The 2016 Greenbuild Expo is underway this week at the Los Angeles Convention Center, where hundreds of exhibitors are featuring their latest eco-friendly, sustainable building products and solutions. The show is not without a glazing industry presence, as exhibitors are focusing on a range of fenestration products.

While many companies at the show had also exhibited at the AIA National Convention last May in Philadelphia, Greenbuild provides the opportunity to reach a unique audience. As a number of exhibitors pointed out, this show’s attendees are specifically looking for the greenest, most sustainable products. And companies at this year’s event offered a variety of options to meet those demands.

Assa Abloy featured its many access control products, and it is looking at how the evolving definition of green relates to new workplaces —many of which are being designed to incorporate open spaces that allow for increased collaboration.

“We think glass empowers that category in the new workplace,” said Daniel O’Connell, managing director with Brand-definition, which works with Assa Abloy, explaining that as new buildings are designed, daylight often comes into consideration. “We’re trying to help architects deploy glass in a way that allows them to have this new workplace [concept].”

With this goal in mind, the company will be launching a line of glass products in early 2017. Products such as these, O’Connell said, will help change the way buildings are built.

“Everyone here is on a mission—to facilitate the new workplace,” he said.

Another trend the glazing industry has seen of late is the move toward larger and larger spans of glass. Glass companies aren’t the only ones seeing this interest. Door and window companies are also increasing the size of their products.

Richard De La Hoya, commercial-territory manager for Building Materials Distributors, which works with Marvin Windows and Doors, said they, too, are seeing demand for bigger sizes.

“Big, big, big,” he said of the current trend. In fact, Marvin featured a 7- by 8-foot window. The rectangular direct-glazed window incorporates glass directly set to the frame. It has a U-factor of .13 and a solar heat gain coefficient of .17.

While products like these may seem an ideal fit for high-end residential projects, De La Hoya added that all the windows are, in fact, commercially rated.
Andersen Windows and Doors also featured large-sized products.

“Big doors are a trend,” said Jon Phelps, public relations and brand content manager, pointing to the company’s 12-foot door display. “We can go as large as 16 feet tall and more than 45 feet wide,” he said.

Other companies offered products and solutions for creating a continuous system across the entire façade. Tremco, for example, featured its Engineered Transparent Assembly (ETA), which is designed for connectivity in areas such as the curtainwall to the air barrier, among others.

“It helps maintain water tightness in high-movement [e.g., seismic] applications, as well as complex perimeter details around the fenestration,” said Bill Lusher, a Tremco building envelope professional. He added that as air barriers and facades become more complex, this is a product that helps tie it all together.

The 2016 Greenbuild Expo concludes today; education sessions end tomorrow. Stay tuned to DWMmag.com for more news from the show.