VENICE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 8, 2026--
PGT Windows and Doors, America’s authority in high-performance windows and doors and part of the MITER Brands portfolio, announced today that its WinGuard Vinyl Line has been named a Winner in the Building Envelope Systems category and an Honorable Mention in the Best Tried and True category in The Construction Specifier’s inaugural Readers’ Choice Product Awards.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260908671135/en/
“We continually innovate to provide window solutions that offer protection and performance without sacrificing style,” said Debbie Bondonzi, PGT Brand Manager. “Seeing WinGuard Vinyl recognized in these two categories by The Construction Specifier readers demonstrates the desire among building design and construction professionals for windows that have been proven over time to serve as an important part of a secure building envelope, as well as a design element.”
PGT’s WinGuard Vinyl line features laminated glass technology that provides storm protection, along with year-round benefits such as energy efficiency, durability, and noise reduction. The products are rigorously tested to meet the most stringent building codes for withstanding hurricanes and severe weather. The windows and doors are available in a range of customizable styles, finishes, and features, giving specifiers and homeowners extensive options for both security and design.
In addition to the two-category recognition of PGT WinGuard Vinyl, MITER Brands’ MILGARD C700 Fiberglass Series Casement & Sliding Glass Door was named a Winner in the Best New Product category, and the MILGARD V400 Tuscany Series was named a Winner in the Best Tried and True category, as well as an Honorable Mention in the Building Envelope Systems category. The WINDOOR Pass-Through Awning Window received an Honorable Mention in the Best New Product category.
Winners and Honorable mentions in the Readers’ Choice Product Awards are determined entirely by vote among The Construction Specifier’s readership. Every eligible entry was presented online for review during the voting period, with no separate judging panel selecting results in advance. This recognition was announced in the magazine’s September 2026 issue.
“With strong participation from our readers in The Construction Specifier’s inaugural Readers’ Choice Product Awards, the PGT WinGuard Vinyl line earned meaningful recognition from industry professionals,” said Jason Cramp, Executive Editor of The Construction Specifier. “Congratulations to PGT and MITER Brands on this achievement.”
For more information about the PGT WinGuard Vinyl Line and other winning products by MITER Brands, visit miterbrands.com/readers-choice.
About PGT Windows and Doors
PGT Windows and Doors, part of the MITER Brands portfolio, is America’s authority in high-performance windows and doors. With decades of proven industry leadership and over 8 million units installed, PGT Windows and Doors has a reputation for unwavering focus on safety and innovation. PGT offers a wide selection of impact and non-impact, aluminum and vinyl windows and doors.
PGT Windows and Doors delivers peace of mind for Florida living, surrounding every moment with beautiful and effortless protection. Backed by dedicated service and deep local expertise, PGT connects homeowners with what matters most—strength, confidence, and the joys of brighter living. For more information, visit PGTWindows.com.
About MITER Brands
Founded in 1947, MITER Brands is a residential window and door manufacturer that produces a portfolio of window and door brands for the new construction and replacement segments with an owner-operated, family-first approach. Through optimized manufacturing, valued relationships, and dedicated team members coast to coast, MITER Brands instills confidence and drives quality customer experiences. The name “MITER” is an acronym reflecting five of the company’s core strengths: Manufacturing, Innovation, Trust, Experiences, and Relationships. For more information, visit MITERBrands.com.
About The Construction Specifier
The Construction Specifier is the official magazine of the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI), reaching architects, engineers, contractors, and other design and construction professionals with coverage of the products, materials, and practices shaping the built environment. The Construction Specifier’s Readers’ Choice Product Awards recognize building products selected through a reader-driven, digital voting process, with winners and honorable mentions featured in the magazine’s September 2026 issue.
PGT’s WinGuard Vinyl line was recognized in the Building Envelope Systems and Best Tried and True categories
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin assured U.S. President Donald Trump in a phone call Tuesday that Moscow doesn't harbor aggressive intentions toward Europe, a senior Kremlin official said, after European officials blamed Moscow for sabotage campaigns on their soil.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said meanwhile that U.S. envoys who visited Kyiv presented some “very good, worthwhile ideas” for ending Russia's 4 1/2-year-old war, adding that he hopes to meet with Trump within two weeks.
But Russia remains determined to accomplish its military goals and it believes it is close to winning, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Ukrainian and Western observers, however, believe that Moscow has been unable to make any significant progress on the front line.
The war could yet drag on for years as Russia reconstitutes its forces and its defense industry, said U.S. Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby.
“We must be prepared for a protracted conflict and for Ukraine’s requirements to persist in the months and years ahead,” Colby told an online meeting of countries helping Ukraine.
