GlassBuild America: The Glass, Window & Door Expo set records at its event held September 10 to 12 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA. An all-time high of 538 exhibiting companies occupied 218,840 square feet of exhibit space for 9,500 glass, window and door industry professionals—coming from 54 countries and the United States—during the three-day event.

In keeping with trends seen over the past several years, impact resistant windows and doors and water- and weather-resistance hardware were clearly evident throughout the show. The effects of devastating hurricane seasons, revised state building codes, insurance company influence and increases in the number of Americans preferring coastal living have all contributed to the interest manufacturers have shown in introducing impact-resistant lines.

Among the highlights were exhibits by IHPA members Wayne Dalton and Bay City Window Co. Wayne Dalton exhibited its Fabric Shield storm panels, highlighting the pull down shutter. Bay City offered its Storm Defender™ line of high impact commercial glazing systems. Throughout the exhibit area there were plenty of impact glazing systems presented from sources such as Glasslam Inc., Royal Group and others.

Especially for coastal living, manufacturers such as Lawrence Industries, Inc. and Ashland Hardware Systems presented lines built to stand up to wind and salt water conditions. Ashland showcased its newest integrated hardware solutions designed with structural codes and extreme coastal living conditions in mind.

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This year’s GlassBuild America hosted 160 international exhibitors and 130 first-time exhibiting companies, both figures are record highs. In addition to the trade show floor, the show featured day-long educational forums, live demonstrations and the debut of the Auto Glass Pavilion.

“The show was just phenomenal,” stated Denise Sheehan, National Glass Association (NGA) vice president of Industry Events. “We saw a boost in attendance from glass dealers and distributors and contract glazing companies, while the residential window and door dealer and manufacturer numbers held steady with previous years, even with the challenging market conditions in that segment. The attendance overall exceeded our original estimates and that was a very pleasant surprise.”

GlassBuild America is organized by NGA in partnership with the Glass Association of North America, the American Architectural Manufacturers Association, the Insulating Glass Manufacturers Alliance and the Bath Enclosure Manufacturers Association.

GlassBuild America 2008 will be held October 6 to 8 in Las Vegas, NV.