PGT, Venice, FL, received the Corporate Award in May at the 21st Annual Governor’s Hurricane Conference at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Broward County Convention Center, Fort Lauderdale, FL. The company was honored for its contributions to advance hurricane preparedness and mitigation techniques.

The company also recently was presented the 2007 Executive Director’s Award by the Fenestration Manufacturer’s Association (FMA) for its advisory role to various building code committees and work groups.

“My appreciation in receiving this recognition goes first to our employees,” said Rod Hershberger PGT president and CEO. “Each day every individual on our team makes an extra effort to go above and beyond the ordinary.”

With manufacturing facilities in Florida and North Carolina, and more than 2,000 employees, PGT’s involvement with home hurricane protection began more than a decade ago after Hurricane Andrew struck Florida. The company worked with Miami-Dade county officials and others to create wind-borne debris testing protocols and then developed PGT WinGuard™ impact-resistant windows and doors.

HURRICANE FORECASTERS RAISE AWARENESS DURING CARIBBEAN TOUR

As part of a joint U.S. Air Force and NOAA National Weather Service initiative, NOAA National Hurricane Center Director Bill Proenza and Senior Hurricane Specialist Lixion Avila traveled aboard a U.S. Air Force Reserve Command WC-130J Hurricane Hunter Hercules aircraft during a six-day, six-city tour of the Caribbean region to raise public awareness of the Atlantic hurricane threat.

The public, school groups and media were invited to tour the aircraft and speak with Proenza, Avila and the Hurricane Hunter crew. The tour began in mid-April and included stops in Mexico, Grand Cayman Island, Dominican Republic, St. Croix and Puerto Rico.

"Even though we did not have a lot of activity last year, we remain in an active hurricane cycle and need to continue our preparation and planning efforts," said Proenza. "The focus of this tour is protecting communities through preparedness and awareness."

It takes a team effort to forecast and respond to a hurricane, including weather observations from World Meteorological Organization countries, aircraft reconnaissance, satellites, computer models, local weather forecast offices and dedicated meteorologists.

The Hurricane Hunters of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, using the latest WC-130J aircraft placed into operation in 2005, gather hurricane position and intensity data by flying directly into the storm and relay vital information from the core of the hurricane to hurricane forecasters.

Hurricane Hunters have added a new piece of equipment for the 2007 hurricane season called the Stepped-Frequency Microwave Radiometer, a new generation of airborne remote sensing instruments designed for operational surface wind estimation in hurricanes. Addition of the SFMR is expected to provide even more data to forecasters at the NOAA National Hurricane Center to improve the analysis of surface intensity and structure of the storm.

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS
In the Special Report covering the International Builder’s Show in the Show Issue 2007, page 38, the manufacturer of Storm Blocker acrylic block windows was incorrectly identified. The impact-resistant block product, shown in a photograph, is manufactured by Hy-Lite Products, Inc., Beaumont, CA. We regret the error.

JUDGES SELECTED FOR SAFE & SECURE HOME AURORA AWARD

The Saflex unit of Solutia Inc., St. Louis, MO, has announced the jury members for the 2008 Safe & Secure Home award category of the Aurora Awards. Sponsored by Solutia, the new Safe & Secure Home award will recognize those building professionals who use innovative building practices and designs to protect people and property from hurricanes (see HP, Directory & Buyer’s Guide 2007, page 10).

Projects entered in the 2008 Safe & Secure Home category will be judged by a panel of renowned building industry professionals, experts in everything from architecture and design to building codes, fenestration and construction. The judges are:

• Claudette Reichel, professor, Louisiana State University. Reichel is an extension housing specialist with LSU AgCenter. She spearheaded and chairs the Louisiana House Research Center (LaHouse), a showcase of housing solutions, including hurricane mitigation options, for the Gulf Coast region.

• Arlene Stewart, principal, AZS Consulting. Stewart is a nationally recognized expert on energy codes and energy efficient windows. She is a Florida-certified residential and commercial energy rater and provides energy code compliance review for Florida’s Prototype Building Program.

• Jonathan Parks, architect. Parks is principal of Jonathan Parks Architect, Sarasota, FL, one of the fastest growing architecture firms in the state. He has designed numerous award-winning projects and is known for his work designing hurricane resistant homes.

• George Rogers, Escambia County Extension Agent with University of Florida’s Institute for Food & Agricultural Science. Rogers is a former building official who currently serves as a Windstorm Damage Mitigation/Energy Agent for the UF’s Escambia County Extension Agency. He works closely with the Escambia County Windstorm Mitigation Center, a hurricane house used to demonstrate hurricane mitigation building techniques and products.

• Richard Reynolds, Florida builder. Reynolds is the past president of the Home Builders Association of Manatee County, FL, and has served numerous times as the chair of the Florida Home Builders Association Codes and Standards Committee. He has also served on the National Association of Home Builders Codes Committee and was instrumental in the development of the Florida Building Code. Reynolds also is involved in Florida International University’s Wall of Wind, a machine designed to simulate hurricane conditions in order to build safer and stronger houses.

