Glass Technology News For The Window Cleaner

Infomercial ruined by the most breakable “unbreakable” glass ever: The hosts in this video are touting a bit of unbreakable glass that’s part of their grill product. Small problem: The glass might be the most breakable thing ever. Oops.

Vandal Shield repels vandals but welcomes visitors: A sports and youth centre in the North West has found the ideal security solution – a lightweight window shield that repels vandals yet retains the building’s inviting aspect to visitors. Copley Young Persons Centre in Tameside has fitted 2317m2 Vandal Shield on two large glass elevations of its new extension, which opened in June 2010. The building offers a range of child and youth services, as well as outreach work with community groups and families – so it was important to make it vandal proof, yet keep its open and welcoming look. “The centre was not a particular target for vandals before the extension went up, but there was concern over the potential for attacks, with the large amount of glass used. Without Vandal Shield, the project simply would not have gone ahead,” explained Lindsey Thomson, project team leader for the centre. “Because of the materials used in the design of the building, we needed a lightweight system, and this was the only one that was suitable.

“It protects the building but does not put people off using it, which is very important in a facility of this type, which needs to continue engaging with the whole community. We needed a solution that was unobtrusive, and allowed the glass to do its job of allowing plenty of light into the building.” Vandal Shield, from Manchester firm Fingershield Safety (UK), fitted the bill perfectly. From a distance, it looks like tinted glass but the durable perforated galvanised steel mesh, set in an extruded aluminium frame, provides a tough physical barrier to vandals, yet lets in maximum light.  Vandal Shield is designed to complement existing windows, whether modern or classical, and can be mounted in front of or behind existing windows, in a range of different coloured frames. It is more cost effective than re-glazing, an increasingly expensive solution. The product is recommended by police crime prevention officers and has been fitted in a number of public buildings across the country, including schools and churches.

The riots at Millbank Tower shows protesters destroying windows. Business owners are responsible for keeping their glass safe, it's the law. Most readers will have seen the striking photograph on most newspaper front-pages of a rioting student demonstrator kicking in a window at Millbank Tower. To most observers, this was an act of reckless violence. But to any business premise owner, the image of how the broken glass actually stayed relatively intact after being shattered tells another story. The remarkable fact is, despite press coverage being full of reports of broken glass, no one was seriously injured or killed by a lethal shard of glass. This was not down to luck. It was down to a micro-thin technology that all business premise owners should be aware of – safety window film.

Ever since 1992, when Health, Safety and Welfare Regulation 14 came into force, business premise owners have been required to ensure that “every window or other transparent or translucent surface in a wall, partition, door or gate should, where necessary for reasons of health or safety, be of a safety material or be protected against breakage of the transparent or translucent material; and be appropriately marked or incorporate features to make it apparent.” This regulation, designed to protect building occupants as well as passersby, applies to a wide range of workplaces including offices, shops, schools, hospitals, hotels and places of entertainment. In other words, the business owner is responsible for keeping their glass safe, or they could be held liable and face legal consequences if someone gets hurt or killed due to poor safety practices.

Last year, the media reported the death of a young man who died after cutting himself when he threw his girlfriend through the front window of a well-known high street retailer. Many of us will also have seen the newspaper photographs of the windowpane that fell dozens of stories onto Old Broad Street, narrowly missing passersby. With the 2012 Olympics around the corner, let’s not forget the growing threat of terrorism – almost 90 percent of all injuries from a bomb blast are related to flying glass, rather than the blast itself. Millbank Tower was built in 1963. Like most British business premises it was built before 1992, when Regulation 14 came into force. Fortunately, the owners of the building took the necessary steps to retrofit safety window film, which kept both the baying mob and our brave boys in blue safe. Although retrofitting safety window film is a relatively inexpensive and unobtrusive process, most business premises are not up to scratch when it comes to glass safety. The main advice is this: before taking on a new lease, prospective tenants should seriously question the landlord whether the property meets Regulation 14.

