, and when and if we will ever see enough of them to make this program work. He also has some thoughts on what window and door companies can do to help this situation themselves.

SAWDAC executive director, Jason Neal, joins the conversation for an update on the activities of his association and a discussion about the right way forward for government programs like the Greener Homes Grant. From his perch representing window dealers across the country, Neal has some novel ideas for the best way to support our industry as we're asked to install higher performing products. But the conversation doesn't stop there, as Neal gets into some economic analysis and shares data from member surveys carried out by SAWDAC.

Fenestration Canada executive director, Stephane Labelle, joins the Conversation to update us on what Canada's window and door association is doing and how it's evolving to meet the needs of members and the industry generally. There's also some industry talk: the Greener Homes Grants, supply chain problems, working with governments and more. Stephane lays out his approach to bring the national association closer to the grassroots in regions across the country, and shares some of what he's hearing from fenestration manufacturers and dealers.

And now for something a little different. Annex's group publisher for the Light Construction Group, Danielle Labrie, joins Pat Flannery to talk about the last year in the window and door industry and what they've been hearing and seeing in our industry. We take a look behind the curtain at our magazines, podcasts and social media channels and all the changes and developments that happened in 2021 and are coming up for 2022. It's the end of the year, so time for a look back and a look ahead. Happy holidays!

We know the pandemic has done SOMETHING to our supply chains. But what? Michael Gabert and the Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors are tasked with understanding the prices and availability of all manner of construction supplies and generating accurate estimates and forecasts for their clients. So he was the perfect person to have on the podcast to explain why it's so hard to get the things we need for our jobsites and plants. Michael discusses how negative effects from the pandemic snowball as they roll down the supply chain, starting at mines and ships and ending up as big delays on our loading docks. We get into inflation, interest rates, aluminum futures shipping containers and the outlook for our globalized trading system.

It might be the first time a woman has ever been hired through a competitive external process to lead a Canadian window and door company. Laura Weil is the new president of Mastergrain, a southern Ontario fibreglass door manufacturer, and it's safe to say the company will never be the same. She has big plans for the company's image and products and she joined the Conversation to discuss her journey to the top; the process and prospects for fibreglass fenestration products; trends in the market; supply chain problems; and more.

Thermoplast has been making vinyl extrusions for Canadian window and door companies since 1966. So the company is full of people the industry knows well, perhaps none so well as Jean Marois, the vice-president of sales and engineering, who has been a fixture on technical committees and association boards for many years. Marois and the Thermoplast team started a new chapter this year when they bought the Laval, Que., plant from its previous owner, Energi, when Energi's private equity owner divested its window manufacturing businesses. Now, Marois, together with his partners Michael McCullough and Martin Boulanger, are charting their own course. Marois joined the Conversation to tell us the story of how it started, how it's going and where things are going to go from here.

Life on the front lines of selling and installing windows and doors is pretty different from making and shipping product from the factory. In his role as technical director for the Siding and Window Dealers Association of Canada, Phil Lewin takes the calls from irate customers, frustrated members and everyone in between. Phil joins the podcast to share some choice gems from his experience and to get into some industry talk about Energy Star, the Greener Homes Grant, supply issues, relaxing on the floor with customers and more.

The Fenestration and Glazing Industry Alliance has always done an admirable job of balancing its North American identity between the U.S. and Canada. With the impending retirement of legendary executive director, Margaret Webb, the tradition is set to continue with the appointment of her replacement, Amy Roberts. Based in Pitt Meadows, B.C., Roberts left a successful sales role with Vitro to join FGIA as glass products and Canadian industry affairs director, and brings 20 years' experience in the industry to the role, including time on the technical committee and board of Fenestration BC. In this episode, Roberts talks about her entry into the glass business and updates us on the good work the FGIA is doing on window-wall ratios, Tier 5 energy standards, glass structural standards, events and training and much more.

After years of discussions, roadmaps, studies and conferences, NRCan has settled on the route it wants to take to encourage Canadians to upgrade their homes for higher energy efficiency. The Greener Homes initiative was announced last fall and its online portal is now open for homeowners to register their projects. Senior director for the program, Ruth Talbot, joins Fenestration Conversations to explain the rebate program, what homeowners can get back in rebates, what projects might qualify, how the Energuide evaluations work and more. Green Homes Grants could be a powerful tool in our sales toolbox for years to come.

Gord Cooke, CEO of Building Knowledge in Cambridge, Ont., doesn't have much time for talk about ROI when it comes to justifying higher performance windows and other building products in residential construction. Do we talk about ROI when buying a TV? A car? For too long, Cooke says, we've bought into the paradigm that the only way to sell energy-efficient products is to convince homeowners that they will save more money on energy than the marginal sticker price on the product. That's just one of the out-of-the-box insights Cooke drops in this month's Fenestration Conversation. Enjoy!

Black Canadians have been part of our construction industry for as long as there's been one, including many Black-owned contracting businesses. Now, a new organization known as the Afro-Canadian Contractors Association has come along to raise awareness of the good work they do, promote their inclusion and fair treatment and to help its members take advantage of the opportunities out there in our industry. Some grotesque incidents at Ontario jobsites last year attracted revulsion across the country, promoting construction leaders as high up as Geoff Smith at EllisDon to call for a focus on eliminating racism in Canadian construction. So it seemed like a good time to invite the president of the ACCA, Sephton Spence, to join Fenestration Conversations to tell us all about the new association and the proud history of Black construction work in Canada.