Buzz

Product Test: Dupont’s SentryGlas®

Superior Glass Canada recently conducted a live test for a current customer to prove out the viability of using Dupont’s SentryGlas® product.

The Customer’s Needs:

With repeated break-ins and thefts at some of their stores, a Superior Glass Canada customer asked us to find a solution that would secure their store locations without lessening the aesthetic or environmental efficiency of the store.

The Solution:

Working with the customer’s exact needs and with our range of suppliers Superior identified and sourced options to secure the building while continuing the aesthetic of the retail space. The chosen solution included using Dupont’s SentryGlas® product.

Dupont’s own product information claims:

“Benefits at a Glance

Safety: In the event of breakage, glass fragments remain firmly bonded to the interlayer, reducing the chance for injury.

Security: SentryGlas® can be used in glazing that withstands bullets, hurricane-force winds and even bomb blasts.

Solar energy control: SentryGlas® can be used with coated low-E glass for improved energy efficiency. It can also help engineer more effective thermally insulated glass, and glass with better controlled (or allowed) transmittance of V radiation.

Durability: SentryGlas® is extremely durable and resistant to clouding, even after years of exposure.

Design Versatility: SentryGlas® can be used in glass manufactured flat or curved, including annealed, toughened, heat-strengthened, spandrel, wired, patterned and color tinted glass.”

In order to prove to the customer that the product would live up to the claims, Superior installed and tested the product. The results were impressive. As shown in the attached video, the safety and security aspects were confirmed.

Superior Glass Canada specializes in the complex and unusual. This test is an example of how Superior partners with suppliers and customers to produce clearly extraordinary results.

Superior Glass Canada is Reducing Energy Use and Controlling Costs

by Patrick De Meester

With over 13 trucks on the road every day, Superior Glass Canada is paying attention to how we can reduce our emissions, our energy use, and control our costs.

Recently we’ve added to our truck fleet to support our ongoing growth. But rather than just buying more of the same we did our research and found options that are more efficient, cleaner burning, and lower cost to purchase and operate.

Highest priority was given to three key goals.

First, we wanted to improve emissions. Our fleet puts on significant mileage each year and reduction of emissions per vehicle is a crucial part of our effort to lessen our effect on our environment. Cleaner burning, more fuel efficient vehicles are part of that effort.

Next, we wanted to improve fuel efficiency. With increases in both the costs of materials from our suppliers as well as the fuel it takes to get to our customers’ job sites, Superior Glass Canada must find ways of improving efficiency and controlling costs to reduce the effect of these cost increases on our customers.

Finally, but just as importantly, we wanted to improve the “workability” of the vehicle for our staff. Every day our Installers rely on their vehicles to get them to the job and make it easier to get the job done. During their work day their vehicles are home-base for the job. They are in and out of that vehicle many times through the day accessing tools and materials.

Nissan NV200

With the fuel-efficient Ford Transit being used by our Project Coordinators to get out to job sites, we already knew we had a more fuel efficient and lower emission vehicle than the traditional pick-up trucks used by many. Our research indicated small improvements over the Transit that may be possible. As a result, we have added a new Nissan NV200 to our fleet. The Nissan NV200 has a similar usable space but slightly higher fuel economy and a lower cost of purchase than the comparable Ford Transit.

Our Installers have had a long, and successful history with the GMC Savana. This hardworking vehicle more than carries its weight but when the opportunity for a new addition to our fleet came up, we decided to go looking to see what our options were. Our decision was to add a single Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van to our fleet as a test to see how it lives up to its claims and the beating our vehicles must take.

As of the week of June 9, Superior Glass Canada will be adding a Sprinter 2500, 4 cylinder, twin-turbo, diesel to our fleet.

Sprinter 2500 coming to Superior Glass Canada

Claims of much “superior” fuel efficiency and lower emissions (from the clean-burning BlueTec technology diesel) makes this option extremely attractive. Additionally, the significantly higher roofline makes it possible for our Installers to simply walk in to the vehicle rather than crawling in on their knees (as is the case with the GMC’s) and, we hope, will make the workday easier for our teams. Finally, recent promotions by Mercedes-Benz made the vehicle more cost-effective to purchase and service – bringing it below the cost of the GMC Savana.

We have based our fleet decisions on the most current information available from manufacturers and from 3rd party reviewers. There’s nothing like experience in the field and Superior is engaging in a monitoring process to compare and contrast all of the vehicles in our fleet to see just what scores the highest on our 3 key measures. The jury is out but we’re hopeful that we’ve made smart decisions that will benefit the environment, our staff, and our customers. Updates to come.