NanaWall Systems, the leader in large opening glass walls, announces the introduction of its newest product: NanaGlass SL25. NanaGlass SL25 has evolved from the European concept of balcony glazing and provides developers and builders advanced architectural technology for energy-efficiency and expanded living spaces. The NanaGlass SL25 is a frameless opening glass wall system installed on the exterior of balconies, patios, and under second-story decks to create a pleasant living area sheltered from the elements. With no vertical stiles, the NanaGlass system provides uninterrupted views and natural light while forming an insulating air pocket over the building facade. The NanaGlass panels easily slide wide open and stack to one or both sides for natural ventilation on a beautiful day or quickly close to protect the balcony, deck or patio from wind, rain, pests, and birds. The NanaGlass individual sliding panels are top-supported in a single track and can ride a fixed balcony railing or extend all the way to the floor. The NanaGlass SL25 1/2 inch glass panels are engineered to withstand wind loads up to 80 stories in 90 mile-per-hour wind zones. A NanaGlass system installed on a high-rise balcony transforms unusable windy space into a pleasant year-round entertaining area and adds immediate collateral value to the unit.

Glass: Newest material for extra-sturdy homes - Simon Parrish says he has spent about 20 years developing a method of housing construction that can stand up to just about anything. Now, he is letting the rest of the world know about it. Parrish is production director for the Ambiente brand of manufactured housing. Ambiente is a division of Abersham Commercial Services LLC, based in the Town of Brookfield, Wis. A key ingredient of Ambiente's houses is waste glass. In a process that was developed and eventually brought to market by Parrish and his father, Malcolm, waste glass is transformed into a very fine powder similar to sand. It is then combined with a resin to form reinforced wall sections that are resistant to fire, water and mold. They are also engineered to withstand hurricanes and earthquakes. "It's absolutely the best material to make a house from," Simon Parrish said. The process is also environmentally friendly. "Each house has 13 tons of waste glass in it," he said. There is no wood or metal in the house. Channels for plumbing and electrical wiring are built into the panels. Once manufactured, houses are shipped out as kits to be assembled at a construction site.

Glass company invests $2.6 million in NLAB Solar’s cheap, transparent solar cells: NLAB Solar just landed an investment of $2.6 million from Fasadglas Bäcklin, Scandinavia’s largest glass facade company. NLAB Solar manufactures energy-producing dye-sensitized solar cells (DSC). The cells which can be integrated into transparent and colored facades such as those produced by Fasadglas. The funding will be used to accelerate product development in NLAB’s new plant in Stockholm.

DSC operate in a similar manner to photosynthesis in plants. In nature a dye called chlorophyll, which gives plants their green colour, absorbs solar energy. That energy is used to convert carbon dioxide into sugars which feed the plant. DSC cells use an artificial dye to absorb the energy in sunlight. Most solar cells available today are based on silicon. When sunlight hits the silicon, electrons flow through the material to produce electricity. Although DSC has a lower efficiency rate than silicon cells, it can be made transparent and produced in different colors, which explains Fasadglas’s interest in the technology. The DSC film can be built into windows and building facades where sun shading film is normally used. Based on an energy efficiency of 5.1 percent, one meter of glass facade in Stockholm (1000 hours of sun per year), could provide electricity for approximately one square meter of office space. NLAB aims for 4 percent efficiency in transparent cells for window applications in urban environments.

DSC cells also have other advantages such as higher efficiency under low and angled light conditions. DSC cells are much cheaper to manufacture than silicon since they do not require pure silicon as a raw material or the related complex manufacturing equipment. NLAB Solar’s twist on DSC technology is to add a one-dimensional photonic crystal (1DPC). This is a transparent mirror placed inside the DSC that reflects certain wavelengths of light back through the dye layer. This increases the number of photons striking the dye and leads to higher efficiency. The company claims to have seen a 37 percent improvement over standard DSC, which would improve the efficiency from 4 percent to approximately 5.5 percent.

The global market for Flat Glass is projected to exceed 34 million metric tons by 2015. The industry that was hard hit by the global economic meltdown is gradually witnessing signs of recovery, particularly led by economic growth in developing countries. Huge governmental stimulus subsequent to the economic turmoil coupled with high construction activity in the developing world is expected to fuel future growth in the global flat glass market. The industry is also deriving growth from new smart-glass products such as electrochromic, switchable glass, self-cleaning window glass and heads-up display windscreens.

