Fenestration Conversations

Fenestration Review columnist Anton Van Dyk – The Window Geek – has recently left window manufacturer Centra to join Layton Consulting, a Surrey, B.C,-based building engineering firm. He joins the Conversation to give us the view on the consulting business and the issues he’ll be addressing from the perspective of a guy who has had to design and sell the products that architects, governments and project owners specify. The big topic: how fast things are changing and the challenges and opportunities that are popping up for us all.

Fenestration Canada is offering scholarships to members to encourage continuing education in the window and door industry and to encourage young people to take up their parent’s trade. It’s part of the ongoing search for talent that’s challenging all of us to find the people to fuel growth and take our industry into the next generation. Former FenCan president, Allan Doyle, is leading the scholarship program and joins the Conversation to tell us all about it then to share his perspectives and opinions on the labour supply, immigration, training, public schools and what is and is not working when it comes to labour force development. They’re good talkers out in Richibuto, N.B., so you’ll enjoy your time with Allan in this podcast.

WinDoor 2023 is coming Nov. 15-16 in Toronto and Fenestration Canada operations manager Laine Atkins joins the Conversation to tell us all about it. WinDoor has been Canada’s largest and only national show for window and door manufacturers and dealers for decades, but now it’s expanding its focus to take in the commercial “aluminum” side of the industry. Join us to get Laine’s sneak peek at the show then make your plans to join us at WinDoor!

Fenestra Purchasing Co-Op leverages the combined buying power of its 42 window and door manufacturer members to obtain rebates on purchases from selected suppliers, yes. But as Frederick Gauthier, Fenestra general manger, explains in this episode of Conversations, the group delivers much more to its members. At two meetings a year, Fenestra members get together to share knowledge and build relationships that float everyone’s boats. Gauthier explains the group, what it does and its future plans, then we move on to pick his brain about what Fenestra members are seeing in the market and in the days and years ahead. Find out more at fenestra.coop.

Suhel Kachwala’s last name means “glass man” in Parsi. It doesn’t get a lot more fitting than that, because Kachwala is the second-generation managing director of FG Glass, one of India’s largest glass fabricators. His father and uncle started the business in 1976, the year he was born, and now he runs it alongside his brother and two cousins – all engineers. Kachwala’s business brings him to North America several times each year, so he is in a perfect position to tell us about the Indian glass industry, what is trending in Asian façade design and how the North American and Indian businesses are different. It was a fascinating conversation…enjoy!

Amy Roberts, Canadian operations and glass technical director for the Fenestration and Glazing Industry Alliance, has been looking into where we might find the skilled and unskilled labour we are all lacking in our operations. Roberts’ research has revealed that there are several provincial and federal programs – some with hundreds of millions of dollars in funding – aimed at helping you recruit, train and pay new entrants into your workforce. Especially if those workers are from under-represented groups. She joins the podcast to discuss what that challenges are in finding the staff we need; what the barriers might be to our system generating those workers; and how the present system works and could work better. Immigration, apprenticeship and inclusion are all on the table.

Federal resources for recruiting and training

Construction Career Pathways – BuildForce Canada

Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot – Immigration and Citizenship Canada

Temporary Foreign Worker Program – Ministry of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion

Skilled Trades Awareness and Readiness Program – Employment and Social Development Canada

President and COO of ODL, David Klein, joins the Conversation to discuss the company’s recent spate of acquisitions in Canada, including well-known door manufacturer, Tru Tech. Klein brings perspective from his time in the automotive and appliance industries to the discussion and goes over the strategy behind the acquisitions; the trends in the door business now; the unique nature of the Canadian market; and the thinking behind regional manufacturing. It’s a fascinating look inside one of the industry’s biggest suppliers as it moves into a wider portfolio of products and services.

New concepts are emerging in construction contracts aimed at bringing project owners, contractors and subcontractors closer together as partners rather than bosses and hirelings. But to navigate these new structures, especially on today’s larger P3 projects, glazing contractors are going to need to be prepared for a world of enhanced transparency, data collection and communication. Michelle Throssell and Barb Hooley help contractors sail these stormy seas through international project management consultant, Turner and Townsend, and join Glass Talk to explain some of the new jargon, outline the benefits of integrated project management and give us a sneak peek at what’s going to be asked of us in the years ahead.

Fenestration Conversations host Patrick Flannery reconnects with an old friend who is now a lecturer in mechanical engineering with a focus on fenestration technology at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. Thomas Simko has travelled the world researching the latest concepts in glass, glazing and building facades and he joins the podcast to give us the view from Down Under. Simko’s message is compelling: Australia lags North America significantly in its use of high-performance glazing, but that is about to change with tightening energy efficiency rules that will drive a new demand for insulating products and advanced framing systems that combine narrow profiles with support for large-format glass and better energy efficiency.

To see more of Thomas Simko’s work, check out:

Optimal Window Designs for Australian Houses

Vacuum Glazing: Development, design challenges and commercialization

Performance Criteria for Residential Zero Energy Windows

Fenestration Conversations checks in with Fenestration Canada to hear about the year ahead, and what a year it’s going to be. The association has big plans starting with an all-in commitment to serving the commercial side of the glass industry. Long known as the “residential” Canadian association, Fenestration Canada is acknowledging that many of its members and prospective members work in aluminum as well. So they’ve added two new staff members who will be well-known to glazing contractors around the country. Speaking of well-known, Jean-Francois Kogovsek is back at Fenestration Canada doing business development on the residential side. And that’s only the start of the announcements and updates Labelle shares.