EP 61 · 2023-07-31 · 1:14:31
Why Shipping Windows to Newfoundland Costs More Than Winnipeg — ALLSCO on Glazing Science, Energy Grants & Atlantic Canada's Window Market
ALLSCO's operations and sales leads deliver a candid supplier-side masterclass on Atlantic Canada's window-and-door business — low-E physics, code thresholds, and why it's cheaper to ship to Winnipeg than Newfoundland.
RL
Remy Leger
⟶ The story, written up — a sharp read with every fact on the record.
// CHAPTERS — TAP TO JUMP THE PLAYER
0:00Sponsor block: Luminous Labs, Payzant, Procore — Pre-roll reads for Luminous Labs (architectural visualization), Payzant Building Products, and co-branded partner Procore.1:23Guest intros: two paths into the window industry — Remy Leger's route from NBCC marketing through Cavendish Farms and Atlantic Lottery to ALLSCO's Moncton store; Andre Doiron's Université de Moncton degree and a career through nearly every ALLSCO division to operations manager — and why that ground-level experience earns respect.5:05Sales footprint and the Nunavut tender — Wholesale/retail/contractor mix in Moncton, no internal install crew (leads handed to local contractors), and a recurring government renovation tender in Nunavut — 120-140 cookie-cutter windows per phase, shipped direct by sea container on one of three boats a year.10:04Operations: markets, plant, and product lines — HRM as the growth target amid cranes and multi-dwelling construction; strong PEI, South Shore and Valley markets; ~120 employees; windows, doors, patio doors and thermal panes manufactured in-house; siding and cladding (including premium composite) resold wholesale.14:11Glazing science: elevations, heat pumps, and the ER-34 grant threshold — Staying current through Fenestration Canada; customers who out-research the supplier; specifying different low-E by elevation; solar-blocking overtaking passive solar as cooling costs surpass heating; the 5-7% triple-glaze premium that pays back; and the federal energy grant's ER-34 minimum that aluminum grills quietly destroy.20:14Product philosophy: one beefy line, steel reinforcement, and superheating frames — One premium window line versus competitors' good-better-best; 14-gauge galvanized steel reinforcement that eliminates field callbacks; hybrid (aluminum-clad) versus straight PVC; and how low-E plus deeper recessed frames superheats vinyl to 120-140°C — the physics behind cladding.26:25Composite siding and the complexity of doors — Royal cellular composite siding — pricier but embossed, paintable and durable, a fit for the multi-res boom; doors as the most-used, most complex fenestration product to build and install.30:16Mid-roll sponsor block — Reads for Freeman Group Financial, The Stone Depot, Airtight Spaces (AeroBarrier), and Pivot Bookkeeping.32:12Doors: NAFS testing, harsh-climate mismatch, and the showpiece front entry — Doors went largely untested until the 2015 code brought NAFS — tighter tolerances, dual weatherstripping; door styles that don't suit Maritime weather; the 77,000 sq ft plant where the door shop takes the most floor space and the most specialized hands; steel at ~90% of slabs versus $25-30k wood entries.39:11Patio doors: from knockdown kits back to building from scratch — ALLSCO's journey out of and back into patio-door manufacturing — knockdown program in 2018, now a full lineal program cut, milled and machined in-house; nine-foot and twelve-foot units becoming the new-construction norm, even in apartments.42:17Cracking the multi-unit market: infrastructure before sales — Single dwellings declining, MDUs rising — but the commercial market 'cannot be approached the same way': dedicated project managers owning three-or-four GC relationships, on-site service before/during/after, more fleet, architect spec work, and two-year decision lead times. The product alone won't sway a GC.52:45PEI's outsized market vs Newfoundland's freight wall — Two tractor-trailers to PEI twice a week and a local rep who knows everyone; Newfoundland is all-in-or-nothing because nothing ships back out — carriers charge both directions, a driver is gone five days, and Winnipeg is literally cheaper to reach.57:40Codes, microclimates, and the IWK partnership — The 2025 National Building Code cycle; NAFS performance grades varying by microclimate (Halifax PG35-45 vs Moncton PG25); salt air forcing stainless hardware; and a donation to the IWK from every window sold.1:03:32Net Zero, 40-year tenures, and competitors who lend each other product — Triple-glaze solar-blocking packages for Net Zero builds; why window-industry people never leave (shop tenures past 40 years, pride in driving past your own windows); cordial competitors who lend product; windows as structural building envelope — 20-by-22-foot vinyl units replacing stud walls; Andre's Captain Kirk no-win-scenario engineering ethos.1:12:39Outro and sponsor block: Cook Insurance, FCA Surety — Thanks to the guests and closing reads for Cook Insurance and FCA Surety.
// THE INTRO
Dan hosts Remy Leger (sales manager, Moncton) and Andre Doiron (operations manager) of ALLSCO Windows & Doors, a 40-plus-year family-owned New Brunswick manufacturer with ~120 employees, a 77,000 sq ft plant, and the All Weather retail brand in HRM. The conversation is unusually dense for a supplier episode: how a no-internal-install model hands leads to local contractors; a recurring Nunavut government renovation tender shipped by sea container; the shift from passive-solar to solar-blocking glazing as cooling costs overtake heating in a heat-pump Maritimes; the 5-7% triple-glaze premium that pays itself back; the federal grant's ER-34 threshold (and how aluminum grills quietly kill it); why low-E plus recessed glass superheats frames to 120-140°C; NAFS door testing since 2015; ALLSCO's one-premium-line strategy versus competitors' good-better-best; the infrastructure (project managers, fleet, on-site follow-through) needed before chasing the booming multi-unit market on two-year lead times; PEI as their busiest market versus Newfoundland's brutal one-way freight economics; and an industry culture where competitors lend each other product and shop-floor tenure runs 30-40 years. Heavy sponsor blocks bookend and interrupt the episode.
