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.

Steve Johnston of Omnigence, a private equity firm investing in the construction sector, has a stark warning. He sees a real risk of long-term stagflation (inflation coupled with low productivity and high unemployment) in our present conditions and government policies. His white paper lays out the broad details, but he joins GlassTalk to talk about the specific effects in Canada’s construction sector and what will be needed to avoid them.

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 Glass Talk 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.

When Andrew Haring announced he was leaving his role as business development director for the National Glass Association, it set off a mini-storm on social media. Why? Because in his time with the NGA Haring became one of the better known and respected personalities on the North American glass scene. His blend of humour, honesty and deep familiarity with our business has made him someone we’d all like to listen to and converse with. Well, here’s your chance. Haring joins Glass Talk to reflect on his time at NGA, his career so far, the state of the industry, certification, attracting young talent, marketing strategy and more.

It’s happened – a Canadian jurisdiction has mandated a maximum allowable temperature inside a dwelling space. The Vancouver rule is related to health and safety rather than energy efficiency, but it seems likely that requirements for cooling homes will soon put pressure on fenestration designers to restrict solar heat gain in addition to insulating against heat loss. Is the market reacting? How will this change our designs? Guardian’s Pacific Northwest ADM, Geoff Shellard, returns to Glass Talk to shed some light on the topic.

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 aesthetic, 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.

Storm clouds are gathering over the architectural glass industry as 2024 starts. FenCan Commercial business development director and Glass Canada columnist Rich Porayko joins GlassTalk for a New Year episode looking back at the top stories from 2023 and ahead to what they might mean for 2024. Embodied carbon, bankruptcies, VIG, new organizations and events, labour…it’s all on the table in our wide-ranging conversation.

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 Glass Talk 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!

Jeff Dalaba, program director for North American Contractor Certification and Architectural Glass and Metal Technician, joins Glass Talk to update us on recent developments with these important certification organizations. Interest and participation in these certification programs continues to grow, with U.S. states demanding it for public project bids and major general contractors joining the board. When the industry hits a rough patch, as it has right now, what do you have except your reputation? As Dalaba explains, third-party verification of your business practices and your employees’ skills is the way to wear your reputation on your sleeve for all to see, both arming you and defending you in the marketplace.

It’s everyone’s least favourite part of the project – the value engineering phase. When general contractors and project owners turn to finding ways to save cost while preserving specs, we often feel the squeeze. But there’s a difference between the way it is supposed to work and how it gets implemented when people are just looking to save costs without regard for other considerations. And, surprisingly, tightening sustainability standards might create an environment where there’s less pressure for us to sharpen pencils. Geoff Shellard has been advising on and supplying glazing projects for a long time and is well positioned to comment and give some tips and tricks on how to navigate the world of value engineering. And there’s a special bonus at the end of this one for anyone who makes it all the way through!

Specialty Fenestration Group makes commercial fenestration for two of the toughest applications there are: security glazing and drive-through windows. Marketing director Brian Hanson joins GlassTalk to tell us all about ballistic and blast-resistant glass – what it is; what the standards are; how it’s made; how it’s tested and what works in what situation. And yes, they do get to shoot, smash and blow up their samples in labs. As concerns about occupant security and extreme weather rise here in Canada, Hanson brings some key information we will all want to bear in mind.

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 GlassTalk 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.

When you look at the big picture for yourself and your business, what do you see? Dawn Bloomer is a business consultant who helps small business owners get out from under the day-to-day grind of putting out fires and fixing leaks to take a look at their goals and find ways to organize their businesses to meet them. She joins Glass Talk to offer some sage advice on issues like delegation, succession planning, strategic thinking, maximizing Episode value, effective hiring and planning for the future. Take Dawn’s advice and take an hour out of your day to hear what she has to say…we promise you won’t regret it.

