Well I now know why magazines and periodicals do “Power Lists” because the ranking of people/groups/events draws incredible interest. Last week’s post was my most read ever, blowing away all previous records. The totals were mind boggling to me, and for those of you who are coming back for a 2nd time and those of you who have been here since the start- a sincere THANK YOU. It is a thrill knowing so many in our fine industry are taking a few minutes out of their day to read this site.
OK now on to the matter at hand… in the last 3 months I have gotten a ton of e-mail and verbal feedback from my posts. So its time to address some of the questions that have come through, so here goes…
I enjoyed the rankings last week, but I have to disagree, while green building may be “hot” there’s no way its as dominant as you say- I have done a ton of business in the last 2 years and have yet to be involved in any green type project. While I can see the movement, I just don’t see it like you do.
I can see where you are coming from as “green” and LEED are not exactly mainstream everyday type issues, but their growth has been explosive over the last few years. Where it’s strongest now is in the educational work area or in green hotspots like Austin, Texas. It’s just a matter of time before it catches up with you.
I have to tell you I am actually tired of the whole NFRC stuff. No one has effectively told me how they will “change my life” and I simply don’t get it.
That’s a fair and un-fair comment. Part of the problem is the NFRC moving into the commercial world has had so much coverage, articles and rebuttals, that it IS hard to truly grasp what will be the final effect. As I have been promising, I will be doing a complete post on NFRC and will try and explain it in the best detail I can. In the meantime, I believe there’s a reason why there’s so much coverage- because the “change” is real.
I didn’t think I’d like your blog but I actually do, but curious you have to be pissing people off with some of your takes.
Thanks for the compliment. As for my comments, it is what it is…. This is my therapy and a chance to comment on the goings on inside our industry. If AFG or Kawneer hate me because I pick on their logo’s or name changes then so be it. The goal is not to be snarky (saracastic maybe, but not snarky) but to be informing and get people thinking and talking.
What’s the difference between GANA and NFRC? Also with NFRC, is the membership behind all of the moves you talk about? I can’t imagine anyone wants to pay for extra tests and incur more costs.
GANA is a trade organization that is member driven. The NFRC is a 501c3- which means that it’s a charitable organization that is Board driven. The NFRC does not have a responsibility to its members, their focus is to the “Stakeholder” which is the public at large. The Board of the NFRC can and does make the rules and so matter what the member’s want, if the Board wants something different- it’s their call. Period.
Any more updates on the Kansas arena?
No, I got a handful of responses from people who were sickened by the process though. Ironically the new Pittsburgh arena will be designed by HOK too, gosh I hope and pray that job stays in North America.
My company got a reject note from an architect because we submitted “Pilkington” glass and it was not in the specs. LOF was though. Amazing huh?
Yep, sure is. Most of the notes I got on the “crazy architectural” rejection were of this nature. I am continually amazed….
On your organization list, I think you really missed it- I don’t see any of the 5 as powerful except AIA. The others were either plugs for groups you like or a chance to bash those you hate.
Wow. Hey you’re entitled to your own opinion- maybe it’s time you start a blog…. Bottom line, I believe my list was dead on.
You need to explain the difference between a trade group and a governmental agency because some groups really DO have more power than others.
Yes, some do have differing “powers” based on how they are set up. The IECC is apart of the ICC and they have power granted to them by the DOE. The ICC is combination of 3 former separate code groups (BOCA, ICBO, SBBCI) to make one supergroup. While they are not a governmental agency, they have the government behind them, as well as local jurisdictions who choose to follow these codes. A trade group is like GANA or IGMA and is looking out for its industry and works to create standards to be followed industry wide and by architects and designers as well. The NFRC gets their power because they have a monopoly on ratings- and the DOE/ICC allow that to happen.
Aside from crying about it, is there anything we can do in the whole Chinese material issue?
Yes there is and I am working on that too. Sometimes that’s where the blog and my job intersect, as when I get it figured out for Arch, I will then get it up here. See I do work… seriously.
How come no one ever comments, I have a hard time believing that many people read your site.
Believe me people are reading, and last week it was in huge numbers. Plus I get tons of e-mails, so if people want to be cyber-shy then so be it.
Loved the videos each week how do you find them?
I am lucky really, I come across while checking other sites and now I get calls and e-mails suggesting some. The big issue is to keep them short and to also make sure they are PC.
So that’s it, a small sampling of notes that I have gotten and replied to privately and now publicly. In all seriousness the feedback has been more positive than what I listed above, but I felt the chosen ones above were the most topical.
