The Show Can’t Go On
August 14th, 2020 | Category: Architects' Guide to Glass and MetalWhat We Would Have Seen at AIA 2020
Daily life around the world changed this spring as COVID-19 spread quickly across the globe. Deciding whether or not to move forward was a challenging decision for event organizers to make before mandates came down from local and federal governments.
Among other events, the industry was scheduled for a trip to Los Angeles in May for the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Conference on Architecture 2020. Even though exhibitors and attendees can’t be there in person to see the products companies have worked so hard to bring to market, we can practice some physical distancing and take a little tour of the show floor here in the pages of Architects’ Guide to Glass & Metal.
Guardian Puts Birds First
Guardian Bird1st glass offers a balance of solar performance, aesthetics and bird safety with a patent-pending UV stripe coating on the first surface that visually signals an impending barrier to birds and helps prevent collisions. The patent-pending UV stripe is virtually invisible to the human eye in dry conditions, according to the company, which creates unimpeded views while helping to protect birds. Paired with select Guardian SunGuard low-E coatings, Bird1st glass may help a project earn LEED Pilot Credit 55 and Toronto Green Standard Bird Collision Deterrence standards.
With an acceptable Avoidance Index score from the American Bird Conservancy, the product follows the 2×2 rule to account for different sizes and species of birds.
Petersen’s New Rib
Petersen was ready to unveil its four new Box Rib wall panels featuring 87-degree rib angles and a variety of rib spacing patterns. The Box Rib architectural wall panels are 1 3/8-inches deep with a nominal width of 12 inches. Each of the Box Rib profiles is offered in a no-clip (fastener flange) option, or a clip-fastened panel to accommodate thermal expansion and contraction. They are marketed as suitable for most nonresidential applications, as well as residential buildings. The Box Rib panels are part of Petersen’s PAC-CLAD Precision Series line of wall panels, which means they can be mixed with the seven Precision Series Highline wall cladding products to create a wide variety of custom patterns for a building’s exterior. They can be installed horizontally or vertically.The Box Rib panels are available in 24- and 22-gauge steel, .032 and .040 aluminum in 45 standard PAC-CLAD colors, and Galvalume Plus.
Vitro’s Vision for Solarban
At the Vitro booth, visitors would have seen Solarban Acuity glass by Vitro Architectural Glass, marketed as “upgrade[d] clarity compared to coated clear glass” while meeting energy and code performance criteria. Combining the Acuity low-iron glass, which is 60% less green than clear glass, with any Solarban low-E coating, raises the price of total installed curtainwall costs $1-2 per square foot over a low-E coated clear insulating glass unit, Vitro says.
YKK AP Makes an Impact with a Low Threshold
YKK AP will launch its impact-rated low threshold sliding glass door this year, to give architects and contractors material needed to incorporate accessible design into projects built for impact or hurricane resistance.
Available with multiple features and configurations, this sliding glass door includes the option to install the frame at accessibility compliant height without burying the sill in the substrate.
The YSD 600 TUH is also designed to provide maximum energy performance and occupant comfort with YKK AP’s patented ThermaBond Plus thermal break technology, according to the company. Using the company’s MegaTherm aluminum framing system instead of steel, the sliding glass door offers performance and durability by saving energy and reducing condensation.
To view the laid-in version of this article in our digital edition, CLICK HERE.
