The Mid-Atlantic Glass Association held the 37th edition of its Glass Expo April 17 at Martin’s Crosswinds in Greenbelt, Maryland. This was a “record year” according to Board President Bill Paolucci; the Association welcomed over 1,600 attendees to a show with 118 exhibitors, including 17 new exhibitors, and 16 new members. Fourteen exhibiting companies were waitlisted, Paolucci said.
Paolucci’s company Chillum Metal Works is also an exhibitor. “We do most of our marketing at this show, we don’t really need to do other advertising,” he said. In-person interaction remains critical for the market, he says. “It’s exciting to meet people in person.”
While the show is back in full swing post pandemic, the Mid-Atlantic market is shifting. Paolucci says that Washington, D.C., has an overbuilt office market, while residential construction is underbuilt. “D.C. has lots of vacant office space,” he says, but home remodelers could have an 8-month backlog.
Live from MGA Expo
Expanding legislation drives bird-friendly adoption, innovation
Several companies exhibited bird-friendly glazing solutions at the show, of many kinds. Press Glass previewed a new bird-friendly product, BirdShield, that will be released in September. The dot pattern is affixed to the glass using laser technology. Karolina Styk, communications coordinator for Press Glass, said New York City codes are driving demand for the product, and that Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Boston are also good markets for bird-friendly products.
GlasPro showcased its Bird Safe UV bird-friendly glass at the show; president Joe Green used a UV-light to reveal the UV stripes to booth visitors, which are invisible to the human eye.Green said new customers expect the traditional dot pattern for bird-friendly, but clearer glazing is preferred for applications like storefront and handrailings where the glass is visible to occupants.
D.C. legislation is likely pushing bird-friendly building adoption locally—the Bird-Friendly Building Act, which goes into effect this October, requires buildings to use bird-friendly materials up to 100 feet.
Bird-friendly legislation is not limited to major metropolitan areas. Howard County, Maryland, east of Baltimore, was the second jurisdiction on the East Coast to mandate bird-friendly building materials be used in new construction in 2020.
According to Jacob Bowser, Mid-Atlantic representative for Walker Glass, customers are increasingly aware of the expansion of bird-friendly glazing, and treating it as an inevitability. “They’re asking, ‘when will it matter to me?’,” he says.
Demand for security glazing expands across the country
Customers are also demanding more types of protective glazing, and want it to do more, according to exhibitors. Trent Thiry, sales rep for Global Security Glazing, says security is now one of the top three features that customers ask about regarding glazing. “They’re interested in energy efficiency, aesthetics and security,” he says. Thiry says the company is seeing a “huge need” for security glazing, especially in the southern U.S. due to recent high-profile school shooting incidents, as well as a need for storm-rated solutions in Florida and Texas markets.
Action Bullet Resistant’s Joe Hayes also says customers are looking for more aesthetic options from security glazing. “They want more than standard storefront,” he says. The company is in development on a few products, including a frameless system.
Hayes says he sees demand for security glazing right now in houses of worship and schools. McGrory Glass rep Jonathan Nastasi says the company has seen increased demand for ballistic-rated solutions in hospitals, as well as forced entry protection for commercial storefront from retailers.