// THE LESSONS
See all 21 lessons ▸Working nearly every position before managing operations buys credibility and faster problem-solving — you've been in your staff's shoes.
“it's easier to help them as well if they're stuck or they have an issue”
A manufacturer without install crews can turn local contractors into channel partners by handing them leads and takeoffs.
“we don't also doesn't have a set of installers so we kind of use our local market of contractors”
Renovation demand in remote markets is driven by asset age and shipping windows, not green mandates — plan around the three boats a year.
“the building almost are getting old they're getting used and they just need to get renovated”
Stay ahead of code and Energy Star changes through your manufacturer association's annual meetings, where regulators preview what's coming.
“government members will come in talk about where the you know energy star is going”
Internet-armed customers now out-research suppliers — treat informed buyers as a sales asset, because they're willing to spend.
“they've actually some of them surpassed their knowledge because he had done a lot of research”
Spec glazing by elevation — solar-blocking south, passive north — and couple the window package with HVAC sizing, because it changes the heat pump you buy.
“it modifies your heat pump which it either can bring down or increase your decision”
A 5-7% triple-glaze premium pays itself back in energy costs — and cooling, not heating, is now the bigger Maritime bill.
“that's all it is about five seven percent You're Gonna Save it and more”
Know grant thresholds cold: the federal retrofit grant requires ER 34, and decorative aluminum grills can quietly fail a customer's energy audit.
“you have to hit the current standard of the integer rating which is 34”
Selling one premium line instead of good-better-best forces apples-to-apples comparisons and positions you on quality, not price ladders.
“competitors still have a a good better best window right we only have our window”
Over-engineering costs little at production volume and pays back in service: steel-reinforced sashes mean no callbacks from the field.
“we don't have the callbacks like we don't have sashes bowling in the field”
Field physics drives product design: low-E glass recessed in deep frames bounces heat that superheats vinyl to 120-140°C — the real reason hybrid cladding exists.
“the frame starts to superheat and the frame starts to weaken out”
Regulation reshapes whole product categories: doors were barely tested until NAFS arrived with the 2015 code, ending loose-tolerance building.
“once the new billing codes came into effect in 2015 Nas was introduced”
Don't enter the multi-unit market on product alone — GCs buy the service envelope: project managers, site visits, adjustments, and follow-through.
“that market cannot be approached the same way we approach a residential Market”
Commercial supply runs on two-year lead times — court GCs and architects today for buildings deciding their 2025-26 packages now.
“they're making it two years before the windows are going in at least”
Dedicate project managers to three-or-four key GC accounts rather than spreading them across retail volume — depth of relationship wins spec work.
“his his three or four key customers that he's going to have”
Newfoundland is all-in or stay out: with no backhaul freight, carriers charge both directions, making Winnipeg cheaper to reach than St. John's.
“they're charging you the trip there and the trip back because they got nothing to come back”
Tight regional markets like PEI are won with local boots on the ground — a rep who lives there and knows everyone beats any campaign.
“it's a very very small community everyone knows everyone”
Performance requirements vary by microclimate: Halifax demands PG35-45 where Moncton needs PG25, and salt air forces stainless hardware.
“Halifax would have a PG of 35 45 depending on where it is”
Tangible craftsmanship retains people: shop-floor pride in building something you can drive past keeps tenure at 30-40 years.
“most guys have been in the industry for 30 40 years”
In a small industry, cooperate with competitors — lend product and share market intel, because one day you'll be the one in need.
“we have competitors that call us hey uh I ran out of this”
Windows are now structural building envelope — 20-by-22-foot units replacing stud walls — yet homeowners still spend on countertops instead.
“you have Windows now that are basically replacing stud walls”
All 21 lessons from this episode, on one page.
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// FEATURED BUSINESSES
Allsco Windows & Doors
Atlantic Canada manufacturer and wholesale distributor of PVC, hybrid (aluminum-PVC) and wood windows;…
Alweather Windows & Doors
Atlantic Canadian retailer and installer of residential windows, doors, garage doors and exterior sidi…
Kohltech Windows & Entrance Systems
Manufactures custom, energy-efficient windows and entrance/patio doors (tilt & turn, casement, awning,…
// FACT-CHECKED ✓ web-verified, with sources
✓ VERIFIED
The federal retrofit grant requires windows to meet an Energy Rating (ER) of 34 — and aluminum grills can quietly drop a window below that threshold.
ER 34 is the minimum ENERGY STAR threshold for windows in Canada (unified Zone D standard since 2020). The Canada Greener Homes Grant (now closed as of Dec 31, 2025) required ENERGY STAR-certified windows. The claim that decorative aluminum grills conduct heat and can reduce ER below 34 is physicall…
SOURCE ▸// COMPANIES & ORGS ✓ verified
Allsco Windows & Doors ▸Alweather Windows & Doors ▸Fenestration CanadaKohltech Windows & Entrance Systems ▸Cardinal Glass IndustriesRoto Frank AGIWK Foundation
// PROJECTS NAMED
Nunavut government housing renovation tenderMoncton 20-unit apartment (nine-foot patio doors)2025 National Building Code revision
SOURCE: podscope · public episode data · 34H614dpuyw