Maintenance Technology September 2016 - 14

PLANT PROFILE 1. Sheets of glass are delivered to the Denver facility to be cut to size and sent through the insulated-glass line. 2. Racks of insulated glass units are shipped with Mylar balloons. Because the units are made at elevation, using either argon or krypton gases, the balloons inflate or deflate, depending on the elevation. The balloons are left attached for about 72 hours at the site to allow the gas to stabilize before it is cut, crimped, and tucked beneath the glazing. 1 3. The glass-line staging area is part of the production line at the Denver Alpen facility. a building structure that needs very little supplemental heating or cooling to provide year-round occupant comfort, dramatically reducing a home's annual energy consumption. ■ Living Building Challenge is a group that is manufacturing building products that do not have any unhealthy ingredients. They use no off-gasing and no red-listed items or sealants. ■ Net-Zero Energy tries to build sustainably and create a building envelope that uses little or no energy for a comfortable environment. "Everything we do is geared toward super insulation," Maierhofer said. "Insulation is measured in terms of R value. Typical builder-grade windows have an R value of 2 or 3. Our windows start at an R value of closer to 6, and top out at an R value of 10. These products are well suited for cold-weather conditions. It's all about keeping the cold out. Some climates have intense heat, and we need to keep the cold in and keep the heat out. When people want super energy-efficient technology, that's when they approach us." A focus on safety Every day, Alpen works with glass and glass breaks. "Sometimes this causes a problem, but it is just part of what we prepare 14 | MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY 2 for," Herman said. "However, it is not as fragile as you think, and there are tricks to handling it. I can't remember the last time we had a cut injury." Alpen created custom-built pallets to transport the IGUs from Denver to Niwot. In the packaging process, wood crates with handles are built for each unit, corner protectors are added, and the entire assembly is heavily shrinkwrapped. "It's all about the way you handle it and an attention to safety," Maierhofer said. "We have racks and carts with padding. We handle with care and move slowly." The flat glass used to manufacture the IGUs is delivered to the Denver facility in 72 x 96-in. sheets, where it is scored and cut to size. Hassell said the company experiences very little breakage. "We keep track of the waste due to breakage, and it's extremely minimal," Hassell said. "One thing that helps us minimize that is we have a core group of people who have been in this industry for 10-plus years. The experience and expertise of our people makes a big difference. Also, we have a simplified way of cutting glass. Some of it is predicated on the volume. We have a glass cutter who cuts the sheets on a table using a T-cutter. He scores the 3 glass and then breaks the score. It's then racked and goes to the line." A different kind of cutting takes place in Niwot, where the long pieces of fiberglass must be cut to size at various lengths and angles. This presents another safety issue that must be addressed. "We are cutting fiberglass. It looks like wood, but this is glass," Hassell said. "Cutting it creates a lot of dust and this is not stuff you want to breathe. We use ventilation masks and all the saws are connected to a dustcollection system that channels the dust and other particles through pipes and into a storage tank. That room is very clean, safe, and dust-free because we mastered the ability to control the dust." A safety program was initiated several years ago that involves a committee with participants from each department. According to Hassell, "We focus on things like keeping the aisles clean, checking and certifying the fire extinguishers once a month, ensuring nothing is in front of the electrical panels, and other worker-safety issues are addressed." MT Michelle Segrest has been a professional journalist for 27 years. She specializes in the industrial processing industries and has toured manufacturing facilities in 33 cities in six countries on three continents. SEPTEMBER 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Maintenance Technology September 2016