It’s safe to say Kelly Doran is one of the people driving Canada’s approach to limiting the carbon dioxide emissions in our built environment. He’s an architect by training who has counseled Toronto on embodied carbon standards for its Green Building Standard, worked with NRCan on its plans for meeting Canada’s Paris Agreement commitments, attended UN climate conferences and is speaking to architecture and construction groups across the country. So who better to give us the heads up on what the new focus on embodied carbon may mean for those of us who build with two of the highest embodied carbon materials in the industry: glass and aluminum? Doran’s perspectives give us a great insight into what the architecture and environmental community are thinking about how building design will evolve…critical information as you position your business for the changing world ahead.

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 training

Construction Career Pathways – BuildForce Canada

Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot – Immigration and Citizenship Canada

Temporary Foreign Worker Program – Ministry of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion

Skilled Trades Awareness and Readiness Program – Employment and Social Development Canada

A new world of sustainable building practices is bearing down upon us, with embodied carbon considerations pushing to the fore. Air/water tightness and insulating factors are so last century. Vancouver will begin asking for environmental product declarations on new builds this summer, with limits on the allowed embodied carbon coming within two years. Here to explain it all is Caroline Butchart, a building engineer with a PhD in structural glass, who is the program manager for the Carbon Leadership Forum, a non-profit group assisting the B.C. construction industry to meet sustainable building goals.

There are two industries putting glass on buildings: the residential side working mostly with vinyl in punched openings and the commercial side working mostly with aluminum to produce engineered facades. Even 20 years ago, the distinctions between the two were fairly clear and few companies did both. Today, there’s vinyl going on to high rises and aluminum windows going into suburban tract housing. Is a three-story multiunit townhouse with hundreds of vinyl windows a commercial or residential project? In reaction to these shifts in the industry, Fenestration Canada, Canada’s national organization for the window and door industry, has committed to expanding its services to encompass the commercial side of the business as well. Rich Porayko, FenCan’s new director of business development for commercial; Jeff Makimoto, FenCan’s new commercial technical director; and Terry Adamson, FenCan technical director, join Glass Talk to tell you all about the new focus and invite you to get involved.

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.

Glass Talk 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 Houses

Vacuum Glazing: Development, design challenges and commercialization

Performance Criteria for Residential Zero Energy Windows

Glass Canada’s That’s Rich columnist, Rich Porayko, joins the podcast to look over some of the top stories from 2022 and engage in general industry gossip. Glass prices – should we be surprised? Embodied carbon – are we going to end up going back to monolithic? Contracts – who’s the dog and who’s the tail? Associations – what are they good for? And more. Happy New Year!

Ontario’s Bill 23 has attracted some hot reaction from environmental groups, up to and including claims it has taken away municipalities’ ability to enforce environmental regulations on construction. In the glass industry, most of the questions are concerning Toronto’s bird-friendly glazing rules. As one of North America’s preeminent bird-friendly glass suppliers, Walker Glass is keeping a close eye on the situation. Architectural representative, Marc Deschamps, and marketing manager, Danik Dancause, join the podcast to update us on where things sit and how they are likely to develop. We also get into a longer discussion of bird-friendly glazing in general, including discussion of a recent study at the University of Saskatchewan that showed just how effective it can be at reducing fatal bird collisions.

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.

NSF Product Category Rule for fenestration assemblies

Dr. Mukhopadhya is a building science professor researching thermal testing and modeling at the University of Victoria and he joined Glass Talk 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 Ontario government has announced a string of programs and restructurings aimed at improving and promoting skilled trades training. Robert Bronk is CEO of the Ontario Construction Secretariat, an agency that acts as a forum for construction contractors and construction unions to work together. As such, he has some great perspectives on the state of skilled trades learning and the apprenticeship system. In this episode, he talks about the new Ontario initiatives; how our apprenticeship system is viewed around the world; what is working and not working; how the education system has let skilled trades languish; and the intersection between apprenticeship and unionization.

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 GlassTalk to explain everything and map the course forward.

