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A monthly newsletter bulletin to keep you informed.
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Specifying the Energy Performance of Glazing Products in British Columbia
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Since the introduction of the British Columbia Energy Efficiency Act ("the Act") in 2009 by the provincial government, the glazing industry, in combination with the engineering and architectural communities, is facing shared challenges with meeting the requirements of the Act. In particular, the following questions arise with respect to fenestration:
- What projects fall under the jurisdiction of the Energy Efficiency Act, and when is ASHRAE 90.1 applicable?
- Who is responsible for ensuring compliance with the Act?
- How is enforcement managed?
- What are the thermal performance requirements for different projects?
- How can thermal modeling and testing of performance be incorporated pre-tender?
- What are the labeling and documentation requirements?
Designers face a special challenge when specifying fenestration products and assemblies. Having to meet the requirements of the Act and building code-referenced standards such as ASHRAE 90.1, performance criteria must be considered along with other functional requirements such as aesthetics, constructability, building envelope and structural performance, as well as fire performance. In addition, commercial systems typically involve the integration of many proprietary products, including framing members, coatings on glass, spacer bars, sunshades systems anchorage assemblies, gaskets, couplers, deflection headers, seismic jambs etc. The component manufacturers cannot predict thermal performance of a glazed assembly as they can only be expected to know the performance of their own products.
As the party that assembles the final fenestration product, Glazing Manufacturers or Contractors are ultimately responsible for ensuring compliance with the Act. A conflict arises when the specified products, when combined, do not meet the requirements of the Act when required to do so; the Glazing Manufacturer or Contractor is challenged to comply with the Act, based on the Designer's non-compliant contract documents, and ultimately must to make up the difference. This is not entirely fair to the manufacturer/contractor; it is not professionally supportable for designers to place glazing contractors in this untenable position.
To bridge the gap between the designer as specifier and the Glazing Manufacturer or Contractor and to develop a consistent methodology to improve compliance with the Energy Efficiency Act, a special task group comprised of representatives from the glazing manufacturing industry, the architectural and building science engineering community and the Ministry of Energy and Mines collaborated to complete the following:
- Develop standardized specifications or model specifications aimed at appropriately specifying glazing assemblies that comply with the Act.
- Prepare model specifications and standardized design methodologies for common fenestration systems including the following:
- Aluminum-Framed Entrances and Storefront
- Glazed Aluminum Curtain Wall
- Combustible Windows
- Roof Windows and Skylights
- Glass and Glazing
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE GUIDE.
This guide is issued by the Fenestration Association of British Columbia (FEN-BC), with the cooperation of the Architectural Institute of British Columbia and the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia. It is generally for the use of designers, some of whom will be registered professionals.
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This article was originally posted in GCABC July 2009 newsletter, but I think it bears revisiting.
If you look at the construction industry you will find that most all of the labor and management leadership is made up of "born leaders." These are individuals who, by the force of their personality and characteristics, have risen to lead construction companies and field operations. These born leader types are often defined by their traits or personalities. These leaders are usually identified by things like:
- Hardest Worker
- Dominant Personality
- Charismatic
- Commitment and Determination
- Driver
- Competitive Spirit
- Dynamic Communicator
In the construction industry there is very little time, money or hard work spent on building leaders. This seems to be because there is no value benefit applied to it. However, the "born leader" myth can set a person up for certain failure. It is unfair to put someone in a leadership role without providing them with the necessary tools for success. Asking that person to figure it out as they go along can create undo stress, cost overruns, mistakes and sometimes even more serious mistakes involving personal safety.
Think about these scenarios:
- Do you want a born doctor operating on your child
- Do you want a born accountant filing your business taxes
- Do you want a born dentist drilling your teeth
It is a fair assumption the answer to the questions above are no. If they are no, then why do you want a born construction leader running your project or your organization.
Typically field persons become foreman. Training for most foreman is that one day you get picked up and tossed into the deep end of the pool and asked to swim. If you can swim to the side and bring the job in, you are a foreman. It is the norm for most contractors to spend more time on purchasing a vehicle than they do in training for a foreman, supervisor or project manager.
Many contractors today are those that worked their way up through the ranks to own and run their own companies with little or no training. Many are very successful but do they have the skills or the tools to move them into the next phase of their business.
