GFAB Wraps Up with Volunteer Awards and Glass Conference

At the National Glass Association's Glass Fabricator Conference, held June 14-17, a Volunteer Appreciation Dinner was held to spotlight the amazing work that NGA volunteers do across task groups, committees and at all NGA events. At the dinner, this year’s C.G. Carney and Volunteer of the Year Award winners were announced.

NGA volunteers honored with awards

The 2026 C.G. Carney Award winner is Steve Marino, manager of technical services, Vitro Architectural Glass.

“This year’s recipient is the epitome of a humble worker who brings technical expertise and integrity to any task and is the one of the most dependable people in the glass and glazing industry,” said Urmilla Sowell when introducing Marino. “[Marino] is on my quick call list for reliable information and is always willing to share his knowledge to educate and uplift anyone in the industry. In his more than four decades in serving our industry, he’s helped create and advanced some of the industry’s best practices, technical manuals, specifications and glazing guidelines used today by architects and engineers. [Marino] demonstrates a measured, well-rounded and collaborative approach to the activities and issues in which he engages. He has chaired countless task groups at GANA, IGMA, SIGMA, NFRC, GICC and NGA. He always shows up with kindness, humility, humor and of course a smile.”

This award is named after the late Charles Gregory Carney and was established in 2014 after his death. Greg Carney served as the Glass Association of North America’s Technical Director for more than two decades. He was heavily involved in all matters which influenced the glass and glazing industry; whether it be standards and codes, technical manuals, best practices or educational glass information bulletins and papers.

The 2026 Volunteer of the Year Award was awarded to Vaughn Schauss, technical service manager, Kuraray. Schauss has been an involved NGA volunteer for the past eight years and, prior to that, was a leader within GANA.

“I’m truly honored to receive NGA’s Volunteer of the Year award. NGA’s support for the glazing industry is very important work and I’m grateful Kuraray provides me the opportunity to be involved and collaborate with so many wonderful and dedicated volunteers and staff,” says Schauss.

“Schauss has dedicated countless hours to helping create industry best practices and assembling manuals; he has shared knowledge with us through presentations and has helped write standards, as well as building codes,” said Sowell at the awards dinner. “Schauss attends all of NGA’s events–Glass Conference, GFAB, GlassBuild, BEC Conference and Glass and Glazing Advocacy Days. He serves not only as the chair of task groups, but also gives individual input through his participation in at least nine different task groups. He may initially seem to be a quiet person, but he is not afraid to speak up to advocate and improve our industry.”

Glass Conference provides NGA updates and EPD information

Glass Conference was also held in conjunction with GFAB, June 16 and June 17. During this Glass Conference, updates were provided from NGA task groups, staff and committees.

During the NGA sustainability subcommittee's update, NGA Senior Manager of Technical Services Georgia Oehler discussed two new sustainability initiatives to keep an eye on, including a Vinyl Recycling Pilot Program in Canada titled Infinity. Infinity officially launched in September 2025 and works to divert old windows from landfills. Oehler says it's unclear where the glass is being diverted as the pilot is focused on vinyl, but that this is something for the committee to form an opinion on. Another intiative called Responsible Glass is mostly based in the U.K. and Europe and aims to create a global standard, trusted mark or label, for responsibly sourced glass. A draft standard will be open for comment this July and the NGA was invited to be engaged in the conversation.

During the fabricating committee's update, NGA Vice President of Workforce Development Jenni Chase gave an update on NGA’s new Tempering Technician Certificate Training Program, which is now available. A survey revealed the biggest quality control issue on the factory floor is operator error and a training gap, which validated the NGA and its task group’s efforts to create this training. Also during fabricating committee, an update was given on the Laminated Glazing Reference Manual. There are new and updated sections, including a laminate nomenclature.

NGA Chief Content Officer Katy Devlin also provided an overview on industry trends to keep an eye on; pulling data and information from Richard Branch’s economic forecast on Monday, as well as Glass Magazine’s Top Glass Fabricators’ Report and the World of Glass Map Report.

The conference was closed out with an interactive workshop on Environmental Product Declarations courtesy of TrueNorth Collective - Sustainability Consulting and Smart EPD. Representatives informed fabricators on how they can get involved in forming industry average EPDs. Attendees had the opportunity 

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