This week’s video is from this week’s past Saturday Night Live featuring a cool Peyton Manning, fake United Way commercial. Ironic since NFRC and United Way are both charities… yes they are… seriously.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
The Power List
Every year several publications do a list of the most powerful people in various
industries or segments. I decided its time to do a list of the top 5 powerful organizations with regards to our industry. And without further adieu here they are:
1. United State Green Building Council (USGBC)- Uh do ya think that the daily “green” articles have any affect? The USGBC is probably 1 and 1A when it comes to power- they are now mainstream and despite other organizations starting “green” efforts, they are the gold standard. A big question is will the “voluntary” USGBC LEED program be affected when codes start to call for the same green building conscience? I asked this of a few people involved at USGBC and as of now, no one there is remotely worried. Another question is the USGBC’s reliance on certain experts on just one side of an argument, missing obvious facts from the other side. (Power Coat vs Liquid Paint, Vinyl vs Aluminum etc…)
2. American Institute of Architects (AIA)- So powerful that they probably don’t even realize it. They have the ultimate trade show, so good that no major national glass fabricator will show at CSI for the 2nd year in a row. They have the educational credit program, and everything else under the sun. They have think tanks and strong local groups. But imagine if they would pay attention to what is going on code wise that may affect their livelihood- now that would be a fun battle to watch!
3. National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC)- Ever heard of them? They have the Department of Energy eating out of their hands, they have a major PR firm, Potomac Communications, leading their spin, and they have a lobbyist firm, Clark & Weinstock (Who rep people like Eli Lilly, AT&T and GE to name 3) to ensure that they have anything they need. And oh, they have a program in the works to change the way commercial glazing works. And because several NFRC elite also sit on boards and committees of various code organizations (despite the insane conflict of interests) they’ll get their programs passed and into your life. Just ask the folks in California who have been dealing with this for years. Now I can go on and on (and will in another post- I promise) but bottom line is that this group can truly change the landscape of how the glazing business is conducted.
4. Glass Association of North America (GANA) Did you think I wouldn’t have any home cooking? (Disclosure- I sit on the Board of GANA- but I write this as an individual, not a Board Member, as GANA does not endorse items like this) This group is the premier organization in our industry. Technically, no one is even in the stratosphere. Led by Greg Carney, who may be one the best and most patient technical people alive, GANA marches on educating the industry and working tirelessly to ensure that its members are positioned with the best resources possible. Oh and a note- a true volunteer is someone like Julie Schimmlepennigh of Solutia- she and many others truly give their time and effort to work for the industry. A volunteer is NOT someone who can make ¾ of their income from the organization they work for….(frequent readers of my stuff will get that one)
And a TIE for 5th….
5. International Energy Conservation Code (IECC)- While a recent informal survey of industry minds showed that the initials IECC really did not register, this group has the legs to go the distance. Keep in mind, the push for “green” glazing is two-fold. One side is the Al Gore, climate worry issue and the other is reducing the enormous strain on our energy resources in this country. A group like the IECC will promote and push codes to get energy reduction measures and certification in every municipality possible. And they are making in-roads too. The worry here is that they allow obvious conflicts of interest to inter their decision making. That is not good and in the long run will challenge the credibility of the group. Bottom line though is this group can and will impose their will on the industry.
5. Aluminum Extruders Council (AEC)- An extremely professional group that is facing just nightmarish attacks from the Vinyl lobby among others. Through it all, the AEC defends itself with class and facts. Their consultant, Dr. Thomas Culp is one of the industries finest. Dr. Culp is fair, hard working, and always looking to reach the middle ground with the good of the public in mind. And yes I do seriously believe that because there’s been times where I’ve pleaded cases to Tom and he’s always reminded me that there’s two sides involved and you have to meet somewhere close to the middle. A group like the AEC deserves props because they could be dropping stink bombs left and right, but instead they go about their business the right way, and their membership benefits from it greatly.
Now obviously several groups did not make my top 5. And the ones that did probably may not be happy to be there. But the exercise is meant to keep people informed. The NFRC surely won’t agree with my assessment of them, but if they did we surely wouldn’t have a global warming problem anymore because hell would be freezing over. The IECC has no idea who I am, and that’s fine, I just hope that they can avoid conflict of interest issues when it comes to our industry in the future because I believe in codes that promote energy efficiency.
One more note- I have several e-mails to reply to on this board and will do a “mailbag” version soon. To all of you have e-mailed, that I have not gotten back to- I will be writing back- and thanks for reading this blog!
