Southwall Technologies Acquires Controlling Interest In Southwall Insulating Glass Joint Venture

Ron Spielman, president of Sound Solutions Windows & Doors, will remain a partner and continue to contribute his extensive glass and window industry expertise to the venture.
 
The acquisition enables Southwall to accelerate the automated production of Heat Mirror insulating glass, improving cost-competitiveness and broadening adoption of the innovative energy-saving glass technology selected by Popular Science magazine as one of the top 100 inventions of the millennium. The move exemplifies the company's continued focus on investing in strategic innovation that can help it meet the growing demand for improved window energy efficiency, such as required by the Department of Energy's recently introduced Highly Efficient (R-5) Windows Volume Purchase Program.
 
"We established the joint venture 24 months ago to directly address the challenge of manufacturing high performance Heat Mirror insulating glass at volume," said Dennis Capovilla, Southwall chief executive officer. "As the market increasingly demands higher energy efficiency performance that can no longer be achieved with dual-pane insulating glass technology, this acquisition positions Southwall to drive broad market adoption of higher performing Heat Mirror suspended-film technology."
 
"The selection of Heat Mirror insulating glass by established brands such as Owens Corning and in landmark projects such as the Empire State Building energy efficiency retrofit has helped validate green building as a potential high growth market for Southwall. Coupled with the solid progress that we have made on key process automation projects, the timing was right to accelerate our investment in making Heat Mirror insulating glass suitable for high-volume production."
 
About Heat Mirror Suspended Film Technology
 
Heat Mirror insulating glass is a superior multi-cavity solution that suspends one or more low-emissivity and solar-reflective Heat Mirror films inside of an insulating glass unit to create two, three or even four insulating cavities without adding weight. This innovative approach enables window fabricators to offer higher performance glass options for their existing window systems today as well as for next-generation window systems in development. Heat Mirror suspended film technology combines the best of film-based and glass-based technologies to create the industry's first "super glass" with center-of-glass insulating performance ranging from R-6 to R-20 while minimizing solar heat gain and blocking UV radiation.
 
About Southwall Technologies
 
Southwall Technologies Inc. is recognized as a leader in the development and manufacture of high performance, energy-saving films and glass products that dramatically improve the energy efficiency of residential, commercial and automotive glass. Southwall is an ISO 9001:2000-certified manufacturer with customers in over 25 countries.