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and sliding balcony doors. "In addition, we powder coat all of our profiles and flashings in house using Akzo Nobel powder coatings and are fully vertically inte- grated with our own glass and aluminum extrusion factories," adds Harrison. The manufacturing location of curtain wall and window wall systems continues to be an issue for the industry, says Gary Lawrence, VP for business development at Inland Glass & Aluminum Ltd. After the U.S. and Canada introduced tariffs to stem the tide of cut-rate curtain wall knock-offs from Asia – mostly coming from China – a few years ago, industry had a bit of a respite. But not for long, as Chinese curtain wall manufacturers soon set up shop in Mexico to take advantage of the country's North American Free Trade Agreement ( NAFTA) membership status and relatively low wages compared to those in the U.S. and Canada. Fortunately, though, for North American manufac- turers, China's Mexican beachhead doesn't necessarily amount to a magic bullet for the Asian giant's curtain wall export sector. "They have issues of product qual- ity and China has a tough time meeting schedules," Lawrence says. Keeping up with demand and maintaining a com- petitive edge are two key motivators for the continent's curtain wall and window wall sectors. As a result they continue to develop new products and be innovative. The recent spate of thermal break components, some of them using the latest composites, are a case in point. But a major innovation, unitized curtain wall, which improved both product quality and on-site curtain wall installation efficiency, has no doubt played a role in maintaining the popularity of these systems for office and condo towers. "Unitized curtain wall started to be used about 20 years ago. It gives you more control of quality because so much is done in the shop before- hand. Under the old, non-unitized system, cladding per floor could take three weeks or more. Now, with a unit- ized system, the same floor would take about a week," says Bill Djurovic, VP of sales and marketing at Far East Aluminum Works Canada Corporation, part of Gamma. Djurovic points to another contrast between the curtain wall of today and that of decades ago, which underlines the current fashion of big glass. In the 1970s and 80s, curtain wall facades consisted of 60 per cent spandrel and 40 per cent glass. Today, he says, that ratio is reversed. Comparing window to curtain wall, he says the former is better suited to warm climates unless the system is modified in various ways to address the cold climes. "In Montreal, for example, we add extra insulation for R-value," he adds. Window wall and curtain wall framing systems each offer distinct benefits, and one may be more suitable than the other on a given project, says Mario Maggio, sales manager with C.R. Laurence's U.S. Alumi- num division. But, he adds, "The single most attractive benefit of window wall systems is price. "Until the late 1980s, hung curtain wall was the only available product used in residential tower appli- cations. The increased demand for a more economical solution to the issue of floor-to-ceiling windows cre- ated a huge market potential for new, innovative sys- tems," Maggio says. Few suppliers are dedicated to window wall alone. "The majority developed this system as an additional line to their existing business core – residential win- dows," Maggio explains. Often, today's window wall systems are made, sold and installed by one company, which can reduce costs. But if the residential construction sector, which tends to favour window wall, is going strong, and the more curtain wall-oriented ICI sector is relatively slow, Mag- gio says the cost structure on some projects might tip in favour of traditionally more expensive curtain wall. Window wall is either face-sealed or, at best, uses a rain screen whereas curtain wall is both compartmen- talized and pressure-equalized. "If somebody wants window wall based on price, they shouldn't expect curtain wall quality," Maggio says. In places like Edmonton, window wall took off in the late 1980s and the 1990s, but windows and substrates were often poorly terminated, "resulting in air, wind and water failure," says Maggio, who is also an instal- lation specialist. The upshot is that C.R. Laurence is doing retrofits on several buildings, with window wall or punched openings from the 1990s, in the Alberta capital. "We're retrofitting them with a custom framing for the open- ing and then glazing it," Maggio says. Both systems, however, are meeting the challenge of tougher codes. Phoenix Glass Inc. is installing a window wall system (3250 WT) made by a sister company, Columbia Aluminum Products, on a project that involves dismantling a former prison that offered very little natural light. "From a vacant former remand centre for prisoners, the building, which houses a community court on its lower level, will now be apart- ments with plenty of light for at-risk youth," says Jim Lebedovich, sales manager of Phoenix Glass. Good thermal performance is also a focus of a win- dow wall system from Quest Window Systems, called Ecowall. "This system is designed with today's more rigorous thermal standards in mind," says Martin Cash, president of Quest. ■ oCtober 2014 /31 Curtain Wall & Window Wall www.inlandglass.ca Inland Glass.indd 1 14-09-24 4:43 PM

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