Vitro Architectural Glass launches The Architect’s GPS tool on vitroglazings.com

New navigation tool organizes online content for each stage of building process.

Vitro Architectural Glass (formerly PPG Glass) has launched The Architect’s GPS, an online navigation tool that uses the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) Five Stages of Design as a platform to guide architects, designers and specifiers to the Vitro Glass product information, specification tools and other online resources that are most pertinent to them at each phase of the design process.

The five design stages and related Vitro Glass resources include:

• Schematic Design – At this stage, architects and building owners determine their initial aesthetic, sustainability and budgetary requirements. The Architect’s GPS aids the process by providing links to Vitro Glass’s full suite of online search and specification tools, as well as the Vitro Glass project gallery, product data sheets, sample order system and  Vitro Glass Education Center.

  
  

• Design Development – Preliminary ideas become finished designs and budgets during this step. The Architect’s GPS facilitates this process by linking architects to the Vitro Glass CONSTRUCT tool, which enables them to search Vitro Glass glass products by color, type or performance; then compare glass specifications for the custom insulating and decorative glass units they “construct” online. Visitors also are connected to the online glass sample order system and to downloadable product data sheets and glass design guidelines.

  
  

• Construction Documents – During this step, architects can download and print two- and three-part specifications in the Construction Specifiers Institute (CSI) format for inclusion in final construction documents and bid packets. This stage of The Architect’s GPS also delivers access to sustainability documentation for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®), Cradle to Cradle Certified™ and other green building programs. It also supplies tools for sourcing local Vitro Certified™ fabricators, who can provide insulating glass unit (IGU) mock-ups and check glass pricing and availability.

  
  

• Bidding – At this stage, bid documents are prepared for glazing contractors and glass fabricators with the goal of finalizing a contract. The Architect’s GPS connects visitors to the Vitro Glass Architectural Services Team, who can evaluate multiple glass submittals, review requirements for job-site glass mock-ups and finalize bid documents. The tool also links to instructions for viewing glass samples on the project site to see how glass products will look in finished building conditions.

  
  

Construction – The Architect’s GPS links to Vitro Glass customer service representatives, giving architects access to a team of glass professionals dedicated to helping them finish projects exactly as they have been specified. Visitors also can obtain final sustainability documentation to earn green building certification credits for their projects.

Glenn T. Miner, director of construction, Vitro Glass, said The Architect’s GPS is designed to streamline navigation for architects and specifiers visiting the Vitro Glass website

“Architects continually ask us to put more specification materials online, yet as we add content it becomes increasingly difficult to organize. This tool enables architects to jump on to the site and quickly locate the information they need, organized according to a process they use every day.”