The construction subcommittee of the Tempering Division and the Insulating Division of the Glass Association of North America, Topeka, Kan., addressed a continuing problem of the use of metal scrapers by window cleaners during the association’s fall conference Sept. 12-14 at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta.

Scrapers can cause serious scratches on tempered glass, thought to be caused by the presence of fabricating debris on the surface. Alternative cleaning methods as well as an increased use of protective films on glass can protect the glass surface from such scratches, subcommittee members said.

The construction subcommittee discussed a dearth of industry education in the scraper and glass industries Sept. 13 and formed a task group to develop a glass cleaning bulletin. Cliff Monroe, senior technical manager for Arch Aluminum & Glass Co. in Tamarac, Fla., will head the task group.

Mike Burk, product manager, Edgetech I.G., Cambridge, Ohio, gave a presentation Sept. 14 to the Insulating Division titled Protecting Exterior Fenestration and Glazing Surfaces With Applied Coatings.

Burk discussed post-construction cleanup during which scrapers can scratch the glass because of microscopic imperfections inherent to tempered glass. Burk showed examples of various coatings that can be applied to the glass to protect it from paint, concrete and other debris.

“We have to encourage protection of the product during construction,” said Greg Carney, technical director of GANA, Topeka, Kan. “It [glass] gets to the job site and is absolutely abused.”

The Fire Rated Glazing Council, which had its inaugural meeting at Glass Week in January, also had a lively discussion about education Sept. 12.

Carney said fire-rated glass is an area that many glazing contractors find to be complicated. Chairman Jerry Razwick of Technical Glass Products, Kirkland, Wash., asked how the council could educate industry members in the same manner as other GANA divisions. A six-person committee was established to create a wish list that will be prioritized by the council during Glass Week in February 2008.

Earlier, Thom Zaremba, Pilkington, Toledo, Ohio, discussed proposed changes in a number of building codes that deal with height and area tables as well as two-hour fire-resistant rating on a no-bearing wall.

“It’s going to be an extraordinarily active year in first-rated glazing,” Zaremba said.

Read full coverage of the conference in the October issue of Glass Magazine.

—By Matt Slovick, Editor-in-Chief, Glass Magazine, and Katy Devlin, e-Newsletter, Editor

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