A Full Glass Week Approaches

In addition to finishing up work on the March USGlass Book of Lists (email me here if you still need information on submitting a form), I’ve been working on another list of sorts: my packing list. As I’m sure many of you are as well, I’m eagerly heading toward warmer weather this week for the upcoming Glass Week and Building Envelope Contractors (BEC) conferences, February 13-19, sponsored by the Glass Association of North America (GANA).

It’s going to be a long, busy week out in Las Vegas. While this will be my first year in attendance at BEC—an event I’m much looking forward to, as I’ve been speaking with a number of glazing contractors lately regarding their spots in the Book of Lists—I have some experience regarding Glass Week. One thing I recall from last year’s event is that I wasn’t the only newcomer. Last year marked the first meeting of the Fire-Rated Glazing Council, chaired by Jerry Razwick of Technical Glass Products. The council had set its sights on becoming a forum for communications on fire-rated glazing issues; developing technical resources for industry and design professionals; supporting the development, enhancement and maintenance of product standards and codes; and providing consensus on industry positions on fire-rated glazing issues to improve the knowledge and effectiveness of organizations and agencies interested in fire-rated glazing and fire-rated glazing code provisions.

Last year was also a first meeting for the Decorative Glass Division under elected chair Kris Vockler of ICD High Performance Coatings.

As I recall, last year’s Glass Week featured a presentation from Rachel Long of Hospitality Design magazine on decorative trends regarding glass. Her slide presentation was filled with images demonstrating high contrast between materials, such as a mix of textures and colors; chameleon materials; and the trend toward building green, with examples of how glass can let natural light into a space. Now I’m sure we’ve all noticed by now that the green “trend” has hardly slowed this year, but I’ll be interested to learn what this GANA division has to say about decorative glass trends and how they’ve changed or picked up steam in the last year.

Now, with a year of work under their belts, I’m looking forward to hearing the updates from these two groups, in addition to the latest news from the more seasoned GANA divisions.

CLICK HERE to read more about last year’s Glass Week conference. Otherwise be sure to stay tuned to USGNN.com™ for daily updates from this year’s event—whether you make it to Las Vegas or not!