Window and Door May-June 2012 : Page 12

The Latest/Special Report High Performance and More at Fensterbau/Frontale uremberg, Germany – Walking through the busy halls of Fensterbau/Frontale, the international trade fair held here in March, would indicate that demand for improved energy efﬁciency is accelerating in the European window and door industry. Triple glazing and thermally-improved framing systems of all types were evident throughout the booths of proﬁle suppliers and window and door manufacturers exhibiting at the show. More than 100,000 attendees gathered for the event, which from a North American perspective also featured some notable product introductions in ﬁnishes, hardware and equipment. Altogether, Fenster-bau featured nearly 800 exhibitors from 36 countries. As usual, the event was held in conjunction with Holz-Handwerk, a woodworking trade fair that featured almost 500 exhibitors, including many suppliers to the wood window and door manufacturing industry. One of the primary drivers of de-mand for the triple glazing and other ultra-energy-efﬁcient products on display at the NürnbergMesse would appear to be stringent criteria set forth by Germany’s Passivhaus Insti-tute. Labels and signs for “passivhaus certiﬁed” products with extremely low U-values were common. In the vinyl category, exhibitors were featuring window systems with foam and other insulating materi-als within the proﬁles. Additionally, companies were showing alternatives to metal reinforcements, including various composites. Veka AG, for example, was featuring a prototype framing system that not only featured insulating foam, but a ﬁber-reinforced vinyl proﬁle. Joe Peilert, president of Veka’s North American operations, reported that the outlook for higher performance “passivhaus” products is considered to be very strong in the European mar-12 | Window & Door | May 2012 N ket, although the actual sales are not quite there yet. The demand is com-ing, but at this point, he suggested, suppliers and manufacturers need to offer such options “to be credible on the energy efﬁciency front.” Enhanced framing systems—and passivhaus-certiﬁed labels—were not unique to vinyl product exhibitors. Aluminum proﬁle suppliers, as well as window and door manufactur-ers, were showing a wide variety of enhanced systems, including wide thermal breaks and proﬁles with mul-tiple struts. Wood window makers and component suppliers were also show-ing a variety of thermal enhancement options, including proﬁle hollows, foam inserts and composite materials. Another development evident in the vinyl arena was the launch of sev-eral new ﬁnish options. Schuco, the large German system supplier was highlighting an “automotive ﬁnish” technology. Vinyl laminate suppliers Hornschuch and Renolit were featur-ing expanded color offerings as well, including new metallic and textured ﬁnishes. These offerings will be particularly helpful for opening up the commer-cial market to more vinyl products, said Hornschuch’s Marco Peter-mann. American Renolit’s David Harris agreed, pointing to increased demand for architectural bronze and several other laminate options his ﬁrm offers. Windows said to meet “passivhaus” criteria were evident throughout the halls. Veka, below, was showing a prototype high-performance system featuring a ﬁber-reinforced proﬁle. New technologies to speed vinyl welding were featured by Stürtz, above, and Rotox. HARDWARE The push for energy efﬁciency with ever more stringent codes is also inﬂuencing hardware world-wide, reported Chris Dimou, who heads up Roto Frank of America. A global hardware supplier, Roto is seeing sash and door panel weights increase considerably in Europe as companies look move to more triple glazing. For North American attend-ees at the show, he suggested that lift/slide and folding hardware geared to larger, heavier panels in wider opening doors was attracting the most attention. Roto’s lift/slide system was enjoying particular success, he noted, because it doesn’t lift up the panel, instead raising the gasket. This makes the handle easier to operate and still allows panels to move easily. As in North Amerca, wide open-ing systems lift/slide and folding systems continue to gain momen-tum in Europe, he noted. That trend

