May 29 2008
Southwall Technologies, Inc., the worldwide innovator and manufacturer of high performance, energy-saving films and glass products, announced today the selection of Kaisheng Building Materials (KBM), Shenzhen, China, to supply Southwall's XIR energy-saving films to domestic Chinese glass manufacturers. The relationship, effective immediately, is the result of ongoing discussions between Southwall and the Chinese state and municipal authorities toward providing advanced, energy-efficient glass to China's rapidly growing commercial building market.
“With KBM now part of Southwall's world-wide distribution team, we are well positioned to respond to China's growing demand for energy-efficient glass products to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions in buildings,” said Dennis Capovilla, Southwall's President and COO. “Southwall's advanced XIR film technology is an attractive solution for Chinese architects and developers who have increasing interest in the benefits of green commercial building.”
KBM was established in 1998 as a distributor of branded construction materials. With comprehensive warehousing and logistic systems in place, the company has served major public projects in Shenzhen including airport, tunnel, subway and port facilities, with sales growing from RMB 35M to RMB 100M in less than 10 years. After careful assessment of various environmentally-friendly building material products, KBM chose to promote and distribute Southwall's energy-efficient XIR products.
Mr. You Qifu, General Manager of KBM and having 20 years of construction business experience in Shenzhen, said: “With this distribution agreement, Southwall and KBM are now entering a new era of cooperation in energy-efficient glass products. KBM will make full investment in the business, and we are confident that we will be successful in applying XIR energy-saving glass for greener buildings.”
Southwall‘s XIR heat-rejecting film, when laminated between two pieces of glass by qualified glass fabricators, can dramatically reduce the amount of air conditioning required to cool a building. The finished product has a unique, low-reflectance appearance, allowing greater than 70% visible light transmittance while reflecting approximately 50% of incident solar energy. Glazed monolithically or combined into sealed insulating glass units, XIR film can be laminated with a wide variety of PVB and glass types (clear or tinted, annealed, heat-strengthened or tempered) to meet the unique requirements of commercial green building projects.
Southwall Technologies, Inc. is recognized worldwide as a leading innovator in the development and manufacture of high performance films and glass products that dramatically improve the energy efficiency of architectural and automotive glass. Southwall introduced the world's first low-e coated glass product in 1981, a pioneering technology recognized in 1999 by Popular Science magazine as one of the "Top 100 Inventions of the Millennium.” Southwall's XIR laminated and Heat Mirror® insulating glass units are available from over 50 window and insulating glass manufacturers worldwide.