U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff visited Moscow and Kyiv for separate talks with Putin and Zelenskyy over the weekend. The meetings appeared to produce no substantial breakthrough on ending the fighting, and both countries resumed their deadly air war after a weekend truce in their capitals for the American visitors.
The attacks killed seven people and injured 28 in Kyiv and the surrounding region, authorities said, officials from Russia reported three people killed and 13 wounded in areas it controls.
Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, said the hourlong conversation between Putin and Trump was “constructive and quite frank.” Moscow has a positive view of the results of the weekend visit by Witkoff and Kushner, he added.
There was no immediate White House comment on the call.
Ushakov told reporters that “in view of the speculation about Russia’s alleged hostile intentions toward European countries, it was underlined that we don’t have any aggressive plans regarding Europe.”
That claim runs counter to European authorities' versions of recent incidents, such as the German government last week blaming Russia for an attempted attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport in August using a drone laden with explosives.
Ushakov said Putin told Trump about the combat situation in Ukraine and Russia’s plans to make battlefield gains and achieve its military goals in what Moscow calls its “special military operation,” not a war.
Zelenskyy said he is counting on meeting with Trump around Sept. 20 — about the same time that the U.N. General Assembly is being held in New York. Putin isn't expected to attend.
He indicated he will press Trump to provide more Patriot air defense systems that Kyiv needs to counter Russia's ballistic missiles.
Ukraine needs 300 Patriot missiles from its partners’ stocks, 500 air-to-air interceptors and $2 billion for more drones, U.K. Defense Secretary Wes Streeting told the meeting of countries providing help.
Also on Tuesday, the European Commission approved a loan of 3.2 billion euros ($3.7 billion) for Kyiv to purchase components for Patriot air defense systems, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said on its Telegram channel.
Zelenskyy thanked U.S. officials for their efforts to unblock negotiations with Russia, which have been stuck since early this year with little progress.
“As for the peace package that Kushner spoke about and the new ideas, I’ll tell you frankly, there were indeed a couple of very good, worthwhile ideas,” Zelenskyy said in audio messages answering reporters' questions.
The proposals will remain under wraps for now, he said, but he expressed hope that talks involving delegations from Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. can take place in the fall.
Ukraine is “ready to find a compromise” on the issues of grain exports and energy, he said. Moscow and Kyiv have targeted each other’s grain ships in the Black Sea, raising concerns that two of the world's major suppliers won't be able to get their produce to market.
Ukraine has also battered Russian oil facilities while Russia has pounded Ukraine's power grid ahead of winter.
Peskov said he believed “victory is very close” on the battlefield.
"We’re very confident in our military potential,” he told reporters, while insisting Russia wants to find a peaceful solution and welcomes Trump's diplomatic efforts.
Putin has sought to portray Russia as negotiating from a position of strength. But European officials and Western analysts say its bigger army is unable to make significant progress on the 1,250-kilometer (800-mile) front line, where it is pushing to capture the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, part of its industrial heartland.
“Russian forces will not seize Donetsk ... until 2032 at their current rate of advance — if they can seize it at all,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said Sunday. “The Russian rate of advance has slowed significantly across the theater since 2025, when Russia’s rate of advance had already begun to slow.”
With troops bogged down on the battlefield, both countries have intensified their aerial campaign of drones and missiles.
Russia’s main targets in its overnight attack were Kyiv and the Odesa region of southern Ukraine, Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivskyi said.
Explosions were heard in Kyiv for nearly five hours, according to Vyhivskyi. More than 50 sites were damaged during the attack, including residential buildings, dormitories, schools, stores and gas stations, he said.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called it “a horrific attack” and accused Putin of undermining U.S. peace efforts.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces overnight launched a massive strike on Ukrainian military industry facilities.
It provided a detailed list of its targets. They included places storing Ukrainian drones and cruise missiles, as well as transport, logistics and distribution centers for military cargo in Kyiv and the Kyiv region, the ministry said.
Romania’s Ministry of National Defense said a drone entered its territory and later crashed in neighboring Moldova east of the countries' shared border after about 30 minutes. Two Spanish F-18 warplanes tracked its trajectory, the ministry said.
Moldovan police said a drone crashed in a sunflower field outside a village in the Riscani district, causing fires but no one was injured.
Ukraine neighbors both Romania and Moldova, and the countries have reported dozens of drone incidents since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Associated Press journalists Vasilisa Stepanenko in Kyiv, Ukraine, Stephen McGrath in Leamington Spa, England, and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to acting governor of Tver region Vitaly Korolyov during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
A rescue worker puts out a fire of a building destroyed after a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)
Smoke rises following a Russian missiles attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, early Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire following a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, early Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire following a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, early Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire following a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, early Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire following a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, early Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A man walks along an underpass as smoke rises following a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, early Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
