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On his travels through the landscape of the US window market, our guest author Markus Brunner has made it to the Deep South. At the end of the road he reflects on the many strengths of windows Made in Germany and some of the challenges that might still need to be overcome to make it big in America.

Denver Spa was founded in 1984 in San Marino and is now a global manufacturer of machines for the stone and glass industry. Here is a conversation with one of the company founders and his sons.

Natural daylight supports our circadian rhythm, keeps us alert and productive. This is why humans prefer living and working spaces that are flooded with natural light. However, in a changing climate, buildings need also more air-conditioning due to longer and more intense periods of heat.

There was a great atmosphere at the GLASS CONGRESS 2024 in Lübeck from 17 to 18 April. It was great to see that many representatives from glass processing companies were among the 155 participants who accepted the invitation of the Federal Flat Glass Association (BF). Here you can find out which topics were on the agenda and why BF President Hans-Joachim Arnold sees light at the end of the tunnel again - despite the current difficult market situation.

On his trip through the eastern and southern United States, our guest author Markus Brunner had the chance to talk to both window specialists and other people he met. Find out here why many thought Made in Germany was awesome and what that can mean for German window manufacturers and wholesalers.

Viwinco Windows & Doors is a second-generation family-run window and door manufacturer based in Morgantown, Pennsylvania, founded in 1982. The company recently purchased a new IFL laminator from Bürkle and here the two managers talk about their experience with the machine from Germany.

Guardian Glass introduces Guardian CrystalClear glass, a new addition to its product lineup in North America. This innovative glass meets the demand for enhanced transparency among architects and designers.

In addition to a line with the systron 6033es1 at its heart, arcon Flach- und Sicherheitsglas GmbH & Co. KG in Feuchtwangen in southern Germany has installed a 6033proHD CNC processing centre. With storage automation and face-to-face positioning of this waterjet system, arcon achieves high processing versatility with minimal resources.

In October 2023, our guest author Markus Brunner embarked on a trip through the US. What had been planned as a private holiday, nevertheless brought out the window nerd in him. Read exclusively on GW-News and from his own perspective what Markus discovered.

cericom Laser has become a 100% member of the Lisec Group. This strategic move reinforces Lisec's commitment to driving innovative solutions in the field of flat glass and technical glass processing.

Guardian Glass has published new Environmental Product Declarations for its flat unprocessed glass products and processed glass products produced in North America.

Digital technologies will be one hot topic at this year’s glasstec. Artificial Intelligence plays a prominent role here and is already used at various stages of the (glass) industry. See here some practical examples and also what you can look forward to in Düsseldorf from October 22 to 25.

Tecglass has recently announced the opening of its newest business unit in the US. This expansion was undertaken to meet the growing demand in North America.

The Glass Performance Days 2023 were full of informative content on a wide variety of topics across the glass industry. If you were unable to make it to Finland last summer, you can get a feel for what the event was like by clicking here:

With its three-dimensional facade, the Optinieo in Munich's Werksviertel district is a trendsetting office tower. Here you can find out how the quality of light in the rooms was optimised with solar control glass from Saint-Gobain Glass. The curved glass was manufactured by CSP partner Döring from the vandaglas Group, and Interpane was also involved.

AGC Group has announced that it has succeeded for the first time in a demonstration test to recycle cover glass for solar modules into float glass. With the success of this test, AGC expects that cover glass can be used to make float glass.

The safety mirrors in the Miralite Stadip series from Saint-Gobain offer a high level of protection against injuries. In the following article, you can find out what exactly is behind this, which variants are available and where these mirrors are used.

The Velux Group and Guardian Glass have entered a joint development agreement concerning tempered vacuum insulated glass (VIG).

Over 30 years, Press Glass has grown from a single facility into a household name among flat glass suppliers. 15 international facilities spread across Poland, Croatia, Italy, the UK and the US produce quality interior and exterior glass for the commercial and residential market.

The facade of the new administration building of the A. Müller dairy in Aretsried is as white as milk. The facade owes its clear effect primarily to the 430 sedak gsp facade elements. In combination with offset ribbon windows, an elegant all-glass facade was created for the building, which was realised to the highest efficiency standards.

The Board of Directors of Glaston Corporation has appointed Toni Laaksonen as President and CEO. He will oversee a global business with about 1,000 employees active in more than 50 countries.

