G Award finalists announced

The 2023 G Awards organisers have announced the shortlist for this year’s event, and thanks to 14 categories – a record number – there are a grand total of 84 entries through to the G23 finals, which will return to the London Hilton on Park Lane, on Friday 24 November.

As you might expect, this week’s newsletter is heavily dominated by G Award finalists, and that’s a reflection of how important the G Awards is to the industry.

Now in its 19th year, the G Awards is by far the most respected industry awards programme. It features a proper panel of judges, all of whom are named, and given the difficult task of scoring hundreds of entries.

As such, a G Award is more than just a nice trophy and bragging rights. It actually means something.

For the last two years I have been lucky enough to be a judge on the G Awards panel, but prior to that I was also responsible for compiling entries in my previous job as a director at one of the industry’s leading marketing and PR agencies.

That puts me in a rather unique position of knowing, first hand, the huge amount of effort that goes into producing a G Award entry and just what it means to all the companies and individuals that enter.

And as a judge, I have to say that the vast majority of the entries that I scored for the G23s were absolutely outstanding and a real testament to the passion, skill and dedication that exists in the fenestration industry.

To see the list of finalists in full visit www.g-awards.com – I wish all those who are nominated the very best of luck for the finals in November.

Future Homes Standard ‘imminent’

In other news, I attended the Glass & Glazing Federation’s members day yesterday, and along with some excellent key note speakers, there was a discussion on the Future Homes Standard (FHS).

The FHS has been the subject of much speculation recently, mainly due to the impact it will have on the performance of windows and doors going into new build homes.

Up until now, the general consensus has been that the required U values for windows will be around 0.8, a benchmark that will realistically only be achieved with triple glazing.

The debate over the pros and cons of triple glazing – which essentially revolve around increased performance versus greater weight, handling and cost – continues, but if the FHS regulations are as predicted, it’s something that the industry will have to adapt to, and in a relatively short space of time.

According to the GGF, the wait is nearly over and the FHS is due to be announced ‘imminently’, in the coming weeks or by the end of the year.

The FHS, and FHS compliant products, are also discussed at length in a special Glass Times magazine Guide To Energy Efficiency that is due to land with the October issue next week.