Fiberglass Thermal Spacer

Customer History

We were approached by a fiberglass window manufacturer located in the Pacific Northwest who had been purchasing standard structural square and rectangular tubes from Advanced Fiber Products (AFP) since 2008. In 2010, they began to work with our engineers on a new design for a Fiberglass Thermal Spacer used in an exterior insulated cladding system.

The building codes in this region are particularly difficult to achieve due to the challenging climate. Most materials are inefficient in meeting these standards, but the high strength and low thermal conductivity characteristics of fiberglass are well-suited for the application.

The pultrusion of the Fiberglass Thermal Spacer itself caused little concern, but the construction of the die called for a different approach. Our customer’s design included many similar shapes consisting of different sizes to handle the multiple insulation variables in the building industry. Ordering an individual die for each size would have been expensive and detrimental to the project.

To minimize the cost of tooling, AFP’s engineers and tool and die shop built an interchangeable die capable of making 10 different profiles. Each size of the product is manufactured in a specific color, all of them with a printed veil detailing the product information. The final product is in the patenting process and our customer is planning to develop this product line even further in the future.

Customer Statement

“We produce high-end products that compete globally with the best. To meet elevated performance targets, we need to be demanding and we expect nothing less from our partners and our suppliers. We approached Advanced Fiber Products with a concept, a drawing, and a number of questions. AFP provided a competitive quote, design support, and a lot of knowledge about the fiberglass pultrusion process. We’ve selected Advanced Fiber Products to partner with us—and our respective companies are committed to doing it right. We’ve worked together effectively and efficiently.”