When many of today's leaders and contractors have come up through the ranks and learned the hard way it is difficult to see the benefit in providing alternative routes. In today's competitive marketplace contractors must begin to realize that their leaders must be refined by experience and training. When you support the "born leader" myth these are some typical business consequences:
- Training for leadership and management is marginalized and seldom provided
- Ego substitutes for competence
- Standards and measures for success usually don't exist
- Advancement can be skewed by personality vs. leadership ability
- New leaders and managers struggle
- Quieter prospects for leadership are overlooked
- Born leader skill sets that are lacking are visible to all team members. Thus the credibility of the leader and the organization are impacted.
- Subordinates are not motivated to perform at their highest level
- No one really reaches their full potential thus their organizations under perform.
There is a concern that once you have spent the time and money and effort into educating someone they may leave and utilize their new found skills elsewhere. This may be true, some may leave. But it is more likely that you will have instilled loyalty in a potential long term employee. Even if you have invested a few dollars in appropriate training, you will probably have saved more than you spent on the projects this person has been involved in. You will also be a part of setting a standard throughout the industry and within your own company. You will attract a higher level employee because of the training opportunities you support.
The construction industry is changing and the quality of the change and the ease of transition will be impacted by the quality of our leaders.
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Welcome to our new Members
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Adfast Corp - click here for profile on FEN-BC Website Andersen Windows Inc - click here for profile on FEN-BC Website Dicks Lumber - click here for profile on FEN-BC Website
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Message from the FEN-BC Chair
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I hope I am speaking for the entire board when I say, while we love serving our Industry we are all happy to arrive at the summer break. Although we will not be meeting over the summer there is always lots of work to do to prepare for the fall and our new year starting in October. Mark your calendars for Oct 22/13 Fen-Bc's AGM then the next day Oct 23/13 our one day industry conference. The topics have been selected and we are working on the speakers, it promises to be a very informative day.
Not sure how Zana does it every year but once again we had a beautiful warm, sunny day for our Annual Golf Tournament on May 16th. The golf committee came up with some great ideas for games and prizes such as "Beat the Pro" and the "Wine" give away. We thank them for all their hard work! New signage was done for all our sponsors and it was very impressive to see their names on the tall feather signs. I for one look forward to next year's event, I "will be beating the pro"! Check out the FEN-BC Flickr page for some great pictures.
Many of us have been fielding calls on the new code requirements' so educating the industry is still a top priority for us. In early September we will be hosting a training/information session for prehangers to help guide them through the testing/labeling process. (More information to come.) The association will also be working on a standard label for windows and doors to make it easier for Building Inspectors; we should see the samples out in the early fall.
Hoping your summer is full of fun, sun and profit!
Joke of the week!
Is construction the only business where people are trying to work for free?
-David Meiland
Debra Dotschkat
Chairman of the Board
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Message from the FEN-BC Vice Chair, Residential
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For me the week before the first day of summer is special.
I "celebrated" 28 years in the window business a couple days ago. This week is always a time of reflection on my time in this industry. As a young guy looking for his path in life I certainly did not consider a life in fenestration as my ultimate goal. I thought for sure a race car driver, astronaut, tornado chaser,maybe an action movie star, boy I had dreams. Twenty eight years later I have accepted that none of these are likely to come to fruition, or pay the bills.
We all hope to do something we enjoy, and hopefully it will also provide food and a roof, and maybe some extras. In the 70's and 80's many of us still carried the belief that you get into an industry, and stick with it, that was the road to success. Westeck has many employees that have been with us for a long time, so I guess for the old schoolers this philosophy remains. But there is a new breed of worker entering the industry, and we need to find ways to capture and motivate them. Fenestration is going through significant changes, design and complexity are becoming the norm.
The new fenestration worker will require skills far beyond anything we could have imagined back when I started. The Glazier Training School in Langley is already doing great work training Red Seal Glaziers, with classes in session right now. The Fen-BC Education Committee is working on enhancing the programming available with renovation installations programs, as well as improved new construction residential install programs. We are also developing a speakers programs to bring industry experts in to do one day seminars to help develop skills crucial for today's new workers.
I never thought fenestration would be an enjoyable career, and I would expect when you think about it, yours has been a pretty good ride too. In the next decade many of us old guys (and gals) will ride off into the sunset, we need to encourage and train the new fenestration workers so they too can make our industry great. Share your knowledge as well as the good times you've had with the young people entering our industry, let them know fenestration can be a good career path.