And lastly as we were speaking of hell freezing over above- not sure if you saw this video from last month when a big storm hit Cleveland… doesn’t matter how cold it is for some folks when the TV lights are on!
industries or segments. I decided its time to do a list of the top 5 powerful organizations with regards to our industry. And without further adieu here they are:
1. United State Green Building Council (USGBC)- Uh do ya think that the daily “green” articles have any affect? The USGBC is probably 1 and 1A when it comes to power- they are now mainstream and despite other organizations starting “green” efforts, they are the gold standard. A big question is will the “voluntary” USGBC LEED program be affected when codes start to call for the same green building conscience? I asked this of a few people involved at USGBC and as of now, no one there is remotely worried. Another question is the USGBC’s reliance on certain experts on just one side of an argument, missing obvious facts from the other side. (Power Coat vs Liquid Paint, Vinyl vs Aluminum etc…)
2. American Institute of Architects (AIA)- So powerful that they probably don’t even realize it. They have the ultimate trade show, so good that no major national glass fabricator will show at CSI for the 2nd year in a row. They have the educational credit program, and everything else under the sun. They have think tanks and strong local groups. But imagine if they would pay attention to what is going on code wise that may affect their livelihood- now that would be a fun battle to watch!
3. National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC)- Ever heard of them? They have the Department of Energy eating out of their hands, they have a major PR firm, Potomac Communications, leading their spin, and they have a lobbyist firm, Clark & Weinstock (Who rep people like Eli Lilly, AT&T and GE to name 3) to ensure that they have anything they need. And oh, they have a program in the works to change the way commercial glazing works. And because several NFRC elite also sit on boards and committees of various code organizations (despite the insane conflict of interests) they’ll get their programs passed and into your life. Just ask the folks in California who have been dealing with this for years. Now I can go on and on (and will in another post- I promise) but bottom line is that this group can truly change the landscape of how the glazing business is conducted.
4. Glass Association of North America (GANA) Did you think I wouldn’t have any home cooking? (Disclosure- I sit on the Board of GANA- but I write this as an individual, not a Board Member, as GANA does not endorse items like this) This group is the premier organization in our industry. Technically, no one is even in the stratosphere. Led by Greg Carney, who may be one the best and most patient technical people alive, GANA marches on educating the industry and working tirelessly to ensure that its members are positioned with the best resources possible. Oh and a note- a true volunteer is someone like Julie Schimmlepennigh of Solutia- she and many others truly give their time and effort to work for the industry. A volunteer is NOT someone who can make ¾ of their income from the organization they work for….(frequent readers of my stuff will get that one)
And a TIE for 5th….
5. International Energy Conservation Code (IECC)- While a recent informal survey of industry minds showed that the initials IECC really did not register, this group has the legs to go the distance. Keep in mind, the push for “green” glazing is two-fold. One side is the Al Gore, climate worry issue and the other is reducing the enormous strain on our energy resources in this country. A group like the IECC will promote and push codes to get energy reduction measures and certification in every municipality possible. And they are making in-roads too. The worry here is that they allow obvious conflicts of interest to inter their decision making. That is not good and in the long run will challenge the credibility of the group. Bottom line though is this group can and will impose their will on the industry.
5. Aluminum Extruders Council (AEC)- An extremely professional group that is facing just nightmarish attacks from the Vinyl lobby among others. Through it all, the AEC defends itself with class and facts. Their consultant, Dr. Thomas Culp is one of the industries finest. Dr. Culp is fair, hard working, and always looking to reach the middle ground with the good of the public in mind. And yes I do seriously believe that because there’s been times where I’ve pleaded cases to Tom and he’s always reminded me that there’s two sides involved and you have to meet somewhere close to the middle. A group like the AEC deserves props because they could be dropping stink bombs left and right, but instead they go about their business the right way, and their membership benefits from it greatly.
Now obviously several groups did not make my top 5. And the ones that did probably may not be happy to be there. But the exercise is meant to keep people informed. The NFRC surely won’t agree with my assessment of them, but if they did we surely wouldn’t have a global warming problem anymore because hell would be freezing over. The IECC has no idea who I am, and that’s fine, I just hope that they can avoid conflict of interest issues when it comes to our industry in the future because I believe in codes that promote energy efficiency.
One more note- I have several e-mails to reply to on this board and will do a “mailbag” version soon. To all of you have e-mailed, that I have not gotten back to- I will be writing back- and thanks for reading this blog!
And lastly as we were speaking of hell freezing over above- not sure if you saw this video from last month when a big storm hit Cleveland… doesn’t matter how cold it is for some folks when the TV lights are on!
Friday, March 16, 2007
Did I Say?
That Long Beach State would upset Tennessee? Yikes... Hope your brackets are healthier than mine right now.
So while I am at at.. upset over the weekend will be VCU fresh off their win over Duke against Pitt. And yes I am a Pitt fan, so me picking VCU may be the best thing that has ever happened to the Panthers!
Have a good weekend!
