Articles Community Events & Shows
Not live, but lively – Fenestration Canada hosts online events

Ever since industry events have gone virtual, there has been a constant effort from everyone to offer something different that can keep attendees hooked to their screens.

Not bound by the constraints of venue location anymore, Fenestration Canada successfully carried out its Regional Week from Sept. 28 to Oct. 2. With every region’s unique set of requirements, the association put together a day of information-heavy sessions each catering to the five regions – British Columbia, the Prairies, Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic.

Moving from the west to the east, the Regional Week kicked off with B.C. day. Interestingly, though the content was often region-specific, there were sessions that could be attended by other regions as well. An education item that featured on all the days was the Market Transformation Roadmap update and the National Building Code public review update presented by FenCan technical director, Al Jaugelis. Attendees heard from Jaugelis that all NBC code changes are focused on stricter energy performance requirements in large and small buildings and the introduction of defined tiers of better-than-base-code.Fenestration Canada and other associations commented on the changes to the National Energy Code for Buildings and to Part 9 in the public review. The publication of the 2020 NBC has been postponed to December 2021.

During the presentation on the MTR Roadmap, Jaugelis discussed the background: how the industry got there, the drivers that helped develop the roadmap and the process taken to develop it. He then focused on where the industry was headed with its implementation, what the governance structure is, what is supporting implementation and what the next steps are.

During the Prairies event, Dave Goldsmith; Randy Krebes, director of practice for the Alberta Architects Association; and Al Jaugelis all came together to discuss the roles of architects and engineers in non-exempt buildings. The topics touched during this session included why the North American Fenestration Standard is in the code, whether NAFS testing is sufficient to address Part 5 requirements and whether professional design and field review is necessary for windows and doors in non-exempt buildings.

Window testing and labelling in Canada was another interesting topic covered on multiple days. Jaugelis noted that he developed this presentation in response to a request from the Atlantic committee. They were asking for a presentation or a document that would simplify or help people to understand what’s required for NAFS testing. They wanted something that could be used to educate building officials as well as manufacturers about what the code requires in the way of performance testing and labeling. This presentation, he said, could be used for that purpose.

On Atlantic day, Jaugelis offered a session on what was new for windows in the National Building Code 2015. During the presentation, he reviewed the products that are in and outside the scope of the NAFS standard. The next focus was on what the 2010 code had to say about windows and the problems that created for industry. The third point discussed was the new subsection dealing with other fenestration assemblies that was introduced in the 2015 National Building Code. And finally, Jaugelis provided tips for using the fenestration performance calculator available on the Fenestration Canada website.

Attendees also had the opportunity to video tour the Veka facility where they were shown how their profiles were created. Additionally, Patrick Flannery from Fenestration Review had interesting conversations with Everlast and Thermoproof during the “Manufacturer Spotlight” sessions.

It was not all work during the Regional Week. To end the informative and educational week on a high note, attendees were invited to a Trivia Night. All five regions shared a cocktail recipe each to keep up the cheer. Hosted by Flannery, it was the right mix of fun and friendly competition and a perfect ending to a eventful week.