If I had to do it all over, inspecting mirrors is a job I could see myself doing.
Terry Adamson, Westeck Windows and Doors
FEN-BC Vice Chair, Residential
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NAFS and Labels: Guidance Coming
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Manufacturers testing their products to the new NAFS-08 standard should not rush to print temporary labels. While the Canadian Supplement spells out the performance information that needs to appear on the non-permanent ("temporary") labels, there is additional information that needs to appear on these labels for them to be useful for code compliance. Labels need to be easily identifiable to building officials, identify the standards by which the performance ratings are obtained, and should contain additional information such as the name of the manufacturer as well as a description of the product line or series and the model number. A Fen-BC task group is working with Fenestration Canada to prepare a label reference document for code officials and hopes to provide guidance by the Fall.
Contact Zana Gordon for more information about the task group or this initiative.
Al Jaugelis, Fenestration Specialist RDH Building Engineering
FEN-BC Technical Consultant
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New Fenestration Energy Requirements Coming to BC Building Code in 2014
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In late April the BC Codes Centre issued revisions 4 and 5 to the 2012 BC Building Code. Revision 4 delayed NAFS enforcement on Part 9 buildings, as described in the April newsletter. Revision 5 introduced new energy performance requirements that affect windows, doors and skylights, that will affect building permits issued after December 19, 2014. While this seems like a long way off, it is not too soon for the industry to take notice.
The latest BCBC amendment adopts the 2011 National Energy Code for Buildings and will affect Part 3 buildings, providing commercial and high rise building designers with another energy compliance path in addition to the ASHRAE 90.1 standard. For small buildings, a new section 9.36 introduces new energy requirements for Part 9 buildings, including windows and doors. Stay tuned for opportunities to learn more about these initiatives and how they could affect your business.
Al Jaugelis, Fenestration Specialist RDH Building Engineering
FEN-BC Technical Consultant
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Well our inaugural issue was a huge success. This issue went out to over 3,800 people in our industry. This magazine also went out to every secondary high school in BC in an attempt to raise the awareness for a high school grad how interesting a career in our industry can be. Fenestration West distribution list also includes, architects, engineers and specifiers here in BC, Alberta and Washington. Our goal is to provide thoughtful, meaningful, relevant articles to the fenestration industry. Please consider advertising with our new magazine. You can contact Paddy Tennant at: P: 604.507.2162 E: graphics@fenestrationwest.ca |
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Upcoming Educational Opportunities
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Check out some of our upcoming educational opportunities
Supervisors Boot CampAugust 6, 2013
800 am - 400 pm
FEN-BC Glazier Training Facility
101 - 20351 Duncan Way
Click here for registration How to be a Better Foreman
December 10, 2013
800 am - 400 pm FEN-BC Glazier Training Facility 101 - 20351 Duncan Way Click here for registration Negotiating Skills December 17, 2013
800 am - 400 pm FEN-BC Glazier Training Facility 101 - 20351 Duncan Way Click here for registration
Hazard Recognition and Control December 19, 2013 800 am - 400 pm FEN-BC Glazier Training Facility 101 - 20351 Duncan Way Click here for registration
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ICBA Benefit Services
Group Benefits Insurance, Small Business Benefit Plan, Construction Industry Benefit Plan, Owner/Operator Benefit Plan, Bonding and Liability Insurance Program
If you are reviewing any of the programs listed above give Donald Chu a call at 604.298.7752 to discuss your companies program. It never hurts to get a second quote.And lets not forget our other partners:
Marks WorkWearhouse
Rising Agency - printed and promotional materials
Mills Office BasicsMoneris
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PLEASE NOTE NEW CONTACT INFORMATION Old phone numbers will be disconnected by December 15, 2012:MAILING ADDRESS: PO Box 565, Abbotsford, BC V2T 6Z8 PHYSICAL ADDRESS 101 - 20351 Duncan Way, Langley BC V3A 7N3 PHONE: 1.604.855.0245 FAX: 1.866.253.9979 EMAIL: zgordon@fen-bc.org |
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Mailing address - PO Box 595, Abbotsford, BC V2T 6Z8
Physical Address: 101 - 20351 Duncan Way, Langley BC
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