The American Architectural Manufacturers Association has expanded its services to makers of windows made of vinyl and other polymeric materials, by forming a Plastics Materials Council. The group, announced Nov. 14, is the first in a series of window councils organized by material, such as wood, aluminum and plastics.
Creation of the Plastics Materials Council also could increase competition between AAMA, based in Palatine, Ill., and the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc.'s Vinyl Window & Door Institute in Washington.
``We already share a common membership base,'' said AAMA Executive Director Jeffrey Lowinski.
However, Jery Huntley, executive director of VWD, said VWD's strength is its focus on plastics alone. AAMA, she said, represents other materials and other end products.
``There are certain needs of the vinyl window industry that only SPI can fulfill because the sole focus of SPI is specifically on plastics,'' Huntley said.
AAMA's Plastics Materials Council is open to window extruders and resin suppliers, Lowinski said. The council will work with AAMA's Architectural Products Group and Residential/Com-mercial Products Group.
AAMA said it created the materials councils because window makers need forums to address issues such as research needs, standards development and state and federal regulations.
AAMA, founded in 1962, already runs a PVC Extrusion Certification Program covering 27 companies and 34 factories.
In other news, AAMA announced a joint task force with the National Wood Window and Door Association has issued a first draft of a proposed window standard. The standard would cover structural design load ratings, the rate of air infiltration, testing for resistance to forced entry and other aspects.
The multimaterials standard ``is especially important today when many manufacturers offer major products fabricated from more than one basic material,'' said Carl Wagus, AAMA technical director.
