IGMA Attendees Learn About Glass and the Vinyl Siding Distortion Equation

The Insulating Glass Manufacturers Alliance's (IGMA) annual meeting continued today with a presentation on glass products and vinyl siding distortion from Jeff Haberer of Cardinal Glass Industries. Of particular importance is the fact that there are numerous sources of heat that can affect vinyl siding, glass being a significant factor in the equation.
"Glass does reflect and it does shine on other buildings and if those buildings are of susceptible materials there could be problems," he explained.
Vinyl is particularly vulnerable to bending and cracking from heat.
"Other siding products are not as vulnerable as vinyl," Haberer said. "It's due to the relatively low distortion temperature of vinyl."
Specifically the distortion of vinyl begins to occur at temperatures of 160-165 degrees F. Darker colors of siding can have up to 80 percent absorption of the sun's rays and Haberer noted that some building construction can increase the amount of heat hitting the building. In particular, he showed images of inside corners with windows where the rays hit the siding directly, at the same time that rays deflected from the window hit the perpendicular wall as well, further raising the temperature of the vinyl.
A study performed by Cardinal on this topic examined the impact of reflective coatings on this type of damage.
"The more reflective coatings that are out there today, that are getting more popular, are going to create this problem," he said.
However, Cardinal found that even clear glass can become a significant heat source. Haberer recommended following the advice of the Vinyl Siding Institute at this point, such as installing outside screens.

CLICK HERE for information about the Vinyl Siding Institute.

The annual golf tournament takes place this afternoon. The meeting wraps up tomorrow with technical seminars. Stay tuned to USGNN for updates as they become available.