Special Report

High Performance and More at Fensterbau/Frontale Nuremberg, Germany– Walking through the busy halls of Fensterbau/Frontale, the international trade fair held here in March, would indicate that demand for improved energy efficiency is accelerating in the European window and door industry. Triple glazing and thermally-improved framing systems of all types were evident throughout the booths of profile suppliers and window and door manufacturers exhibiting at the show. More than 100,000 attendees gathered for the event, which from a North American perspective also featured some notable product introductions in finishes, hardware and equipment. Altogether, Fensterbau featured nearly 800 exhibitors from 36 countries. As usual, the event was held in conjunction with Holz-Handwerk, a woodworking trade fair that featured almost 500 exhibitors, including many suppliers to the wood window and door manufacturing industry. One of the primary drivers of demand for the triple glazing and other ultra-energy-efficient products on display at the NürnbergMesse would appear to be stringent criteria set forth by Germany's Passivhaus Institute. Labels and signs for "passivhaus certified" products with extremely low U-values were common. In the vinyl category, exhibitors were featuring window systems with foam and other insulating materials within the profiles. Additionally, companies were showing alternatives to metal reinforcements, including various composites. Veka AG, for example, was featuring a prototype framing system that not only featured insulating foam, but a fiber-reinforced vinyl profile. Joe Peilert, president of Veka's North American operations, reported that the outlook for higher performance "passivhaus" products is considered to be very strong in the European market, although the actual sales are not quite there yet. The demand is coming, but at this point, he suggested, suppliers and manufacturers need to offer such options "to be credible on the energy efficiency front." Enhanced framing systems–and passivhaus-certified labels–were not unique to vinyl product exhibitors. Aluminum profile suppliers, as well as window and door manufacturers, were showing a wide variety of enhanced systems, including wide thermal breaks and profiles with multiple struts. Wood window makers and component suppliers were also showing a variety of thermal enhancement options, including profile hollows, foam inserts and composite materials. Another development evident in the vinyl arena was the launch of several new finish options. Schuco, the large German system supplier was highlighting an "automotive finish" technology. Vinyl laminate suppliers Hornschuch and Renolit were featuring expanded color offerings as well, including new metallic and textured finishes. These offerings will be particularly helpful for opening up the commercial market to more vinyl products, said Hornschuch's Marco Peter-mann. American Renolit's David Harris agreed, pointing to increased demand for architectural bronze and several other laminate options his firm offers. HARDWARE The push for energy efficiency with ever more stringent codes is also influencing hardware worldwide, reported Chris Dimou, who heads up Roto Frank of America. A global hardware supplier, Roto is seeing sash and door panel weights increase considerably in Europe as companies look move to more triple glazing. For North American attendees at the show, he suggested that lift/slide and folding hardware geared to larger, heavier panels in wider opening doors was attracting the most attention. Roto's lift/slide system was enjoying particular success, he noted, because it doesn't lift up the panel, instead raising the gasket. This makes the handle easier to operate and still allows panels to move easily. As in North Amerca, wide opening systems lift/slide and folding systems continue to gain momentum in Europe, he noted. That trend was evident in the booths of several hardware suppliers, including Australia's Brio, which recently opened operations in the U.S. and made its Fensterbau debut this year. Siegenia, represented here by Interlock USA,, featured a variety of door hardware systems, including an electronically driven system with the sash frame embedded into the floor and header to offer the look of an all-glass system. Electronically-powered hardware was evident throughout the show. Both suppliers and door manufacturers were featuring fingerprint-activated locking systems in their products. Jon Walker of Yale Door & Window Hardware Solutions, formerly known as Paddock Fabrication, noted that German market is willing to pay significantly more for entry doors, making the cost of the hardware easier to swallow. Based in the UK, his firm was showing a new electronic lock that opened with the entry of a code on a numeric keypad. The battery-powered unit is designed to require no additional wiring. He described as a more affordable option, which should have potential in North America. Most of the window hardware at the show is geared toward tilt/turn and other European style products, and often applicable to limited segments of the market in North America. One technology that could translate easily to products here, however, was an antimicrobial coating featured on handles in the Hoppe booth. The company sees demand for applications such as schools and hospitals, reported Jeff Shehalis of Hoppe North America. He expressed even more enthusiasm, however, for a broadening line of handle designs, including new cast aluminum options, which he predicts will attract interest in the U.S. market. NEW EQUIPMENT One of the biggest draws for North Americans to the German show is equipment. Once again, the event featured two full halls primarily devoted primarily to vinyl and aluminum fabricating equipment, while Holz-Handwerk, the woodworking show Fensterbau is paired with at the NürnbergMesse, featured woodworking equipment throughout most of its halls. Perhaps most noteworthy of the new technologies on display for the North American window industry were advancements at Stürtz and Ro-tox booths in vinyl welding technologies. A new high-temperature welding system will significantly reduce weld times for European producers of tilt/ turn windows, reported Mike Biffl, from Stürtz's operation in the U.S. Rotox, meanwhile, was highlighting a new welding head system incorporating CNC technology for much greater precision and speed, in addition to allowing a higher welding temperature. The firm's Joe Sigmund said the CNC welding heads, now available for North American machines, can increase output of the four-point machines by as much as 20 percent. Among the other large equipment suppliers at the show, Urban was featuring a variety of new equipment geared to European manufacturers. Much of the emphasis in that market is on reduced handling, reported Mitchell Hackbert, who is with Urban in Canada. As a result, the supplier showcased a system that automatically unloads frame and sash components from the corner cleaner and buffers them in racks to be mated with glass units coming from a similar system. Of note to North American customers, he added, was a new corner cleaning machine with a flexible tooling system that enables to not only clean corners quickly, but perform additional processing requirements. Stiles Machinery, which distributes a wide variety of woodworking equipment in the U.S., has increased its focus on machinery for the window and door industry in recent years. As a result, it was touting a number of CNC routers and other machines in the Homag booth at this year's show and also brought a tour group of North American customers to the show. Stiles is also stepping up its efforts to service not only wood window and door makers, but producers of other types of products, reported the supplier's Erik Delaney. He said the distributor now plans to offer profile processing lines from Schirmer, another exhibitor at the show. Its automated equipment is primarily targeted at aluminum and vinyl profiles. More information about the next event, scheduled for March 26-29, 2014, is available at www.fensterbau.

Previous Page Next Page

Publication List
Using a screen reader? Click Here