GANA Addresses Window Cleaning During Glass Week Meeting

The Glass Association of North America's (GANA) Glass Week kicked off today at the Rio in Las Vegas. Early in the day the tempering division's construction subcommittee touched on the issue of glass cleaning, an issue that has seen much debate between the glass association's members and the window cleaning industry. (CLICK HERE to read the International Window Cleaning Association's (IWCA) recent request to GANA to retract its glass cleaning informational bulletin.)

In particular, GANA has urged window cleaners not to use metal scrapers to clean glass, as it can result in scratches, while IWCA and other window cleaners indicate that these scratches result from the presence of fabricating debris on tempered and heat-strengthened glass that is pulled along the surface of the glass.

The GANA construction subcommittee members stressed that it was important to get the word out about the damage caused by metal scrapers. "GANA has taken the position that we are here to educate and will continue to educate the window clearners," says Brian Pittman with GANA.

It was suggested that a sticker on certain glass products might help in this education process.

The subcommittee expressed interest in the idea, noting that a GANA-supplied sticker would carry more weight than individual company-supplied stickers. In addition, stickers would have to be supplied to nonmembers, subcommittee members agreed. Some individuals suggested having these stickers applied by the glazing contractor, although there was concern about liability should the contractor neglect to use the sticker. One listener added that there would likely be push-back from the commercial glazing industry should stickers be required on the exterior of the glass.

Should this practice be followed-up, Greg Carney, GANA technical director, pointed out that the sticker would be most useful in the initial cleaning, when cement and other new construction debris are most problematic for glass.

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