The Insulating Glass Manufacturers Alliance (IGMA) kicked off its summer technical conference yesterday at the Delta Victoria Ocean Point Resort & Spa in Victoria, British Columbia. The conference began with a meeting of the Glass Safety Awareness Council, which was launched earlier this year.

The conference continues through August 31, with meetings of the group’s task groups and several special presentations. Among them, Timothy Snow of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory will discuss advanced fenestration testing and recent advances in testing technologies. Professor John Wright, PE, of the University of Waterloo’s Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, will give a presentation on the thermal performance of fenestration products. Both presentations will offer a deeper look at the technologies of insulating glass units.

On Tuesday night, alliance members will celebrate the tenth anniversary of the organization, which began as the Insulating Glass Manufacturers Association of Canada (IGMAC) and the Sealed Insulating Glass Manufacturers Association (SIGMA) in the United States. Both organizations merged at the end of the year in 2000.

“We’ve accomplished so much in the ten years since the merger of IGMAC and SIGMA,” says Marg Webb, IGMA executive director. “This year we want to acknowledge that great accomplishment and the successes of the past decade, but at the same time, chart our course for the next decade, which promises to bring even great achievements.”