IGMA Working Groups Report to Technical Services Committee

As part of the Insulating Glass Manufacturers Alliance's (IGMA) annual meeting, taking place this week at the Hyatt Mission Bay in San Diego, the Technical Services Committee met yesterday and heard a summary of some of the ongoing activities, before discussing new business.

Bruce Virnleson, outgoing chair of the Gas Permeability Working Group, summarized the status of the IGMA research project evaluating the gas permeability of edge seal assemblies. He noted that the request for proposal had been signed and now the laboratory is preparing to begin work. This week the group has begun recruiting volunteers to supply sealants and spacers for use in the samples that will be tested. Virnleson added that by the next meeting the working group expects to have completed engineering and design of the cell, what the samples will look like, an outline of the test method and "with a little luck," some data to present.

Tracy Rogers, chair of the Glazing Guidelines Working Group, reported that the group had primarily been researching the information that already is available on capillary tubes in its continuing effort to present a document on recommended practices for using capillary tubes. The group will be sending out requests for available information to IGMA members as well as members of other organizations.

Rogers then reported that the Visual Quality Voluntary Guidelines document was waiting to be forwarded to the Technical Policy Committee and then the IGMA board for review and approval.

Jeff Haberer, chair of the Thermal Stress Working Group, reported that the group had performed some final "tweaking" of its field service inspection form. He also gave an update on the group's thermal stress bulletin. The group began this week to "flesh out" its outline of "markers for what we want to elaborate on," Haberer explained. Those outlined markers include points such as frame types, building conditions and all other factors that might contribute to thermal stress breakage. The outline already has morphed from a list of "dos and don'ts" for thermal stress to a document roughly titled "Design Considerations."

Under new business, the committee listened to requests for two new working groups. John Kent, IGCC, advised taking a new look at the TM-4000 Insulating Glass Manufacturing Quality Procedures Technical Manual and its tone. "I think it was initially meant as a helping hand," Kent commented, while advising the group to consider revising it to create more mandatory, rather than advisory, language as a result of other organizations looking to mandate the use of the document.

"The specification part needs to be pulled out and the examples left behind," Virnelson summarized. Virnelson volunteered to chair this new group, since he was involved in the development of the original document.

In addition, the committee heard a request from Dave Cooper of Guardian Industries to consider creating a working group to research information on triple glazed IG units.

"Is there enough information out there to be referencing triple glazing?" he asked the committee, pointing to documents that do so. This new request is being forwarded to the technical policy committee to determine under which existing group such a task might fall.

The meeting continues through this Friday, with a closed board meeting.