Nonresidential window sales to bottom out in 2011, see slight upturn in 2012

Nonresidential window sales will continue to fall this year before a modest recovery begins in 2012, according to a new report from the American Architectural Manufacturers Association and the Window & Door Manufacturers Association. Prepared by Ducker Worldwide, the AAMA/WDMA 2010/2011 U.S. Industry Statistical Review and Forecast predicts larger gains will come in 2013 and 2014, according to an article from Glass Magazine's sister publication Window & Door.

The downturn that came to the residential window market came a couple years before the decline in the nonresidential window business. That market is still in decline, according to the AAMA/WDMA study, with sales falling off nearly 20 percent overall in  2009 and 2010. It will be 2012 before the recovery becomes evident in the nonresidential market.

Ducker bases its nonresidential projections on contract awards, which reflect activity related to new nonresidential construction and major additions to existing structures. Actual fenestration demand typically lags contract awards by up to one year or more, it notes. The deep recession reduced contract award totals about 40 percent in 2009 and another 18 percent in 2010. Those declines are reflected in continued drops in nonresidential window sales last year and this year.

Coming off a peak of more than 500 million square feet of vision area in 2008, nonresidential window sales are now expected to bottom out in 2011 after dropping more than 40 percent. A slight upturn in the market is predicted for 2012, with sales gaining more momentum in the following years. Nonresidential entry and interior door sales are expected to follow a similar pattern. 

The 2010/2011 U.S. Industry Statistical Review & Forecast highlighted in the Window & Door article is an annual report prepared by Ducker Worldwide as part of a comprehensive project jointly sponsored by AAMA and WDMA. The annual statistical review features national overview data on a variety of residential and nonresidential products. Information about purchasing the report, offered in PDF format, can be obtained by contacting AAMA, 847/303-5664,