So while I am at at.. upset over the weekend will be VCU fresh off their win over Duke against Pitt. And yes I am a Pitt fan, so me picking VCU may be the best thing that has ever happened to the Panthers!
Have a good weekend!
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Green Building comes to Sports Illustrated
The whole "build green" thing hit even bigger last week as Sports Illustrated had a big center of the magazine feature on Global Warming and its effect on sports. Also inside were details on a possible design of a totally “green” stadium or arena, as designed by national architectural firm SmithGroup. LEED and USGBC also got mentions. Why is this big? Because people who associated global warming with just Al Gore now are getting even more detail in a mainstream sports magazine… probably the LAST place they would expect to see it. And as for green building, getting publicity in a magazine like SI is off the charts. I would guess that more developers will be reached because they read SI then if they read an industry magazine. And those same developers who probably skip over the “green” stories in the Journal or Newsweek, probably will be apt to read this one. There’s no question that “green” is the hottest thing around right now…
Elsewhere this week…
* No mention of NFRC in this post. I am planning on a separate post to explain some of what’s going on and to break down the issues. Plus my readership has been at an all time high over the last several weeks and while I know some check this blog for info on NFRC, I know of others that will delete me from their favorites if I don’t at least mellow some….
* I saw that Fred Wallin is retiring from AFG. Good luck and health Fred, hope the road ahead is smooth sailing for you. In the meantime, Fred will be replaced by Serge Martin, who comes across to the US from Belgium. Boy AFG is surely being more global that’s for sure. I wonder if Serge’s first duty will be carrying out the change of names from AFG to AGC NA? Remember that’s gonna be their new moniker… In anycase as long as Serge knows that no one needs marketing, he’ll be OK…
* Great news on two fronts this week as the Pittsburgh Penguins struck a deal to stay in Pittsburgh. Being a lifetime Pens fan, I am thrilled. Plus the other part is it leaves the Communist Chinese glass and aluminum supplied Arena in KC empty still. Wouldn’t that be justice if no one ever moved there? You know the karma of blowing off United States suppliers for 300K on an 11 million dollar project may be enough to make the folks in that city miserable. We/I can only hope. But I know in reality with KC offering free rent and other concessions its just a matter of time before someone moves there- which makes sense… and it applies to us to as with the Chinese offering glass and aluminum for basically nothing its just a matter of time before more and more people use them.
* I got several e-mails on my China take during the BEC wrap up and I will be doing more on that too. Again same applies on China as it does NFRC, I gotta keep mixing it up.
* Got an e-mail asking me what was the most bizarre architectural rejection I have ever had. The person who wrote me (who asked to remain anonymous) told me that last week an Architect rejected his sample because the label spelled “Pilkington” wrong. He was told if his company can’t spell on a label, then they probably don’t pay attention to details elsewhere. Wow. Not sure I can top that, but maybe you can- feel free to send me (e-mail: maxbcat@aol.com) , and I won’t print your name, your most bizarre reject ever. Or you can post them anonymously in the comment section too. (but knowing how cyber shy this industry is, I am not expecting that)
* Lastly its MARCH MADNESS… so that said- some predictions… my first round upset lock is Long Beach State to beat Tennessee. Sorry Rocky Top fans. I like a final four of North Carolina, Texas A&M, UCLA, and Florida. And after much debate, and because my articles in USGlass are edited by a certain Tar Heel fan…. I must take North Carolina to win it…. Otherwise my column in USGlass may be as brutal to read as this blog!
This weeks video in honor of March Madness comes from the University of Louisville… and yes they could be a darkhorse in this tourney as they play in “Lex Vegas” for their first 2 games. Anyway, a gruesome fall by one of their players, but he was amazingly OK…
Elsewhere this week…
* No mention of NFRC in this post. I am planning on a separate post to explain some of what’s going on and to break down the issues. Plus my readership has been at an all time high over the last several weeks and while I know some check this blog for info on NFRC, I know of others that will delete me from their favorites if I don’t at least mellow some….
* I saw that Fred Wallin is retiring from AFG. Good luck and health Fred, hope the road ahead is smooth sailing for you. In the meantime, Fred will be replaced by Serge Martin, who comes across to the US from Belgium. Boy AFG is surely being more global that’s for sure. I wonder if Serge’s first duty will be carrying out the change of names from AFG to AGC NA? Remember that’s gonna be their new moniker… In anycase as long as Serge knows that no one needs marketing, he’ll be OK…
* Great news on two fronts this week as the Pittsburgh Penguins struck a deal to stay in Pittsburgh. Being a lifetime Pens fan, I am thrilled. Plus the other part is it leaves the Communist Chinese glass and aluminum supplied Arena in KC empty still. Wouldn’t that be justice if no one ever moved there? You know the karma of blowing off United States suppliers for 300K on an 11 million dollar project may be enough to make the folks in that city miserable. We/I can only hope. But I know in reality with KC offering free rent and other concessions its just a matter of time before someone moves there- which makes sense… and it applies to us to as with the Chinese offering glass and aluminum for basically nothing its just a matter of time before more and more people use them.
