Greetings from Dallas

While this morning’s flight to Dallas was relatively uneventful (at least the parts I was awake for), I’m sure that the same can’t be said of the reason I’m here. The Glass Association of North America (GANA) is holding its Fall Conference at the Wyndham Hotel here in Dallas, starting with this afternoon’s meeting of the Fire-Rated Glazing Council.

This afternoon's meeting is one I've been looking forward to since wrapping up the August issue of USGlass. It had given me an opportunity to learn more about an item on this afternoon's agenda, the labeling of fire-rated glazing materials - but also an opportunity to speak to a number of the individuals present here at this meeting. One of the things I'd been told repeatedly was that although this topic has been under much discussion of late, it's only one item of interest in this specific area. (To learn about some of those other items, keep an eye on USGNN tomorrow and Wednesday!)

This is a group that certainly knows how to get down to business, so I know there will be plenty to report. We’ll have to wait and see the highlights the meetings are sure to hold, but there is one highlight set on the schedule. Russ Huffer of Apogee Enterprises is set to discuss “The State of the Glass and Glazing Industry” during tomorrow’s breakfast. I’ll be particularly interested to hear what he says as I’ve just recently finished up an article along those lines for the September issue of USGlass; that is, what is in the future for the architectural glass industry.

Of course part of that was the question of whether or not there is in fact a glass shortage on the horizon. The glass manufacturers with whom I spoke suggested that there are indications of a shortage in the future. Meanwhile, a few of the contract glaziers interviewed for a follow-up article clearly have seen no such signs. Please share your input by sending me an email or leaving your comments here.