The AGC Interpane plant in Plattling, southern Germany, produces high-quality semi-finished glass products and insulating glass. The basis is coated glass up to 18 m x 3.21 m. These extra-long glass elements can be provided with various solar control layers or with iplus thermal insulation layers. With the latest IG line from Glaston, even XXL formats can be produced automatically.

Once again, our roving reporter has been all over the trade fair grounds in Nuremberg. Overall, the mood is great and there are quite a few innovations in windows and glass to be discovered. Don‘t not miss it, there are two more days left! 

NSG Group has announced that the decision to cease the production on a float line at the plant in Weiherhammer, Germany, a year ahead of a scheduled cold repair.

Our man on the ground, Matthias Rehberger, is rushing around this year‘s Fensterbau Frontale in Nuremberg to see the latest trends being offered by the exhibitors there. Here is a collection of what he saw and whom he met on the first day:

Architects and window manufacturers are increasingly focussing on the combination of solar control and glare protection with glazing in a single component, i.e. on insulating glass units with blinds. Find out about the benefits here.

As a full-range supplier, Hova from Austria not only offers vacuum lifters and individual lifting devices, but also much more: aluminium rail systems and aluminium slewing cranes in smooth-running design are also part of the extensive portfolio. Here you can find out what the supplier will be showing at Fensterbau in Nuremberg starting tomorrow.

A sharp decline in demand is currently the order of the day in the window industry - it is therefore all the more important now to have the cost situation under control. In an exclusive series in GW, economist Matthias König looks at important topics relating to corporate management.

With the "Energy" variant, Velux will be offering another triple glazing option in its glass range from April 2024. According to the manufacturer, this provides a low-cost entry into high energy efficiency with very good thermal insulation values. With a UW value of 1.0 W/(m²K), it also fulfils the requirements for state subsidies. Here are the details.

If you are looking for the highest insulation values in insulating glass, you will find them in insulating glass units with an integrated vacuum element, such as Fineo Hybrid. It insulates with a Ug-value of less than 0.5 W/(m2K), but are significantly more delicate than triple insulating glass with a thickness of 22 mm or more. But such hybrid glass offers even more advantages, which we present here.

When designing glass facades today, planners often face the challenge of having to equip parts of the facade with toughened glazing, while non-tempered glazing is preferred in the directly adjacent areas of the facade. AGC Interpane responds to this with its "Trinity" range. Find out what's behind it here.

Sandra Kugler has now been appointed Sales and Marketing Director at Viprotron. In doing so, Viprotron wants to ensure that the company's strong global growth continues.

The traditional company Glas Natter is a popular address in the Regensburg area when it comes to insulating glass and special glass. GW-News spoke to Managing Director Rosemarie Natter and her daughter Barbara Bosse about the success and further development of the company as well as about a new generation taking over the company management.

In a recent interview, Michela Lattuada, a prominent figure in the Italian manufacturing industry, shared insights into her journey as a female business leader and its unique challenges as well as the strengths she brings to her role.

Recently, two all-glass boxes have been rising 305 metres above the fourth tallest skyscraper in New York. Josef Gartner from the Permasteelisa Group was responsible for the construction.

Together with project partners, the Fraunhofer ISE are developing a system that is intended to simplify the use of facades for photovoltaics. Part of the solution will also be published as a VDI guideline.

Manufacturer masson is now introducing switchable ConverLight glass for its residential conservatories. This has now been sealed by the partnership with GGW and ChromoGenics. The first conservatory to be realised with switchable glass is now located in an exclusive villa suburb of Hamburg. The glass was manufactured by the Hero Group.

The Ikeuchi Gate Building in the Japanese city of Sapporo combines technology and innovation at the highest level. Here you can find out how facade glass from Saint-Gobain Glass and the associated Ultimate insulating glass spacers from Swisspacer contribute to optimising the energy efficiency of the building envelope.

With its new representative office in Vietnam, vacuum expert Schmalz offers its customers in the region of Southeast Asia short distances to the automation they need.