* I got several e-mails on my China take during the BEC wrap up and I will be doing more on that too. Again same applies on China as it does NFRC, I gotta keep mixing it up.
* Got an e-mail asking me what was the most bizarre architectural rejection I have ever had. The person who wrote me (who asked to remain anonymous) told me that last week an Architect rejected his sample because the label spelled “Pilkington” wrong. He was told if his company can’t spell on a label, then they probably don’t pay attention to details elsewhere. Wow. Not sure I can top that, but maybe you can- feel free to send me (e-mail: maxbcat@aol.com) , and I won’t print your name, your most bizarre reject ever. Or you can post them anonymously in the comment section too. (but knowing how cyber shy this industry is, I am not expecting that)
* Lastly its MARCH MADNESS… so that said- some predictions… my first round upset lock is Long Beach State to beat Tennessee. Sorry Rocky Top fans. I like a final four of North Carolina, Texas A&M, UCLA, and Florida. And after much debate, and because my articles in USGlass are edited by a certain Tar Heel fan…. I must take North Carolina to win it…. Otherwise my column in USGlass may be as brutal to read as this blog!
This weeks video in honor of March Madness comes from the University of Louisville… and yes they could be a darkhorse in this tourney as they play in “Lex Vegas” for their first 2 games. Anyway, a gruesome fall by one of their players, but he was amazingly OK…
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
My BEC Buzz
USGNN did a nice piece on the buzz at BEC, but I figure why not add my two cents as well. All in all it really was a tremendous event. The staff at GANA, Ashley Charest, Brian Pittman, Carol Land, Sara Niswonger, Greg Carney and Stan Smith deserve major props for a job well done.
With 520+ people there, it can be adventure trying to keep people happy but at the end of the day I think more than the majority left pleased with their time in Vegas. Now some of the “Buzz” from my side of the world:
- China. The piece that I just ran the other day (if you missed it- go to the post direct under this one- it is a MUST read) about KC had several people buzzing and talking more and more about this very serious issue. Many people were furious over how that job went down and there’s no question that this is an issue that we just have to keep on. While you have some people openly embracing the communist supply of material, I think many others are starting to see what will happen if you let the enemy in your house. I have a ton more on this coming soon thanks to many conversations I had here.
- The economy… most felt that 2007 is going to be good with the exception of those from Michigan where we know the economy is pretty dismal. It was very refreshing to talk to guys like Bill Keen of Tepco and just hear the focus and positive nature in their voice when it pertains to work in the future. Its talks like that with people like Bill, that keep you pumped up.
- NFRC- Greg Carney did a fantastic job on the NFRC issue but I think one thing needs stating. No one and I mean NO ONE in our industry is against the movement to improve energy efficiency. And no one is against the creation of a tool and simple certification that can provide total system calculations. What everyone is against the apparent profiteering by members of the NFRC. When you have all of these “checks and balances” that can only be done by people like Keystone Certifications and ATI, then the value to the public is minimized so that private concerns can make lots of money. Let’s get real, the bottom line is the money and always will be. When oversight and layers and policing are created by using the guise of “volunteerism and protecting the public” people are smart enough to see right through that. This issue will go on and on and on….
- Cardinal getting back into commercial elicited a few comments, but mostly by people who had bought from Cardinal the last time residential was soft and they decided to go into commercial. Remember as we always try and tell NFRC (and they ignore) Commercial is completely different than residential.
Residential- A house with several windows
Commercial- A high rise with THOUSANDS of windows- that all have to be the same color for one... among many other distinct requirements
BIG DIFFERENCE
- Rocky Bleier’s end of the session key note speech was simply amazing. When he started off I know some attendee’s were worried that his speech may not meet muster, well like the All Pro that he is, he delivered and simply blew the crowd away to end the meeting. The guy is a living, walking inspiration and his message about beating false perceptions with hard work really resonated.
- Garrison Wynn the first keynote was also tremendous and well received. Wynn mixed humor with message and was a great show starter- especially at 8AM on a Monday in Vegas. A tough spot and one he conquered.
- The presentations went well overall, while some opinions differed here and there, the overall flavor was positive. Bottom line is the BEC is the event and I think for most it lived up to its hype. If you missed it this year, you have 11 months to now plan on coming next year!
