Doing It Light

Vinyl Surges in Light Commercial Sector

by Trey Barrineau

heldon Kahan vinyl just performs better in most cli-

has seen the mates, and we can do colors and we

future of light can build much larger windows than

commercial — and it before.”

is vinyl. Steve Dillon, the marketing director

Vinyl window for Veka, sees a similar situation.

manufacturers have “In most markets, aluminum still

“

adapted to the light has a foothold,” he says. “However,

commercial market,” some markets have been quicker to

says Kahan, the com- adopt vinyl as the preferred mate-

mercial project manager rial because of the obvious thermal

with Deceuninck North advantages that vinyl, in combina-

America. “Vinyl is really tion with insulating glass, can pro-

taking hold in light com- vide. This trend will continue across

mercial and it’s becoming all markets as thermal requirements

the product of choice. It’s become more stringent.”

really something. It’s con-

tinuing to be a huge factor project in historic Italian Village near

in Deceuninck’s growth.” Columbus, Ohio, is an example of

Kahan says vinyl is surg- vinyl’s versatility.

Kahan says a new-construction

ing because of its excellent

The historic village requires win-

thermal performance, ver- dows used in new construction to

satility, ease of maintenance match the look and design of those

and affordability.

in existing buildings. Traditionally,

“It’s taking larger and vinyl has not been an option. But

larger chunks of the market Deceuninck North America worked

from aluminum,” he says. “It with Lindsay Windows of Chicago,

comes back to the fact that a member of its recently launched

Commercial Alliance, to offer a vinyl

window that matched the required

frame design and black color while

Vinyl on

the Rise

Several years ago, AAMA published a white paper about the use

providing a high level of thermal per-

formance. During a recent meeting of

architects and historic planning ofﬁ-

cials, the windows were approved for

use as part of a large, mixed-use con-

struction project comprised that will

feature more than 1,200 living units.

of vinyl windows in a historic former military base near Chicago that illustrates

the material’s growing clout.

Fort Sheridan north of Chicago was decommissioned in 1993. Soon after, devel-

opers looked to exploit its beautiful Romanesque Revival architecture by turning

it in a new housing development that would mix renovated historic structures

and new construction. Barracks and single dwelling houses were converted into

multi-million-dollar mansions and townhouses that cost in the upper six ﬁgures.

The developers went with vinyl windows for the project because of its ther-

mal efﬁciency, ease of maintenance and affordability. Veka supplied the two-

toned extruded proﬁles to Republic Windows, which handled the fabrication.

A Strong Market

According

the

recent

2015/2016 Study of the U.S. Market

for Windows, Doors and Skylights

from the American Architectural

Manufacturers Association, the U.S.

market for light commercial windows

increased nine percent from 2013 to

2015. AAMA deﬁnes “light commer-

“

People are looking for maintenance-free homes all the time, even if the

homes are over a million dollars,” says architect Brad Lewis, director of design for

Chicago-based Balsamo Olson & Lewis. “We are doing a lot of houses with vinyl

windows. People can’t tell the difference anymore. And now that we can do dif-

ferent shapes with vinyl windows, it gives us a chance to use the material more.”

Door & Window Market

www.dwmmag.com

Non-residential

Vinyl Stats

Curtainwall

2 percent

cial” as residential-type units used in businesses going.”

low-rise non-residential applications,

Neukirchner says

noting that they usually pass through that’s big change

the typical residential window supply from the past.

Storefront and

site-fabricated

commercial

windows

chain channels (see chart at right).

“It was very uncom-

Shop-fabricated

commercial windows

4 percent

Additionally, a July 2015 forecast mon before the eco-

from Principia Consulting predicts nomic crisis,” she says,

that the $8.3 billion market for res- adding that it was a big

idential and light commercial patio adjustment for a lot of

doors and windows will grow seven those companies.

4 percent

percent each year through 2017. At

“It’s a higher scale of intri-

the same time, the overall commer- cacy for commercial fabrica-

cial building industry should see 9.9 tors with engineering calculations,

percent growth in 2016 and 7.5 per- mock-up testing, go through approv-

cent growth in 2017, according to als, work with window consultants, Source: AAMA 2015/2016 Study of the U.S.

the American Institute of Architects shop drawings, window management Market for Windows, Doors and Skylights

Consensus Construction Forecast.

According to Kahan, multi-family

housing is leading the charge.

on the job site,” she says.

Since the housing crash, multi-fam- Style Watch

ily housing has powered the recov-

Kahan says color is the big

“

We’re seeing lots of activity in ery in U.S. residential construction. game-changer in the light commer-

student housing and things such as In 2015, multi-family production cial arena.

mixed use with stores on the bottom reached 395,000 units, according to

“It used to be manufacturers only

the National Association of Home had white or tan or clay vinyl windows,”

and apartments on top,” he says.

Corrie Neukirchner of Rehau says Builders’ 2017 Spring Construction he says. “Now they’re selling painted or

that’s because the commercial segment Forecast. A normal year of multi-fam- laminated products. Colors like bronze

has gotten healthier faster than other ily production typically sees 331,000 and black are very popular.”

areas of the construction industry.

units produced, NAHB says.

Veka’s Dillon agrees.

“We’ve seen a stronger recovery of

However, multi-family starts are

“Color is always a consideration

thecommercialsegmentaftertheﬁnan- expected to decline 4 percent to for any commercial installation, and

cial crisis compared to slower stabili- 379,000 units this year, but rise 6 per- vinyl offers the most versatility for

zation of residential new-construction cent to 402,000 units in 2017.

volume based on demographics and

Dillon says light-commercial growth ity of the growth is in interior and

lifestyle choices,” she says. “Speciﬁcally for Veka varies widely by region.

exterior laminates. The ability to have

ﬁnishes,” he says. “For us, the major-

multi-family and mixed-use develop-

ments have seen a big jump.”

“We see growth in the Northeast wood grain interiors along with archi-

and Midwest as traditional residential tectural exterior colors are appealing

One installer of light commercial fabricators are realizing the oppor- to most builders and architects.”

fenestration says he’s seeing an uptick tunities in the light commercial mar-

Finally, Dillon says the adaptability

all across the board.

ket,” he says. “Not so much in the of many residential window designs

The number of projects is up for South and West where aluminum is to light commercial is a big reason

“

the ﬁrst time signiﬁcantly since the still strong. It really speaks to the ther- there are more diverse styles in this

downturn,” says Craig Patchin of mal requirements in those regions. niche than ever before.

Window Design Center in Madison, Where we see the growth, fabricators

“Many residential window designs

Wis. “Lending has loosened, and peo- are out there pitching the beneﬁts of are capable and are making the shift

ple are starting to create companies vinyl over other materials. It’s really over to light commercial,” he says.

and expand. It’s healthy and steady. A about education. Growth will contin- “The changes in energy codes have

lot of the big production builders were ue to increase nationwide at a modest driven designs to not only be more

all active in multi-family during the pace while certain markets will rapid- thermally efﬁcient but to be more

downturn. It was a way to keep their ly adopt vinyl’s versatility.”

structurally sound as well.”

www.dwmmag.com

June/July 2016