In connection with our recent article on the 25th anniversary of SentryGlas and how their ionoplast film interlayer for LSG, we also sat down with Christoph Troska of SentryGlas to look back – as well as ahead to the future:

The official date for Vitrum 2025 was announced at the Annual General Meeting of GIMAV (Italian Association of Machinery and Accessories for Glass Processing): Next year's trade fair will take place from 16 to 19 September at the Fiera Milano exhibition centre in Rho.

With the winning proposal, Henning Larsen's goes beyond what one would expect a laboratory building to look like. B777 is immersed in nature, with biogenic materials and features a low-carbon design.

Sandra Kugler has now been appointed Sales and Marketing Director at Viprotron. In doing so, Viprotron wants to ensure that the company's strong global growth continues.

The former euroTech Vertriebs GmbH is now starting the new year with vigour under the new name "euroTech Handling GmbH". The change in the company name emphasises the further development as a specialist for handling solutions and marks the expansion of the range of services beyond vacuum technology. Here are the details:

The Boijmans Van Beuningen museum depot in Rotterdam is without question a special building that impresses not only with its reflective glass facades and well over a hundred thousand art objects. Find out what else makes it special here:

The circular economy is a pressing concern in the flat glass industry, as explored in the upcoming glasstec 2024. Despite a 12% reduction in industry emissions in 2023, the positive trend is partly attributed to decreased production rather than sustainable practices.

Vitro Architectural Glass has launched Sungate ThermL glass, a new low-emissivity (low-e) coating engineered for use on the interior surface of a typical one-inch insulating glass unit that reduces heat transfer and dramatically improves U-values when paired with a Solarban solar control low-e glass by Vitro on the second surface.

Building products company Quanex has signalled its continued focus on the insulating glass sector with the appointment of an experienced Global Market Director.

In the following interview with GW-News, Juliane Brandt-Slowik and Helmut Kugelmann from Schott Technical Glass Solutions GmbH (TGS) discuss the special features of borosilicate glass compared to standard soda-lime glass. Their special focus will be on the thermal and mechanical properties as well as the possibilities borosilicate glass offers as fire-resistant glass.

Near Innsbruck's main railway station, a total of 173 residential units were built as part of the Pema 2. The facade architecture of the 50-metre-high building is unique. Depending on how the light falls in, it quotes the surrounding mountain formations.

The European Commission recently presented its proposal for an ambitious 90 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. It initiates discussions on the necessary measures to create an environment conducive to significant CO2 emissions reduction, aligning with Europe’s 2050 climate-neutrality objective. See here for more details:

In a recent interview, Michela Lattuada, a prominent figure in the Italian manufacturing industry, shared insights into her journey as a female business leader and its unique challenges as well as the strengths she brings to her role.

At the Fensterbau Frontale trade fair in Nuremberg from 19 to 22 March, people are the focus for Hegla and Hegla boraident. The companies will be presenting solutions at their booth that make work easier for employees, provide a high level of safety, and improve efficiency.

Saint-Gobain Glass is delighted to have achieved full Cradle to Cradle 4.0 (C2C Certified) certification at Bronze level for its float and coated glass products manufactured in Europe*, including Oraé low-carbon glass, as well as for its LSG products.

A success story: over a quarter of a century ago, in 1998, the SentryGlas ionoplast film was launched on the market for the first time and has had a significant impact on structural glass construction with its increased load-bearing capacity, making new types of construction possible.

It was recently announced that Softsolution, a provider of quality assurance and scanning solutions for flat glass, had been honoured with one of the 2023 Best Tech Awards as part of the Vitrum trade fair in Milan, Italy.

Swisspacer Air - integrated into the edge seal of insulating glass - ensures continuous pressure equalisation with the environment and thus mitigates climate loads. In collaboration between Swisspacer and the Saint-Gobain Glassolutions Insulating Glass Centre, the foundation has now been laid to allow it to obtain a CE mark.

Today, 3300 square metres of eyrise s350 solar control glass are making an important contribution to sustainable building certification as part of a building renovation in Zurich. Here you can find out why eyerise glass was chosen.

The architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has created the "most environmentally friendly furniture factory in the world" for the furniture manufacturer Vestre with The Plus.  Here you can find out how Velux Modular Skylights contribute to the sustainability concept with a high level of daylight and good thermal insulation.