Now that BEC is over, that must mean baseball season is here eh? The video this week is another one of those “funniest home video” pieces with a baseball theme… and lots of poor parents getting abused by their kids…
With 520+ people there, it can be adventure trying to keep people happy but at the end of the day I think more than the majority left pleased with their time in Vegas. Now some of the “Buzz” from my side of the world:
- China. The piece that I just ran the other day (if you missed it- go to the post direct under this one- it is a MUST read) about KC had several people buzzing and talking more and more about this very serious issue. Many people were furious over how that job went down and there’s no question that this is an issue that we just have to keep on. While you have some people openly embracing the communist supply of material, I think many others are starting to see what will happen if you let the enemy in your house. I have a ton more on this coming soon thanks to many conversations I had here.
- The economy… most felt that 2007 is going to be good with the exception of those from Michigan where we know the economy is pretty dismal. It was very refreshing to talk to guys like Bill Keen of Tepco and just hear the focus and positive nature in their voice when it pertains to work in the future. Its talks like that with people like Bill, that keep you pumped up.
- NFRC- Greg Carney did a fantastic job on the NFRC issue but I think one thing needs stating. No one and I mean NO ONE in our industry is against the movement to improve energy efficiency. And no one is against the creation of a tool and simple certification that can provide total system calculations. What everyone is against the apparent profiteering by members of the NFRC. When you have all of these “checks and balances” that can only be done by people like Keystone Certifications and ATI, then the value to the public is minimized so that private concerns can make lots of money. Let’s get real, the bottom line is the money and always will be. When oversight and layers and policing are created by using the guise of “volunteerism and protecting the public” people are smart enough to see right through that. This issue will go on and on and on….
- Cardinal getting back into commercial elicited a few comments, but mostly by people who had bought from Cardinal the last time residential was soft and they decided to go into commercial. Remember as we always try and tell NFRC (and they ignore) Commercial is completely different than residential.
Residential- A house with several windows
Commercial- A high rise with THOUSANDS of windows- that all have to be the same color for one... among many other distinct requirements
BIG DIFFERENCE
- Rocky Bleier’s end of the session key note speech was simply amazing. When he started off I know some attendee’s were worried that his speech may not meet muster, well like the All Pro that he is, he delivered and simply blew the crowd away to end the meeting. The guy is a living, walking inspiration and his message about beating false perceptions with hard work really resonated.
- Garrison Wynn the first keynote was also tremendous and well received. Wynn mixed humor with message and was a great show starter- especially at 8AM on a Monday in Vegas. A tough spot and one he conquered.
- The presentations went well overall, while some opinions differed here and there, the overall flavor was positive. Bottom line is the BEC is the event and I think for most it lived up to its hype. If you missed it this year, you have 11 months to now plan on coming next year!
Now that BEC is over, that must mean baseball season is here eh? The video this week is another one of those “funniest home video” pieces with a baseball theme… and lots of poor parents getting abused by their kids…
Sunday, March 04, 2007
This article should make you ill
A few comments from me below, but this is a very depressing article on so many levels.... and normally I would never put this much up here but cutting and pasting does not do this piece justice.
--------------------------------------------------------
THE SPRINT CENTER’S SKIN | Pane by pane, the downtown arena’s wall of glass comes together
A glittering curtain rises in KC
Next month, the final pane of glass will be put in place on the exterior of the Sprint Center downtown. Last week, Shane Tumlinson of Architectural Wall Systems attached one section of glass. For aesthetics, amber-colored panes are interspersed in the “curtain wall.”
Behold, direct from China, Kansas City’s Great Wall of Glass.
The shimmering surface of the Sprint Center is spreading fast, and views from the inside make the city look — believe it when you see it — happening.
“See that?” architect Craig Milde said, stepping from the main concourse into the arena’s bowl and pointing to a wide opening at the opposite end. There’s downtown, tapping on the glass. During a game, fans will see from their seats those shiny skyscrapers peeking in.
This view comes courtesy of workers in China’s Guangdong province, where the glass was poured and fitted.
Motorists today look at the arena and simply see glass going up. But there is a story behind it all.
It’s about the global economy. It’s about art. It’s about extreme precision, money, Customs agents, money, something called “frit” and its friend, money. It’s about erecting a durable and visually striking “curtain wall” without running out of … you know.
“We were able to provide Kansas City a spectacular facility and still make it cost effective,” boasted Gina Leo, a spokeswoman for HOK Sport, one of the local architectural firms that collaborated on the arena’s design.
The story begins a year ago on the floor of an old brick building at 18th and McGee streets.
Skin game
For many nights, Milde, 40, sat on the floor of the Downtown Arena Design Team’s office, giant sheets of paper and colored markers spread around him.