What to do with the Gardiner Expressway? Whether it be tearing it down and replacing it with tunnel or a widened Lake Shore Boulevard or its conversion into an elevated park reminiscent of New York's High Line, it's one of those pieces of infrastructure that continually sparks debate amongst architects, city planners, politicians and residents. Although a Waterfront Toronto environmental assessment to evaluate the proposed removal of a portion of the expressway that runs between Jarvis Street and the DVP got underway in March of 2009, that hasn't put a stop to the novel alternatives that continue to be tossed around. Last year, Les Klein's Green Ribbon plan (pictured above) to turn the expressway into an elevated park was cause for much discussion -- both positive and critical -- but another plan from around the same time has flown a bit under the radar. In an October 2009 article in The Bulletin, Michael Comstock, president of the Toronto Association of BIAs, wrote about architect Peter Michno's proposal to enclose the Gardiner in a glass dome. Without many renderings readily available online, however, it never garnered the attention that Klein's idea enjoyed.

A Window That Can Tint Itself: We've seen windows that can serve as solar panels, and thanks RavenBrick we now have windows that can become tinted based on the temperature. The company has developed a type of glass that can change it's tint based on the temperature outside. So when it becomes hot and sunny, the windows will become darker allowing less sunlight to come in, thus reducing the amount of air conditioning necessary to keep a building or a home cool. The windows are able to do this by using what the company describes as a "an organic, nontoxic polymer which changes its molecular structure in response to temperature." It's actually a filter that's placed between two panes of glass and it can be adjusted to suit the needs of one particular location.

A window into the future - Here’s a futuristic notion: Windows that darken on hot sunny days to block heat and glare, clear  up on cool or cloudy days to allow in sunlight and warmth, save lots of energy, eliminate the need for blinds or shades and, most important, allow people indoors to be connected all the time to the natural world. This may sound like magic, but electrochromic windows are here today. You can see them, above, at the student center at Chabot College in Hayward, CA. They’re made by a small Minnesota-based company called SAGE Electrochromics, which is about to get bigger: This week,  SAGE announced that it sold 50% of itself for $80 million to  Saint-Gobain, a global building materials firm based in  France. Until they worked out their deal,  SAGE and Saint-Gobain had been competing to develop windows that would electronically control the sun’s energy that flows through them. Also here.

Germany closes famous glass dome at Berlin's Reichstag to visitors as terror fears mount: Last week the interior minister announced 'concrete indications' of a terror plot about to come to fruition. Security spiked at all major airports and railway stations across Germany. Police believe at least two members of a jihadi hit squad are in Berlin. Al Qaeda and associated Islamist groups are planning to take hostages and fire at people in the Reichstag, said news magazine Der Spiegel, citing intelligence sources. News of the plot reportedly came from a jihadist who contacted the German authorities.

Governments worldwide have successively established their own energy-efficient standards for buildings, and implemented a variety of policies to promote energy-efficient building materials, which has greatly boosted the application of low emissivity (Low-E) glass. The sales of Low-E glass worldwide grew rapidly during 1990-2005, and exceeded 250 million m2 in 2005, with a CAGR of around 18%. Currently, Low-E glass is widely applied in developed countries. The utilization rate of Low-E glass is 92% in Germany, 90% in South Korea and 75% in Poland. While in China, the penetration rate of energy-efficient glass is only 10%, and the Low-E glass' 8%. Therefore, China will have a large space for the development of Low-E glass in the future, and will see rapid growth of Low-E glass in the coming years. It is projected that a total of 148 million m2 of Low-E glass will be applied in the public and residential buildings by 2012.

