Bau-Munich trade fair, organized at a biennial frequency, is the second biggest place where the offer of the international windows market can be observed, after the other specialized exhibition Fensterbau/Frontale - Holz Handwerk, held in Nuremberg. If the latter event is focused predominantly on presenting constructive solutions based on wood and PVC, the exhibition from the capital of Bavaria is oriented on Aluminum systems. The 2013 edition, like the previous ones, constitutes a real "deployment" of the main suppliers in the industry. No less than four of the 16 pavilions were made available exclusively for hosting companies specialized in the manufacture of special systems used in the fabrication process of thermal insulating joinery (two pavilions focused on presenting aluminum profiles, two halls were dedicated to innovative systems in the fields of glass, hardware, etc.). With an area of 180,000 square meters, the Bavarian trade fair has fully respected the status of "industry leader" of the specific market. In his opening speech, Peter Ramsauer, the representative of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development has expressed his confidence that "new energy era will be, among others, the necessary element to help German industry to strengthen the export activity. In the new European context in which the emphasis is put on increasing energy efficiency and the need to reduce the resource consumption, the initiative to improve thermal characteristics of existing buildings has also been welcomed. In this respect, the present edition of Bau ensures the opportunity to test a huge number of constructive solutions that meet such an objective". Statistically speaking, the event brought together 2,060 exhibiting companies, most of which (1488 companies) came from Germany. Best represented countries in this regard were, in order: Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, Belgium, France, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Czech Republic and China. According to the official report issued after the completion of the 2013 edition, the number of professional visitors has risen at 235,000 people, of which 60,000 experts came from outside Germany. Another impressive record of the event was the participation of more than 50,000 architects and designers. For further information and a detailed analysis of the current Fereastra issue, click here!