Dubai, UAE, 18 March 2019:   Emirates Glass, a subsidiary of Dubai Investments PJSC and one of the largest processors of flat architectural glass in the Middle East, hosted the annual International Architectural Glass Conference at Dubai Investments House, an open forum of dialogue and discussion that gave glass professionals insight into a number of important industry topics including lessons from the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy, security glazing, and acoustic glazing.

The all-day event, held in cooperation with the Glass and Glazing Federation MENA region (GGF), brought together industry experts and speakers from a range of international firms from the US, UK, Europe and the region, to present to over 130 delegates on a broad range of subjects.
 
One session focused on the causes and lessons learned from the Grenfell Tower fire, a 2017 tragedy that took the lives of over 70 lives in a London towerblock. Others ranged from the performance of laminated glass, sealant compatibility, adhesive backed polymeric film design and anisotropy.

Rizwanulla Khan, Executive President of Emirates Glass, said: “The International Architectural Glass Conference in Dubai is a unique event that provides an open forum of dialogue and discussion for the audience. The goal is to have all stakeholders, including architects, consultants, glass processors, aluminium fabricators, and suppliers disseminate information and knowledge gathered from years of research and hands-on experience. The platform not only deliberates on current issues that the industry is confronted with but also lays the groundwork for the future by exploring innovations that are imperative for the glass industry to thrive in the Middle East and beyond.” 

Pascoal DSilva, Chairman of GGF and Quality & Technical Manager at Gulf Glass Industries CO. LLC, said: “GGF has accumulated data over nearly 40 years from their successes and failures in the glass and glazing sector. This is the only technical conference that dissects the issues faced by GFF and gives architects, consultants, contractors, glaziers, and glass processors in the MENA region comprehensive and tried and tested information to launch from with rather than start from scratch.”

Other topics covered during the event included safety and security glazing in the region, the increased use of laminated glass in the MENA region, the effects of acoustic pollution, new developments in silicone sealant glazing design and on anisotropy of heat-treated glass, and the benefit to energy sustainability presented by retrofit films.