Ryan Gedney, a project designer then in his 20s, stared at an arena mock-up on a computer screen and rattled off: “One-third left. Two-thirds right. Clear. Two-thirds left …”
With each instruction, Milde worked his colored markers in an elaborate tic-tac-toe game on 2,204 tiny squares.
Each square represented a pane of glass. The pattern on paper ultimately stretched 30 feet, covering the floor like a multicolored bar code.
This pattern would appear on the arena’s “skin” — a wrap of flat glass panes bordered by aluminum strips.
From a distance, the panes on the $276 million arena appear identical — rectangular, roughly 12 feet by 5 feet … just slap them on. In fact, all but a few dozen are unique — each of them designed for a precise spot, and no other spot, on the building’s skin.
Each pane had to be numbered. To fit correctly on the oval exterior, many panes were slightly wider at the bottom than at the top, or vice versa. All told, the design team ordered 128 sizes.
“If you break one putting it up, you can’t just use the next pane in the stack,” a construction worker said last week.
Then there’s the frit factor.
“Frit” is fabricated into some panes to provide a dappled effect, a subtle shade from the sunbeams. Round bits of ceramic paint, the size of paper-punch holes, make up the frit. Bunched vertically, they form straight fields of gray covering one-third or two-thirds of an otherwise clear pane.
Most of the frit will be found on the sunny side.
To jazz things up aesthetically, 66 panes are amber-colored. (The designers originally pitched a shade of chartreuse, but Mayor Kay Barnes preferred amber.)
It’s curtains for sure
When bids for the glass were let, planners estimated the cost at $11.2 million. No bid came in at less than $11.5 million, so the package was rebid with suggestions to cut costs.
Enter Architectural Wall Systems Co. of Des Moines, Iowa. AWS erected the blue-green glass on The Kansas City Star’s Press Pavilion, across the freeway from the arena.
AWS does “curtain walls.”
Shiny and generally more affordable than solid load-bearing walls, curtain walls have been around for a century. (The first in Kansas City were in the Boley Building, built in 1909 at 11th and Walnut streets.)
The distinguishing feature of curtain walls, physics-wise, is that they don’t hold up a building.
A curtain-wall expert — Patrick Loughran of the Chicago architectural firm Goettsch Partners — said elephants could charge through the Sprint Center concourse and their weight would not be felt by the glass outside. The arena’s structure is independent of the curtain. Not even the roof will put weight on the glass.
“It’s by no means cutting edge,” Loughran said while looking at the arena design on a Sprint Center Web site. “The panes of a curtain wall are not exactly assembled like Legos, but it’s similar: You snap them in, slide them down.”
The challenge, Loughran said, is in mastering the elliptical shape of this wall and its pane-by-pane design.
AWS took the challenge and presented a project bid of an agreeable $10.2 million.
How? Think “Made in China.”
Just off the boat
Having spent those long nights on the office floor mapping the design of the curtain wall, Milde and Gedney faced the prospect of handing it all over to foreign-speaking workers half a world away.
“I was concerned … about things getting lost in translation,” Milde said.
But once planners whittled down the cost of their wall, AWS was the only bidder to step up. So Kansas City overlooked its “Buy American” policy, which states that city projects should use U.S. material whenever possible.
“I can see that building from my office on Locust,” lamented Jack Carter, the president of Carter Glass Company Inc. “All this globalization malarkey…
“The promise (of the global economy) was that high-tech jobs would be flowing into our country because we had the facilities. But now it’s all going to the cheap-labor countries.”
Carter conceded that to stay competitive, “we’re looking at China, as well. We don’t want to, but you can’t get beat by $2 million on every $10 million glass project.”
Chicago architect Loughran, who wrote a book on modern glass architecture, said: “China does have brand new facilities for fabricating glass, but is that a good thing? There’s a learning curve” in all manufacturing.
The intricacy of the Sprint Center design didn’t ease worries: Numbered panes, various sizes, specific frit patterns — all had to be translated to metric and precisely executed by Chinese manufacturers Sanxin Inc., in Shenzhen, and AMC Limited in Dongguan.
“We had two companies doing two different things — one to make the glass and one to assemble our frames” around the glass, said AWS President Mike Cunningham. Representatives of his company supervised the work in China.
An AWS project manager made sure all panes were stacked and shipped to Kansas City in the order they would be installed: pane 117-A atop 118-A, and so on.
The first batch arrived last summer at a port in Long Beach, Calif. Just one rack of a dozen panes approached 6 tons. Off the boat, the racks were loaded into boxcars and shipped to a rail yard in North Kansas City, where U.S. Customs officials inspected them.
A U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector showed up at the checkpoint and, with a flashlight, combed the shipment for foreign snails and insects that might harm American crops.
