Enhance End-user Security with High-performance Screens

Late this past summer, the Fenestration and Glazing Industry Alliance (FGIA) released an industry first in North America: a security screen standard, “Specification for Security Screen Products,” AAMA 1901-25. The standard defines expected performance from products marketed as security screens, and it represents an important step in formally bringing awareness to this unique product category in the window and door industry. 

Why security screens? Home security device adoption continues to grow as consumers seek to enhance the security of their homes, and high-performance security screens represent a solution that window and door OEMs can deploy to differentiate themselves from the competition. Further, paired with other high-performance window and door technology, security screens are another way to add new value for your customers. 

With this in mind—and in the midst of fall tradeshow season, where you’ll likely have a good opportunity to see some of this technology up close and personal—let’s take a closer look at security screens and what these kinds of standards mean for the market.  

Breezes In, Threats Out 

The new AAMA specification defines security screens as made from high-tensile, stainless-steel woven mesh, and which serve as a reinforcement method for doors and windows, providing a deterrence from unwanted intrusion while also providing ventilation, visibility and insect resistance for the end user. No testing or certification existed for such a product prior to the release of the new specification, making it an important method to back product performance claims.  

Historically, available security products for windows and doors have included unsightly bars and other measures that aren’t typically aligned with high-end aesthetic appeal. High-performance security screens that meet the standard, by contrast, offer enhanced security and peace of mind along with optimal aesthetics. 

For window and door OEMs, screens are an often-overlooked part of your complete window system, at least where adding value is concerned. What’s more, they can be tricky to fabricate in-house and challenging to maintain consistent quality control. And because no window system is complete without a screen, any production lapses have the potential to place an artificial cap on orders you can get out the door. 

For these reasons, outsourcing your screens with a reliable partner can be an effective strategy to mitigate any operational headaches associated with screens production. Dedicated screens suppliers are also more likely to offer a variety of technology options—indeed, including security screen solutions—that you can effectively pair with your different tiers of window and door offerings to deliver greater value to your customers. It’s a strategy worth considering. 

The Importance of Standardized Performance 

The new AAMA screens standard is just one of many important technical standards that help govern quality and performance throughout the North American window and door industry. These standards offer manufacturers a means to best navigate the landscape of available products and components that go into doors and windows. Adhering to these standards can help you be more certain that finished products will live up to performance claims and meet customer expectations.  

Yet, for a variety of reasons, it can be tempting to source components that may not meet relevant American standards. Cost considerations are one of those reasons—and probably the most common—though it’s always worth asking whether compromised performance in the field is worth the trade-off, especially in light of recent global supply chain challenges.  

But there are other reasons, too, and it’s where American standards can provide good guidance for OEMs. For example, demand for European-style tilt-and-turn windows has grown in recent years throughout the U.S. This has in turn led to European suppliers looking to gain traction in the U.S. market with products aligned to such demand. 

Those suppliers may provide quality products and may meet relevant European standards for performance. However, European standards and American standards often differ in important ways. Consider that the North American climate is considerably more varied and extreme than that of individual European countries. The AAMA voluntary specification for PVC exterior profiles accounts for these differences by establishing minimum performance requirements for weatherability (among a range of other performance characteristics). A European product designed for milder conditions, then, may not be up to the stringency of the AAMA standard—meaning that a European tilt-and-turn installed in the high-heat climate of Arizona, for example, may see accelerated weathering versus an American product that meets American standards. 

That’s just one example. The bottom line is that North American performance standards have raised the floor on door and window performance considerably. I expect the new security screen standard to do the same, helping to expand the market for this promising product category.