New Energy Technologies, Inc. today announced plans to advance its efforts to commercialize the Company's novel SolarWindow(TM) technology, in order to accelerate to-market the 'first-of-its-kind' product capable of generating electricity on see-thru glass windows. Electrical power is generated on glass by spraying New Energy's SolarWindow(TM) coatings onto surfaces using commercially available equipment. Through the Company's patent-pending process, company researchers spray SolarWindow(TM) coatings onto glass at room temperature, eliminating expensive and often cumbersome high-temperature or high-vacuum production methods typically used by current solar manufacturers. Unique to SolarWindow(TM), glass surfaces remain see-thru, and generate electricity in both natural and artificial light conditions. In artificial light, New Energy's SolarWindow(TM) technology outperforms today's commercial solar and thin-films by as much as 10-fold under low-intensity irradiance. This feature was recently demonstrated at a public unveiling of SolarWindow(TM).

Bird Friendly Glass + Other Window Cleaning News

Window collisions kill between 100 million and 1 billion birds each year in the United States. NanaWall Systems, the leader in large opening glass walls, is the first operable glass wall company in North America to offer bird-protection glass that is not discernible to the human eye. The Bird-Protection Ornilux® glass includes ultraviolet patterns that make the glass visible to birds but still transparent to humans. “Collisions with glass take a horrific and deadly toll on birds every day, with home windows responsible for hundreds of millions of bird deaths. While there are effective tools such as window film, shutters, grilles, decals and painted patterns that can make existing glass more visible to birds, manufacturers have been slow to produce glass products for new construction, designed to be safe for birds.
Though people can recognize the difference between reflections and reality, birds do not. Unknowingly, they fly full-speed into the glass and make an impact. For years, ornithologists have been looking for an architectural solution for preventing or reducing bird deaths from glass impacts. NanaWall is the first folding glass wall manufacturer to provide this glass with their systems in the United States. “I first heard about the issue of bird safety and glass about five years ago from one of our customers,” said Ebrahim Nana, president of NanaWall Systems. “Since then, NanaWall Systems has been looking for a solution around the world. This spring, I was introduced to the Ornilux bird-protection glass in Germany and immediately started working to make it available to architects, builders, cities and homeowners that use the NanaWall in conventional and “green” buildings. We are proud to offer the NanaWall with Ornilux Glass to provide an architectural solution so that “green buildings” can incorporate bird-safe glass and bird-safe architecture.”
NanaWall Systems is the exclusive North American partner of Solarlux, Germany, the world leader in operable glass wall technology. NanaWall Systems’ opening glass walls provide flexible solutions to large architectural openings, from 8 feet to 320 feet and are used in houses, condominiums, restaurants, stadiums, schools and more. Nine of the NanaWall systems have been rated, certified and labeled in accordance with National Fenestration Rating Council 100/200. Depending on the system selected and glass options, Energy Star U value and SHGC requirements for all climate zones can be met. The NanaWall is unrivaled in the industry for exceeding standards for air infiltration, water penetration, structural performance and forced entry. The NanaWall SL72 aluminum folding system is Miami-Dade County approved and can be used in hurricane areas. NanaWall Systems is a member of the U.S. Green Building Association. The aluminum-framed NanaWall uses recyclable aluminum with non-toxic powder-coated finishes.
American Bird Conservancy conserves native birds and their habitats throughout the Americas by safeguarding the rarest species, conserving and restoring habitats, and reducing threats while building capacity of the bird conservation movement. Dr. Daniel Klem Daniel Klem, Jr. is Professor of Biology, and Sarkis Acopian Professor of Ornithology and Conservation Biology in the Department of Biology, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pennsylvania. He earned his Ph.D. at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. For 35 years, beginning with his dissertation and continuing to present, he has studied and published extensively on the relationship between birds and windows.

Bogus official targets elderly women: A trickster conned an elderly woman into handing over £60 by posing as a window cleaner. The man knocked on several doors in Mirfield before persuading the woman into giving him money from her purse. The bogus official called at homes in Dunbottle Lane on the afternoon of Monday June 7. He was white, in his 30s, around 5ft 4in, with short dark curly hair. He wore trousers and a jacket. Now police are urging homeowners in Dewsbury and Mirfield to be on their guard. PC Lyndsey Nelson said: "It is a sad fact of life that opportunist thieves will target the most vulnerable members of our community and it is those people we would ask to be especially vigilant. "Don't let anyone into your property that you are not expecting to call." She said homeowners should not be afraid to ask for ID and ring the company if they are still unsure. Phone PC Nelson on 0845 6060606 or Crimestoppers in confidence on 0800 555 111.

