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By Juliette l-ang Cahn Executive Director Vinyl Window and Door Institute The Society ofthe Plastics Industry

OV/ IS the time for southern and western dealers to set a headstart in the vinyl window business.

Nationally, vinyl windows account for afull 16% of the residential replacement market, with double that figure predicted by 1990. Dealers, remodeling contractors and builders in the regions mentioned are conspicuously absent from the wave of new vinyl window business volume and profit sweeping most of the rest of the country.

European builders and remodelers pioneered the use of vinyl windows during the 1950s, because of serious shortages of wood after World War tr. Much of the technology for fabricating vinyl windows was developed in West Germany. Today, vinyl windows are used in about 65% of all replacement installations in Germany. For the total replacement and new construction market. the estimates are 42% vinyl in Germany and Austria and25% for Europe as a whole.

In the U.S., vinyl's high resistance to heat gain and loss helped bring about its first big sales gains in the l90s when the oil embargoes and the quadrupling of fuel costs made energy-efficiency a must.

The appeal of vinyl windows is based on a number of major considerations:

. never corroding, peeling, rusting, shrinking never needing painting o cleanable with a damp cloth o insulating value o resistance to extremes ofheat and cold. fresh and salt water and sea spray o self-lubricating propenies which help prevent the vinyl sash from sticking when opening or closing high insulating values resist the damaging effects of condensation o available in any size and shape; fabricated to order at no increase in price r price competitive with quality wood windows

The recent creation of a Vinyl Window Certification Program by the Vinyl Window and Door Institute, a part of the Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. , is significant in that it assures the ultimate consumer will get a quality product. Twice a year, the testing lab makes an unannounced call on each manufacturer enrolled in the program. If deficiencies are found. the licensed manufacturer has

Story at a Glance

Certain geographic areas offer dealers a rare chance to be first in offering a new product... certification labels ensure windows meet high industry standards...windows have impressive features and benef its for buyers.

30 days to correct them or the products will be decertified.

Vinyl window manufacturers using the black and silver certification label are stating, in effect, that their windows conform to the nationally recognized consensus standard ASTM D4099. This standard, developed and promulgated by the American Society of Testing and Materials, has been accepted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, HUD, DOE, Building and Code Administrators (BOCA), Southern Building Code Congress (SBCCV), Council of Amertcan Building Officials (CABO), and the Construction Specifiers Institutions.

From a marketing standpoint, the certification program is a powerful tool in persuading the consumer, builder, contractor, architect or other construction specifier that vinyl windows bearing the certification label are not only a first-rate choice but ofthe highest reliability and assured quality.

So, if vinyl windows are new to you, they are new to your competition, which translates into a rare, golden opportunity for you to be among the first in a whole new prolitable line of business.

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