The end of October marked the end of our UK-wide tour to show off our new energy efficient Insulating Glass Units, Pilkington energiKare™, to more than 350 window companies. The seven events spread the word and proved hugely popular with glass stockists everywhere.

This month we unveil a new product from the Pilkington Activ™ range. Pilkington Activ™ Neutral is an attractive neutral coloured glass that combines dual-action, self-cleaning properties with solar control performance for a cooler internal environment. Specially designed for conservatories and large glazed areas, Pilkington Activ™ Neutral is a revolutionary new glass that is perfect for use in both the roof and verticals.

The new St Helens Central train station now provides visitors to the town with an impressive welcome as well as a stunning backdrop for those leaving, thanks to our Pilkington Planar™ system. The project, designed by SBS Architects Ltd, uses more than 400 square metres of Pilkington Planar™, with half of the building’s glazing made up of 50 per cent monolithic glass and the other 50 per cent single glazed laminate incorporating Pilkington Optifloat™ clear.

Window Energy Ratings (WERs) is currently the topic of the moment in the glazing industry, but what relevance do they have for new homes? It is a question we have answered in our new newsletter called ‘Low E Glass in new housing’ to give our customers, and in turn their customers, all the information and advice they need on specifying energy efficient windows in this sector.

The first Manager of the Month award this season goes to our very own John Holland, Senior Technologist in the Pilkington Fire Glazing Technology Research and Development team. He walks away with a top of the range video MP3 player for his efforts after his team, Pyro Athletico, topped the scoring charts during September. How are you doing in the game? Don’t forget to keep checking your team and use all your available transfers to be in with a chance of winning next month’s prize.

This month we have news of the following items which have been printed and are now held in stock:

• The Pilkington Suncool™ Brilliant 40/22 data sheet maps out everything you need to know about our fantastic new product.
• Our Pilkington Activ™ Neutral data sheet with information about our self-cleaning solar control glass.

As with bonfire night this month we have been making a bang in the press over the last month. We featured in Glass and Glazing Products with David Stoker and Clear Thinking on the subject of passing off, as well as our first project to use Pilkington Planar Activ™ in Birmingham’s Hagley Road, and the Saints’ Pilkington Activ™ sponsored stunning win in the Challenge Cup Final against Catalan Dragons. Meanwhile, Your Home continued the Pilkington Activ™ theme in a conservatory styling feature and the November issue of real Homes dedicated an impressive whole page to an unusual conservatory. The quirky first floor glass extension used Pilkington Activ™ Blue to ensure all year round use and easy cleaning of the difficult to reach glass.

Following a major review of its branding strategy, NSG has decided to adopt the ‘Pilkington’ brand for its global Flat Glass business. All parts of the Building Products and Automotive businesses will operate under a new Flat Glass logo and this can now be seen  as a banner on each page within the website. Don't forget that you can return to the .com home page at any time during your visit to the Pilkington website simply by clicking on the Flat Glass mark at the top of each page.