Local window cleaning gave scratches and dirt: Municipal cleaning company FAMI said although they were not professionals, that they would scrub the glass panes of the windows with a green pad - this was a surprise! The municipality has received a letter with serious complaints from Anna Eråker, new owner of the guesthouse Slöinge. Since the weather was not suitable for window cleaning on the house when she took over in January as part of the agreement that the former owner would pay for the work at a later date. The previous owner had hired FAMI, the municipal labor and induction unit, to get the job done, and a group of five guys came into the house one day in May. First they had to borrow a squeegee when they had not brought equipment, since it turned out that they used the green side of the kitchen sponge to scrub, thus scratching the glass panes. It was simply obvious to the homeowner that the window cleaners could never have cleaned windows before.
The supervisor agreed with her that the job had not been well done: I suggested that they should use microfiber cloths, but when I said that, they admitted they did not know much about window cleaning, "says Anna Eråker. After that statement, she lost confidence in the group, and asked them to complete their mission. After they had left there was a huge mess in the house, a bottle of window cleaner had been among the items, the dining table was scratched, there were also black hand prints on the freshly painted doors, which was later painted over, and so on. Fisnik Kycykailu is a supervisor at FAMI, and he has also been in contact with home owners. He would not really comment on the matter because he believes that there is a question of lack of communication between the house's current and previous owners. But how about the statement that the supervisor was unable to verify the work because he has to make sure that the guys would not steal? "But we have never said that they are professional window cleaners who we send." Eråker Anna says that she is primarily looking to get any financial compensation for the shortcomings of the work, "but an apology, I would have liked!"

Youngsters increasingly earning money through domestic cleaning: Almost one in five youngsters is earning money by completing tasks such as window cleaning, new research reveals. According to a report from Santander Current Accounts, 18 per cent (three-quarters of a million) of 10 to 15-year-olds are generating profits of over £400 million a year by carrying out tasks such as car washing, gardening and general cleaning. These traditional house cleaning jobs are helping children and teenagers earn an average of over £46 a month, or £550 a year, which adds up to a collective £426 million per annum. The new BBC spin-off show Junior Apprentice is giving youngsters even more inspiration to earn their own money, the survey found.
Helen Bierton, head of Santander Current Accounts, said it is good to see so many youngsters starting to earn their own money from an early age. "It's also good to see so many parents encouraging their children to have some financial independence," she added. Youngsters could see their earnings increase even more, as the hourly rate of cleaning professionals is set to go up by 25p, after Conservative mayor Boris Johnson recently announced an increase to the London Living Wage. He stressed that the increase is necessary to acknowledge the hard work of London's cleaning staff and other workers who carry out the city's esential functions.

Todd Harshman, president of Fish Window Cleaning in Lakewood, Ohio, decided to go into business for himself after being downsized out of corporate America. He didn't want to waste a lot of time doing things the wrong way so he enlisted the services of a franchise consultant. Buying a franchise worked for Todd because the business plan is already written and proven. Todd liked the Fish Window cleaning franchise because the franchisees seemed happy and the founder is a 'tremendous guy,' according to Todd. You may be thinking it's just window cleaning but to Todd it's much more than that. With 80% of their business in the commercial realm, Todd sells the idea that clean windows tell prospective customers that the business owner is proud of their business and that details matter. It also indicates that the business is well run and efficient. Many potential customers willmake a first impression before they even walk through the door. So, having clean windows can make all the difference in the world!
Fish's differentiator is umatched customer service backed by an unconditional satisfaction guarantee. And they must be doing something right because they received the 'Commitment to Excellence' award in 2007. When asked what words of advice Todd has for aspiring entrepreneurs he strongly suggests having a plan, writing it down, working it, and updating it regularly. He adds that if it isn't working, rewrite it. Don't just go off and fly by the seat of your pants. I can tell you that this is a step many people miss. This and that once they have the plan in writing they don't work it! Staying on track is essential to success. Having a written plan that you consult daily and update as needed will keep you on a forward moving path.

