Clearview Midlands November 2013 - Issue 144 | Page 4

FROMTHEEDITOR

HOPE AND OPTIMISM
I’d like to open this, the November issue of Clearview,
by congratulating GM Fundraising’s Hope 66 Team, and
indeed all those who supported them with sponsorship
and donations, on successful completion of their
epic challenge and smashing the £150,000 target.
A considerable amount of time and
dedication has been put into this
ambitious charity fundraiser and everyone
involved should be duly commended for
their efforts. Get the full story on page
25 and find out how Quickslide helped
to boost the final tally with its own UKbased activities on page 14, proving just
exactly what we can achieve when we all
pull together.
Equally encouraging is the report from
installer support body, CPA, which reveals
an optimistic outlook among installers
on the glass and glazing industry and
the economy as a whole on page 24.
Look out for the exclusive article giving
a more in-depth analysis of the findings

in our December issue. This optimism
is corroborated by the various reports of
growth in this issue, such as Glazerite on
page 6 and Freefoam on page 24.
Finalists for the G13 awards were
announced last month and on page 32 we
hear from some of the hopefuls and the
categories for which they’ve been nominated
and are hoping to be triumphant at the
event that takes place later this month.
On page 56 Peter Dyer opens our new
dedicated timber section by discussing the
size and potential of this specialist part
of the fenestration industry, as well as
discussing the levels of quality that are being
achieved so as to continuously adapt in a
considerably changing market.

In response to demand from its
registered businesses, BFRC has launched
a homeowners window energy rating
certificate, giving homeowners proof of the
energy efficiency of their windows on page
72. And to clear up confusion regarding the
responsibility for testing warm edge spacers,
BFRC aims to give clarification to the
situation in the article below.
Becky Taylor,
Editor.

www.clearview-uk.com
VALIDATED CONDUCTIVITY VALUES
FOR WARM EDGE SPACERS
There have been a number of
articles and letters in the glazing
trade media claiming that the
responsibility for testing warm
edge spacers now lies with the
European Warm Edge Working
Party. This is incorrect at
present.
The European Warm Edge
Working Party is run by
Bundesverband Flachglas (BF)
a trade organisation made up of
flat glass manufacturers, spacer
bar manufacturers and others.
It is the leading authority in
this field and receives technical
input from organisations such as
IFT Rosenheim and the MultiPane Insulating Glass Quality
Association.

4

NOV 2013

Working with the European
Warm Edge Working Party is a
proposal from BFRC, which was
to have become effective January
2014, but might now be delayed
because BF has changed the criteria
it uses to undertake these tests.
This proposal has always needed
to be agreed and accepted by the
majority of warm edge spacer
bar manufacturers. Discussions
are continuing, in fact most
manufacturers attended a meeting
about exactly this subject, hosted by
the GGF, on 27th September.
The reasons BFRC proposed
this route are that the European
Warm Edge Working Party uses the
most currently relevant tests and
has the support of the majority of

manufacturers. All European spacer
bar manufacturers, and some from
outside Europe, are voluntarily
members of this Working Party.
Until this proposal becomes
effective, BFRC is only asking
manufacturers to use BF Datasheets
“where possible” and will accept
data from other accredited sources,
providing they are fully compliant
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