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November 19, 2008
LEED 2009, the long-awaited update to the internationally recognized LEED green building certification program, has passed member ballot, and will be introduced in 2009 as the next major evolution of the existing LEED rating systems for commercial buildings. It includes a series of major technical advancements focused on improving energy efficiency, reducing carbon emissions, and addressing other...
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November 17, 2008
The European Commission has just published a study commissioned by the Enterprise & Industry DG saying that policy makers should consider the environmental and energy benefits of glass when designing new environmental policies. The study looked at the competitiveness of the glass industry which encompasses a lot of different products: high quality pharmaceutical and cosmetic glass containers...
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November 17, 2008
“It is hard to find a pulse in this year’s batch of construction industry forecasts for 2009,” Engineering News-Record reported on Nov. 13. “McGraw-Hill Construction (of which ENR is part) is forecasting a 7.4 percent decline in construction starts in 2009, following declines of 12.4 percent this year and 8.0 percent in 2007. The U.S. Dept. of Commerce...
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November 14, 2008
3M [with U.S. headquarters in St. Paul, Minn.] announced today that the National Fenestration Rating Council [Greenbelt, Md.] has certified a range of the company’s window films. These films include 3M’s metal-free Prestige Series, which blocks 66 percent of the sun’s heat streaming through windows and 99.9 percent of the ultraviolet rays. NFRC certification...
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November 14, 2008
South Africa’s glass industry was operating at 93.9 percent of its overall production capacity in August this year, as compared with 90.4 percent of capacity in the same month in 2007, according to a Nov. 7 Statistics South Africa report. The main reason given by glass industry companies for not operating at full capacity in August 2008 was low demand from consumers.According to another...
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November 14, 2008
Meltdown Glass Art & Design LLC, Chandler, Ariz., will expand operation and move fabrication into a larger production studio. The expansion will increase the company's capacity four times, according to a company newsletter Nov. 13. The expansion also will shorten lead times to better serve customer needs. For most jobs the lead time will be five weeks, according to the newsletter report...
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November 13, 2008
The Protective Glazing Council Annual Symposium ended with a Building Owner’s Perspective Panel. Joseph Smith, Applied Research Associates, Albuquerque, N.M., moderated the panel of three: Willie Hirano, engineer, Office of Construction Programs, Public Buildings Service, GSA; Ron Burton, Building Owners and Managers Association, Washington, D.C.; and John Knezevich, president,...
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November 13, 2008
Speakers at the PGC International Annual Symposium, Nov. 11-13, at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, Arlington, Va., ended the program with multiple presentations on sustainable design and market trends, and a panel discussion.Harvey Bernstein, vice president, Industry Analytics, Alliances & Strategic Initiative, McGraw-Hill Construction, spoke about The View Ahead: Construction Outlook, Green...
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November 13, 2008
A 5-year-old girl is in hospital fighting for her life after falling through a glass table early this morning.
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November 12, 2008
The EU's antitrust chief fined car glass producers Asahi, Pilkington, Saint-Gobain and Soliver more than 1.3 billion euros ($1.66 billion) for price-fixing, the largest sum ever levied by the EU for a cartel. France's Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA must pay 896 million euros ($1.14 billion) — more than any other company has been fined before.