Edgetech, providers of the Super Spacer brand of warm edge spacer bars, will be exhibiting at this year’s FENSTERBAU FRONTALE Nuremberg, Germany, 19 to 22 March 2024. More details here:

The aluminium system house Wicona continues to drive forward the decarbonisation of its product range and has reached a new milestone for Hydro Circal 75R. The sustainable aluminium alloy made from recycled end-of-life aluminium now has a carbon footprint of just 1.9 kg CO2/kg aluminium - 70% less than the EU average. Here are the details.

Kuraray Europe GmbH (KEG) has announced the establishment of a new subsidiary. Kuraray Europe Spain S.L. (KES) is based in Málaga, Spain, and will serve as a strategic hub for the management and coordination of business activities on the Iberian Peninsula.

Since November 2023, the ban on microplastics and products to which microplastics have been deliberately added has been in force in the EU. Find out what this has to do with glass transport and what options there are for complying with the new legislation here.

Biesse recently announced the acquisition of GMM Finance, the holding company which comprises the stone, glass and other materials machining companies Bavelloni, GMM and Techni Waterjet, including their Italian and foreign subsidiaries.

The glasstec trade fair this year opens its doors in Düsseldorf from 22-25 October. Young, innovative companies will have the opportunity to present themselves as part of the new Start-Up Zone. Here, visitors will find many innovative and inspiring ideas from the world of glass. Find out how to register for the Start-Up Zone by clicking here.

Glaston and Hegla, both leading machine and plant manufacturers for architectural and automotive glass applications, have now entered into an exclusive partnership covering most of the Asia-Pacific region. Here are the details.

Heavydrive systems for glass and facade installation were in use for a year on a building project in Salt Lake City, Utah, sometimes under the harshest climatic and weather conditions. Find out here how the project was successfully completed with lifting technology from Germany.

The specialists for fire-resistant glass, Polflam, have pulled out all the stops to make their latest product, Polflam Gaia, as environmentally friendly as possible. Find out here how they were able to reduce the carbon footprint of their glass.

The combination of Guardian Glass’ SunGuard High Durable coated glass with SentryGlas Xtra interlayers obtains a Document Technique d’Application (DTA) for the French market.

Since establishing their presence in the US through an acquisition, Poland-based glass fabricator Press Glass, also active in Europe and the UK, has continued its brisk growth. To support this, the company has recently invested in a Glaston ProL convection control upgrade at its plant in Ridgeway, Virginia.

MAN Truck & Bus has presented a van with caterpillar drive. Here we show how the van can be fitted with its caterpillar tracks to master even snow-covered slopes and muddy mountain meadows.

The industry is currently experiencing a veritable sales crisis. The German window association is forecasting an 8 per cent slump in the number of window units sold last year. And 2024 will also be a difficult year, according to projections. It's good to be prepared for these times. In this short series, economist Matthias König explains the key factors that need to be considered.

The new, highly efficient float glass production facility at the Guardian Glass plant in Bascharage is now in operation following a successful cold tank repair. The new furnace is an important milestone for Guardian. Energy efficiency has been improved by around 25% and emissions reduced.

The heart of Belfast is home to a number of magnificent Victorian bank buildings. These listed buildings have now been fitted with new glazing using Edgetech's Super Spacer Heritage (warm edge) spacers.

Guardian Glass operates over 24 float glass lines worldwide and serves 160 countries across five continents. Ryze Hydrogen will support Guardian’s UK float glass plant in Goole, East Yorkshire, by supplying the hydrogen.

Glass for Europe has recently published a paper on the reuse, reprocessing and recycling of flat glass. Here you can find out what options are available for recycling flat glass at the end of its life cycle.

Three young makers at Lisec, Florian Buchberger, Severin Gassner and Lukas Schuller, were recently able to put their expertise into practice. In cooperation with MakerSpace[A], they were involved in the installation of a glass front. Here are the details.

Vintage cars worth seeing cruise through the Cuban capital every day. In this exclusive opinion piece, Matthias König explains what this use of vehicles on the Caribbean island has to do with the German construction elements industry.

Once a year, the German Design Council honours innovative products with the German Design Award. This time, the Lamilux Modular Glass Roof MS78 was among the winning entries.

Satinal has received the USGlass Sustainability Awards 2023, which honours companies and their products for their contribution to the design and creation of sustainable architecture as well as measures to reduce carbon emissions and raise environmental awareness.