The August issue of Glass Canada magazine featured Canada’s Top 10 Under 40 young professionals in the architectural glass industry, and four of them joined Glass Talk to help us get to know them even better. Corey and Blake Sanders of SpandrelTech, Ameet Balilty of High Performance Glazing and Vincent Couturier of Unicel talked about what’s changed since their fathers’ day; where things are likely to go in the future; some of the crazy stuff that’s happened to them in the industry; and lots of general industry gossip. The industry is in great hands with a next generation like this!

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 GlassTalk 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.

With prescient timing, Samuel Doyon-Bissonnette, co-president of Unicel Architectural, has recently developed and brought to market a Passive House-certified stick-built curtainwall system using engineered wood. The timing is great because recent changes to codes and standards allow architects to do more with wood construction than ever before. Also, wood answers many questions about energy efficiency and embodied carbon. Samuel discusses the opportunity for wood curtainwall and some of the unique features and challenges of working with this material.

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 Glass Talk 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.

Hospitals and other health care facilities are commissioning some of the best glazing projects in Canada today. Not content any more with square brick facades, the healthcare industry has become a prime target for architectural glass companies looking for opportunities to apply their very best creativity and technology. Vincent Couturier, COO of Longueuil, Que., fabricator, Unicel Architectural, joins Glass Talk to share knowledge gained from his experiences delivering award-winning solutions to this lucrative sector. Couturier talks about the special needs of the healthcare industry, including designs that are easy to clean and don’t accumulate dust; the need for enhanced sound control; solar heat gain considerations; extra privacy needs; and the concept of “behavioural glazing” to deal with the habits of patients who might be destructive. Fascinating stuff!

Margaret Webb has retired after 22 years of dedicating inordinate amounts of time, energy, passion and expertise to this industry. She was instrumental in creating not one but two industry associations: the Insulating Glass Manufacturers Alliance then the Fenestration and Glazing Industry Alliance. GlassTalks was fortunate to get Margaret to step back into the industry for a brief moment following her retirement to reflect on her time, tell a few stories and share a few opinions about how things are and how they ought to be.

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.

Monte McNaughton joins Glass Talk to explain the new agency, Skilled Trades Ontario, which replaces the Ontario College of Trades as the skilled trades regulator in the province. McNaughton explains his the reason for the change and the direction the new organization will take in trying to smooth the path for apprentices to move through the system, and in trying to attract new workers to the trades. Following McNaughton’s interview, a panel of industry voices joins the podcast to discuss his comments: Ian Howcroft, president of Skills Ontatio, Angelo Cairo, president of Stouffville Glass and Brett Lucier, president of Provincial Glass.

Glass Canada brand manager Navneet Matharu joins GlassTalk for a special New Year look back and look ahead. We talk about the supply chain issues that emerged in the second year of COVID; do some gossiping about what suppliers and contractors are saying; touch on the big news stories of 2021; and preview the year ahead in Canada’s commercial glazing B2B channel, including a preview of our exciting Top Glass lineup coming April 20.

Keeping an eye (and ear) on your critical materials, equipment and personnel is more important than ever. Luckily, technology in site security systems is advancing quickly. Gavin Daly of Axis Communications joins GlassTalk to talk about the principles of security systems: what are the objectives? What is possible and not possible? What threats and opportunities should you consider? He touches on the other uses of site surveillance, too, including controlling access, identifying safety risks and improving operations. With possibilities for audio pickup, networked speakers, low-light and high resolution cameras, facial recognition and remote monitoring, it’s not about getting a grainy black-and-white video picture any more.

The Ontario Construction Secretariat is the liaison between the unionized trades and employers in Ontario, so their CEO, Robert Bronk, is well positioned to discuss the big topic bedeviling all of us these days – skilled labour supply. Bronk used to train glaziers, so he knows this industry. We had a wide-ranging conversation about the sources of the present skilled trades shortage; the need for greater awareness in Ontario’s schools and homes; the effects of the pandemic and recovery; the outcomes of pandemic-fighting measures on Ontario jobsites; prediction for inflation and supply shortages; and much more.

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.