Glass firm secures £10m solar panel deal: Glass firm Romag has been awarded a £10.2m contract by North-East based Community Energy Solutions (CES) to provide solar photovoltaic (PV) modules and roof mount kits. The contract was awarded to Romag, based near Consett, County Durham, after it beat 12 other bidders in a European Tendering Process. CES is a non-profit organisation and the photovoltaic equipment will be used in approximately 2000 PV systems in homes and properties across the North East, Yorkshire and Humberside that will be installed within the next two years.

PPG Industries will showcase new Clarvista™ shower glass as well as an expanded portfolio of residential low-emissivity glasses at the 2010 GlassBuild America: The Glass, Window & Door Expo in Las Vegas, Sept. 14-16. Clarvista glass is made with a coating technology that seals the glass surface, making it resistant to corrosion caused by heat, humidity and household cleaning products. With regular maintenance, Clarvista glass looks newer longer than other shower glass products. PPG will display its complete line of residential low-e glass products including Solarban(R) 70XL glass, the industry’s highest-performing solar control, low-e glass. Two new residential products, Solarban 65 and Sungate® 400 glasses, also will be exhibited, as well as Intercept® ULTRA insulating spacers. Formulated as a value alternative to Solarban 70XL and Solarban 60 glasses, Solarban 65 glass is a double-silver, solar control, low-e glass. Sungate 400 glass is a passive low-e glass developed for window makers and homebuilders seeking to meet Canadian ENERGY STAR statutes. It is well-suited for use in northern U.S. climates as well. The insulating performance of Solarban 65 and Sungate 400 glasses can be further enhanced in window systems that feature Intercept ULTRA Stainless “warm-edge” insulating spacers, which offer industry-leading thermal performance along with superior gas retention, strength and flexibility.

Halfway through his answer, Justin Cronin stops, eyes wide, and points to the far side of the room, where a window washer has just hoisted himself down into view. “I could never do that: I’m afraid of heights,” he says, eyes locked on the man suspended in mid-air like a spider. He becomes aware that the man is only three stories off the ground, but remains unconvinced. “Three would make me vomit in sheer terror.” It’s good to know that Cronin, the man responsible for one of the creepiest books of 2010, is at least afraid of something. If you haven’t yet heard of Cronin’s 766-page Homeric novel, The Passage, you will.

Since ‘Reifen’ means ‘tyres’ in German, IMG's objective was to run ‘www.reifen.eu’ as an internet portal for trading in tyres. All in all, IMG played tricks like this in respect of 180 domain names, all consisting of generic terms. Schlicht was proprietor of the Benelux word mark ‘Reifen’ for to ‘bleaching preparations and other substances for laundry use; cleaning preparations, in particular, cleaning preparations containing nanoparticles for cleaning window surfaces’ and ‘services which facilitate the marketing of such cleaning agents’. He tried to register a Community word mark Reifen for the same goods and services, planning to market on a pan-European basis cleaning products for surfaces akin to window glass. Schlicht's mark is based on the first three letters of the German words ‘Reinigung’ (cleaning) and ‘Fenster’ (window). Schlicht challenged IMG's registration of ‘www.reifen.eu’ before the Arbitration Court, which upheld his complaint, withdrew that domain name from IMG and transferred it to him, taking the view that the character ‘&’ contained within a trade mark was not to be eliminated but had to be rewritten.

Hodder signs celebrity wife Mrs Fry: Hodder & Stoughton has acquired the "top-secret diaries" of Mrs Stephen Fry, revealing the comedian's secret double life as a womanising window cleaner, whose main loves in life are karaoke and kebabs. Edna Fry, who has more than 56,000 followers on Twitter, regularly recounts the details of life with her scandalous husband and five, six or possibly seven children. The diaries follow a year in the life of "an unwitting celebrity wife". "We’re thrilled to represent Mrs. Stephen Fry, who fascinates the office with unexpected insights into life with her husband, an enigmatic window cleaner. I am also delighted by the regular deliveries of her Spam-based food parcels." The book will be published in hardback this Christmas, and Hodder is planning to pitch for general humour promotions.