OGMA & CSC Team Up
Originally published in Glass Canada Magazine, October 2019 Issue
In February 2019, the Ontario Glass & Metal Association and the Toronto chapter of Construction Specifications Canada entered into a Memorandum of Understanding between the two parties for the purpose of enhancing mutual awareness, co-operation, and the promotion of the organizations’ events and initiatives. The associations share a dedication to professionalism and educational initiatives and this friendship to expand eachothers reach just made good sense.
The Specifications Writers Association of Canada was formed in 1954 in part to address the chaotic situation that existed with construction specifications at the time. By 1974, in addition to specification writers, membership had grown to include readers, suppliers, contractors, and allied associations and this evolution led to the more inclusive name change to Construction Specifications Canada.
Education has always received a strong commitment from the CSC and the Construction Specifications Foundation was created to further education and research and to promote publication and distribution of construction documents of a high standard of excellence. The OGMA also has a long history of delivering educational seminars and bulletins on topics pertinent to the industry.
The first major undertaking for the organizations is slated to take place on November 14, 2019 at the Richmond Hill Country Club with four topics on the docket. “Share the Vision: An OGMA/CSC Educational Collaboration” promises to be a highly entertaining and informative event with something of interest for people from both disciplines. The companies and people presenting are as follows.
Kuraray America is a world leader in the manufacture of interlayers for laminated glass who invest heavily in the development of new technologies. One of their latest inventions is a layer that is designed to reduce the sound transmission through glazing.
The OGMA has been keeping the industry updated on developments with the Ontario Construction Act, the replacement for the Construction Lien Act, for the past five years. With the prompt payment and new adjudication systems due to be enacted by the end of October, the timing couldn’t be better for our speaker, Glenn Ackerley with Weir Foulds, to bring attendees up to date on how best to use the Act to their advantage in protecting their interests and being paid for their work in a timely basis.
Guardian Industries, another world class company in the development of emerging technologies will open some eyes on what to expect in the future as they speak about vacuum glass that will have a huge impact on the energy efficiency of glazing as well as the application of nanotechnology to virtually eliminate glare and reflections from glass.
Ted Kesik, Ph.D., P.Eng. is a Professor of Building Science at the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design at the University of Toronto and will provide guidance on preventing building envelope failures through proper and proven protocols beginning at the conceptual design stage through all aspects of building envelope commissioning best practices. Ted will also look at how last minute “value engineering” often results in disappointing performance issues.
The OGMA and the Toronto chapter of CSC are very excited to bring this great program to our industries. We’re expecting a great showing from our respective memberships but are happy to welcome anyone from across the country who is interested in learning. Please visit the OGMA.ca website for more details and registering.