The Buildings Show, Canada’s largest construction show happening Dec. 1 to 3 at the Toronto Convention Centre, has been a popular destination for glazing contractors because of the opportunity it affords to take in the broadest possible range of suppliers and conference topics out there. There’s always a nice selection of commercial glazing and façade construction products, but also HVAC, insulation, roofing, concrete and even property management solutions. This time, there’s a building envelope session but also many sessions aimed at “soft skills” in the construction industry: human resources, marketing, leadership, project management and other topics we know are critical but don’t always have time to think about. Since the Buildings Show is returning as a live event for the first time since the pandemic hit, we thought it was time to invite program director Teresa Baker to GlassTalk to give us the full FYI.

The young president of one of Canada’s iconic architectural glass fabricators, Antamex, joins Glass Talk to share his experiences through a period of whirlwind change for the company. From struggles, to ownership by international giant, Oldcastle, to independence and restructuring, Spurgeon and his team have been on a wild ride for many years. Now Spurgeon is leveraging the lessons learned and the company’s legacy of expertise to position it for the decades ahead, with modern business practices, automation, investment and careful market position. You’ll learn something from Glass Talk’s conversation with Ryan Spurgeon.

Bringing the view from (barely) south of the border, industry influencer Max Perilstein joins Glass Talk to shoot the breeze about everything related to architectural glass and beyond. No one love the glass business more or has been commenting on it for longer, so tune in for Max's takes on the supply crunch, energy efficient glazing, the AGC sale to Cardinal, float glass production, training and labour issues, the return of live events and much more.

We all know there’s a new world coming, but what will it look like? Francis Pomerleau, chief executive for national strategy at one of Canada’s largest construction contractors, has some ideas. Pomerleau has launched a brand initiative for Pomerleau locating the company’s focus in three key areas: collaboration, innovation and sustainability. He’s positioning the company to meet the next wave of challenges that will follow the pandemic, and beyond. He joined Glass Talk to share his insights with Canada’s glazing community, and weigh in on some of the big issues we’re all discussing.

At Top Glass in April, Canadian Premium Sand burst on to the Canadian architectural glass scene with an announcement that it was finalizing plans to build a float glass facility north of Winnipeg using high-quality sand from its deposit near Wanipigow, Man. Whether the new facility will produce architectural glass or glass for solar panels remains uncertain, but either way the return of primary glass production to Canada is an exciting prospect. CPS CEO Glenn Leroux recorded a in in-depth interview with Glass Canada editor, Patrick Flannery, to introduce the industry to his company and discuss their plans. The video version of this interview was originally recorded to appear on CPS’s virtual booth at Top Glass. 

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.

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 Glass Talk to tell us all about the new association and the proud history of Black construction work in Canada.

Jay Polding of SolidCAD joins Glass Canada editor Patrick Flannery to talk about digital twinning. It’s the next iteration of building information modeling, turning the digital model of a structure into a living representation of the building including tracking of system performance, energy use, maintenance schedules, component failures and more. Building owners see their need for information about their assets’ performance growing, and the demand will shift downhill to façade fabricators and contractors in the years and decades ahead. Polding shares his knowledge of just what these systems are, how they are expected to help, and how your company can be ready for this next big trend.

Some energy markets across Canada are now competitive places with multiple providers making different offerings. But navigating these waters can be complicated and even risky without the right guidance. Energy broker Sanjana Bansal works with Anne Folomo and Schooley Mitchell to advise industrial clients on how to get the most zap for their buck when shopping for hydro and natural gas contracts. They have some great tips and some revealing perspectives on this less-understood aspect of our businesses.

Rich is probably the only person in Canada who is both a writer and a glass guy. With over 70 articles under his belt and a new gig as the back page columnist for Glass Canada magazine, Rich also has a long track record as a marketing consultant with the likes of Binswanger Glass, Hartung, Garibaldi Glass, PFG, the National Glass Association and others. He’s seen enough to have some opinions and isn’t shy about sharing them. We get into the exploding market in sneeze guards, the possible future of office towers, the dos and don’ts of marketing a glass business and the forces in this country that are preventing industrial development like Xinyi’s float glass proposal.