The restoration of historic windows is taking on a new dimension thanks to modern technologies and the use of insulating glass with the Super Spacer spacer system. Projects in Northern Ireland and Austria show how the challenges of heritage conservation, energy efficiency and the use of a warm edge can be successfully combined.

At Kai100 in Vienna, one side of the building was fitted with balconies protected by glass sliding elements as a noise protection measure. They opted for the GM Toproll top-hung sliding system from Glas Marte, partly because the system can easily compensate for higher tolerances.

The aluminium system suppliers Ponzio Polska and Alufest GmbH will present themselves under the new Procural brand from 2024. As part of the Laumann Group, which also includes Veka and Gealan, they want to continue their successful growth path and also work on internationalisation.

Saint-Gobain's glass specialists developed a unique combination of SageGlass switchable solar control glass and Contraflam fire-resistant glass from Vetrotech for the facade glass of the Alto Pont-Rouge commercial and office building in Geneva.

The European Facade Summit (EFS) will take place in Vienna from 29 February to 1 March 2024. The event location is the Hotel Meliá Vienna in the DC Tower. The congress will focus on intelligent and sustainable facade solutions in the context of climate change.

Döring Glas Berlin, now part of the vandaglas Group, recently celebrated its 90th anniversary. The renowned glass companies Döring Glas Berlin and Flachglaswerk Radeburg can look back on an impressive track record in the glass industry.

Most buildings have great potential for optimisation: They often require extensive energy-efficient refurbishment. Part of such measures is the renovation of balconies and loggias with glass. Here you can find out what such balcony glazing can achieve.

In March 2024, the entire window industry will once again be travelling to Nuremberg for FENSTERBAU FRONTALE. Around four months before the start of the world's leading trade fair, Project Manager Elke Harreiß provides information on the current status of preparations and the trade fair highlights - and on the considerable number of bookings.

Since November 2023, the ban on microplastics and products to which microplastics have been deliberately added has been in force in the EU. Find out what this has to do with glass transport and what options there are for complying with the new legislation here.

Since it was founded by August Eckelt on 21 November 1923, the Austrian glass refiner Eckelt based in Steyr has always been a trendsetter with its innovative strength. Under new management and new ownership, vandaglas Eckelt is now in its 101st year of existence and is once again transforming and positioning itself for the future.

We are starting a new series on glass processing companies – this time from Italy. In early to mid December we will be passing through Italy and are looking for enterprises in the Italian glass industry. Are you interested? Then click here for instructions how to get in touch:

The SuperHub Meerstad on the outskirts of Groningen (NL) impresses with its transparent architecture - a construction of cross-shaped cross-laminated timber supports and a steel facade that make it look like a modern cathedral. The steel facade was designed by Forster. Here are the details.

Strato EVA Carbon Free has earned International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) Plus, a voluntary program for industries not subject to specific regulations but willing to certify their efforts and results in GHG Reduction.

Anders Dahlblom has submitted his resignation from his position as the CEO of Glaston Corporation for personal reasons. The Board will start the search for a new CEO immediately.

Softsolution and adminIQ recently announced their strategic partnership aimed at providing innovative solutions in the field of "digitisation of forms for factory production control". Here are the details.

Glaston recently launched the Active'Sealer for IGU production. GW-News has now interviewed Uwe Risle, the responsible product manager, about this: here are his answers.

The new Engineering Center was opened at the Lisec site in Seitenstetten on 3 November 2023. Around 140 additional workstations are located on four floors and 2000 square metres of space. The new building was duly celebrated together with all those involved and guests. Here are the details.

The construction of the "Redmolen" building in Copenhagen harbour was preceded by a variety of daylight analyses. The result: a 12,000 m² unitised façade whose inclination filters the daylight as required in order to achieve optimum daylight utilisation. The facade glasses used were Cool-Lite SKN 176 and Eclaz from Saint-Gobain.

Aurys Industries has now launched the Oforce mirror made of LSG as a product innovation and is thus offering a mirror made of laminated safety glass with a very high level of resistance for the first time.

MO Energy Systems from Austria has developed a modular standard solution for solar facades. The scalable solution is suitable for existing and new buildings. It can be connected to concrete as well as brick and timber facades.