VETECO shows your best profile in innovation and design

VETECO also showed all kinds of developments in the industry of glass insulation and boosted a sector which produced in 2007 over 12 million units, representing a 10 per cent of the total European production, according to the Spanish Association of manufacturers of Windows and facades lightAsefave. These data consolidate our country as the second industry in Europe in this area. The six pavilions of Ifema, occupied by Veteco received visit 43.617 professionals of the sector, which has meant 17,14 percent from the 2006 Edition and a clear sign of the strength of this sector.

On international participation, to Veteco 2008 have gone 72 foreign direct exhibitors from 17 countries, and the fair has a prominent presence of Italian, German, and Portuguese companies that account for most of the foreign supply. Nearly 4,500 of the professionals attending the show were foreigners from 83 countries, among which we find Portugal, Italy, Mexico, France, Brazil and Germany. The sectors for which visitors showed greater interest were those of Windows, glass, structural glazing, fittings and accessories, machinery and ceilings and skylights. On the other hand, the Hall received a visit from professionals in the storage, architecture, carpentry, the locksmith, the construction, manufacture and decoration.

Although the economic crisis in the construction sector was already left notice last year, glass insulation industry reached a more than satisfactory results of 4,000 million euros of turnover in 2007, according to the Asefave.

The various sectors of the installation of Windows were also represented at Veteco. The progressive improvement of materials shows progress in the field of domestic industries. 70 Percent of the Windows are made of aluminum, half of them with breakage of thermal bridge, data which is increasing every year. The wooden Windows, with 15 percent of the market, the PVC, with 12 per cent and the mixed, with the 3 remaining per cent, complete the spectrum of the industry of glass insulation.

One of the sectors represented in Veteco 2008 was of slight facades, that according to the presentation made by on May 9, Ignacio Fernandez Solla, Doctor of architecture, the vast majority of them do not comply with EC standards. In this sense, Fernandez Solla said that 'we are retarded'. Despite this delay, the light facades industry is a production of 2 million square meters per year, representing an evolution similar to the installation of Windows.

The prize Veteco - Asefave to the best front light, of identical requirements in the previous category, was for the building "Centre of the arts of La Coruña", in La Coruña, in the architects Victoria Acebo and Ángel Alonso, manufactured by InasusS.L. and the gamistas metal extruded, S.A. Also won honorable mentions the building of the 2 Vizcaya Plaza of Bilbao, the center of scientific research of Guipúzcoa, in San Sebastián, the House b2, of Pamplona and single-family housing, Cintruenigo (Navarra).

The Innovation Prize, that values research and innovation in the exterior carpentry; the design and implementation work; the adaptation to the environment; respect for the environment and the contribution to energy efficiency and overall sustainability of the building, as well as quality assurance adopted in the process of design and production, was for the so-called 'guillotine', presented by the company Vitrocsa IbéricaS.L., Alborada (Valencia).

Finally, the best of final project, which valued architectural design, the adaptation to the environment, respect for the environment and the contribution to energy efficiency and the overall sustainability of the building, was for the 'Hotel in Cuatro Caminos'developed by Isabel root Alonso of the ETS of architecture of the Polytechnic University of Madrid.

VETECO 2008 showed the profile of an industry that has opted for the rehabilitation and improvement of the quality to maintain their competitiveness and their position in second place in the European ranking. A place which was won by the manufacture of more than 12 million Windows per year, i.e. 10 per cent of the total of the European Union. For its part, the domestic production of light facades is approaching 2 million square meters annually. All experts agree that the future of this economic segment through rehabilitation, "while we are still far from the European average", with which there is still an important niche of business, as well as the implementation of the Act of buildingLOE and, in particular in its policy development, the technical code for building, CTE.

Radiography of the sector has contributed also the programme of workshops that were developed in the framework of Veteco and constitutes one of the main assets of the fair. In this sense, the Hall hosted two round tables on the 'tall architecture', the first dedicated exclusively to the international level, while the second was only registered at the national level. Both were preceded by the architect Dominique Perrault, international guest who made the keynote speech. In the round tables, qualified experts discussed the most emblematic buildings of height as some projects in Mexico, Italy, Argentina, United Arab Emirates and in our country, the CTBA towers in Madrid, the towers of the Forum in Barcelona or the Plaza de Europa in L'Hospitalet.

The 9th conducted conferences, addressed the implementation of the CTE in Windows and light facades, in addition to the CE marking, which is also mandatory, implying both suitability requirements. This meeting was organized by the employer Asefave and by Aenor, the Spanish Association for standardisation and certification. Was precisely this association which, again, enabled a certified quality Stand in the grounds of Veteco and took advantage of this edition to deliver certificates of quality at close to half a hundred manufacturers in the sector of the enclosure, recognizing the quality of their products by the entity, in prestigious framework.