Judges for the Safe & Secure Home award will be looking for innovative uses of impact resistant glass and other hurricane mitigation methods and technologies.

HOMES FOR OUR TROOPS HONORS SIMONTON SUPPORT

Homes for Our Troops, a non-profit organization that builds homes for disabled veterans returning from overseas duty, has honored Simonton Windows®, Parkersburg, WV, with its 2006 Outstanding Corporate Supporter Award. Presented during the organization’s first annual dinner/auction in Boston, MA, in March, the award was given “in grateful recognition of Simonton’s dedication and support of Homes for Our Troops.”

“Even before our first home was built three years ago, Simonton Windows believed in our goals and joined our organization as a corporate sponsor,” says John Gonsalves, founder and president of Homes for Our Troops. “Thanks to their confidence and support, we have been able to build and commit to 30 home building and remodeling projects for veterans throughout the country.”

Homes for Our Troops was created in 2004 to help severely wounded service men and women with serious disabilities and injuries. Based in Massachusetts, the organization coordinates the donation of products and labor to build new homes or adapt existing homes for handicapped accessibility for the specific needs of a returning veteran at no cost to the service person.

“It’s an honor to work with this selfless, dedicated team at Homes for Our Troops to provide extended support to our veterans when they return home after serving our country,” said Mark Savan, president of Simonton Windows.

CROSS TO OVERSEE PGT VINYL WINDOW, DOOR PRODUCT LINE

PGT, Venice, FL, has announced the appointment of C. Douglas Cross to its leadership team. As vice president, Cross will oversee PGT’s vinyl products and markets. He brings more than 25 years of manufacturing and leadership experience to the organization.

Prior to joining PGT, Cross owned Custom Window Products, which provides architectural shapes for the vinyl market. His previous experience includes six years as president of Atrium, North Carolina, and 13 years as president of Ellison Windows and Doors. Additionally, he led Ellison’s transition from aluminum sales of $6 million to vinyl sales of over $140 million.

PGT is one of the largest window and door manufacturers in the United States and a pioneer in the U.S. impact-resistant window and door industry.

STO ADVANCES ITS WATERPROOFING TECHNOLOGY

Sto Corp., Atlanta, GA, has introduced StoGuard Fabric and StoGuard RediCorner, two new products added to its home exterior waterproofing system.

StoGuard Fabric is a non-woven cloth reinforcement that is part of the StoGuard assembly and is used to treat sheathing joints, inside and outside corners and rough openings.

StoGuard RediCorner is a pre-formed fabric piece used in the corners of the rough openings for quicker installation.

The StoGuard assembly is a spray-on building wrap that offers a waterproofing/air barrier. StoGuard can be used beneath various claddings including stucco, EIFS, vinyl, cement board, brick and with a wide variety of gypsum, cement or wood based sheathing substrates, the company states.

SIMPSON STRONG-TIE INTRODUCES TWO-STORY STACKED SHEARWALL SOLUTION

Simpson Strong-Tie®, Pleasanton, CA, has introduced a two-story stacked Steel Strong-Wall® solution for narrow walls that meet the required design loads.

Steel Strong-Wall is an engineered, pre-manufactured shearwall made from steel and wood with an allowable load capacity between two and three times higher than the Wood Strong-Wall. The two-story stacked wall application offers some of the highest loads in the industry and is easy to install, the company states.

Simpson’s latest shearwall solutions are featured in its new Strong-Wall Catalog. The catalog compiles information about Simpson’s Wood and Steel Strong-Wall shearwalls into one guide and includes supporting product data, load tables, structural details and installation information.

TRITON POWER APPOINTS JOHNSTON CEO

Triton Power, Miami, FL, has announced Eric Johnston as the company’s first CEO. Johnston was promoted from senior vice president. David Johnston, his father, will continue to serve as the company’s chairman.
Eric Johnston has been responsible for implementing and overseeing the company’s growth strategy, as well as the development of its new worldwide distributor program.

Triton Power is a large independent commercial generator distributor operating in North America and South America serving contractors, builders and equipment dealers. Its staff has a combined 200 years in the industrial equipment industry. The company has more than 1 million square feet of manufacturing facilities worldwide, the company states.

MULLET’S ALUMINUM AWARDED MAJOR BUILDING CONTRACTS ALONG FLORIDA’S WEST COAST

Mullet’s Aluminum Products, Inc. Sarasota, FL, has been awarded several major building supply and installation contracts for condominium and commercial projects spanning Florida’s West Coast.

The scope of products and services awarded to Mullet’s Aluminum range from products it manufactures specifically for coastal applications such as strengthened glass balcony railing for maximum viewing and added safety to products distributed by the company including PGT Industries’ WinGuard impact resistant windows and Alcoa Home Exterior’s soffits and fascia.

The awarded projects include: Residences at Coconut Pointe, Estero; Jacaranda Trace, Venice; Dona Bay Condominiums, Nokomis; Blackburn Harbor Condominiums, Osprey; Bellagio Harbor Village, Osprey; Summer Cove of Siesta Key, Siesta Key; and Westminster Palms, St. Petersburg.

Founded in 1978 Mullet’s Aluminum has 155 employees and five business divisions.