After crossing the Pacific, only a few panes arrived at the work site cracked— and those were damaged on a truck bouncing on Kansas City roads.
I seal your pane
“If all these panes were the same? Boring,” project architect Milde said, walking along a concourse where the curtain was nearly complete.
Climbing steps that offer a bird’s eye view of Interstate 635, he paused at Level 5 to watch up-close the wall being built.
It works this way: Seven steel, horizontal pipes encircle the arena like a hoop skirt. Along the pipes are window anchors — 4,498 in all — each with a couple sets of nuts and bolts. A crane lifts a 700-pound pane with hooks on top to its designated spot, this one being 215-E.
A guy named Brandon in a cherry picker dabs black stuff on the anchor bolts and snaps a photograph. The pane swings into place, to be hung from the top of the pipe, where an ironworker named Mike waits.
One side of the aluminum frame is “female,” the other “male.” The edges snap into the next pane, and that pane into the next.
Four bolts hold each pane in place. Mike twists the anchor nuts with a wrench that others might use to fix a lawn mower. Done.
Elapsed time from ground to pipe to installed: 20 minutes.
“Like hanging a curtain,” said AWS supervisor Rich Griglione.
And this “curtain” will withstand rain, hail and our wicked prairie gusts?
“No doubt,” Griglione said. The panes were built to take 139 mph winds, and AWS has done the testing — once using a roaring aircraft engine pointed directly at a mock-up.
As the curtain starts to close, some concerns linger: It is not bulletproof, and the replacement cost for one broken pane is about $5,000.
Milde also is bracing for the “golden spike” moment. With glass spreading in both directions from the northwest, the two fronts will meet on the arena’s south side — all panes aligned perfectly, he hopes.
“You can’t have something standing out like a glass zipper,” he said. “Not on this building.”
He will know next month, when the final pane is hung, if China got it just right.
------------------------------------
Unreal... there's so much to say but just a few quick thoughts because otherwise my head will explode...
This is another example that it is just a matter of time before the Chinese go direct and cut out even more of the food chain. They (the Chinese) have to salivating at the fact that a middle of the country city like Kansas City would just blow off their "Buy American" policy for this material. Yep, keep helping them get a foothold here and the results will not be kind- just go ask the the industries in the Carolina's that have been destroyed by these actions in the past.
Plus the glass was estimated to cost 11.2 million and the low bid came in at 11.5 million!! But of course the Chinese would come in a million cheaper than that... after all the goverment subsidizes them and so on... but if the numbers are right, Kansas City threw the United States down the river for 300 grand on an 11 million dollar job? Yes it's KC's money- and they can do what they want, like offering the arena rent free to the Pittsburgh Penguins if they move there permenantly. So its ironic, on one hand they gave up the "Buy American" policy so they can save 300K (and that was without allowing any value engineering by the way) and on the other they are so flush with cash they can "give" the arena away at no charge to attract a full time tenant.
Not to mention the lack of responsibility of Kansas City and the people involved, so let me ask you, if there's a problem with this material, who will you take to task? The Chinese? Yep I am sure they'll gladly step up to the plate, just try. The Architects? The Glazier? Everyone will point at each other and back at the Chinese. And they will laugh at you.
Yes the Global economy strikes again... and every day it gets scarier and scarier.
--------------------------------------------------------
THE SPRINT CENTER’S SKIN | Pane by pane, the downtown arena’s wall of glass comes together
A glittering curtain rises in KC
Next month, the final pane of glass will be put in place on the exterior of the Sprint Center downtown. Last week, Shane Tumlinson of Architectural Wall Systems attached one section of glass. For aesthetics, amber-colored panes are interspersed in the “curtain wall.”
Behold, direct from China, Kansas City’s Great Wall of Glass.
The shimmering surface of the Sprint Center is spreading fast, and views from the inside make the city look — believe it when you see it — happening.
“See that?” architect Craig Milde said, stepping from the main concourse into the arena’s bowl and pointing to a wide opening at the opposite end. There’s downtown, tapping on the glass. During a game, fans will see from their seats those shiny skyscrapers peeking in.
This view comes courtesy of workers in China’s Guangdong province, where the glass was poured and fitted.
Motorists today look at the arena and simply see glass going up. But there is a story behind it all.
It’s about the global economy. It’s about art. It’s about extreme precision, money, Customs agents, money, something called “frit” and its friend, money. It’s about erecting a durable and visually striking “curtain wall” without running out of … you know.
“We were able to provide Kansas City a spectacular facility and still make it cost effective,” boasted Gina Leo, a spokeswoman for HOK Sport, one of the local architectural firms that collaborated on the arena’s design.
The story begins a year ago on the floor of an old brick building at 18th and McGee streets.
Skin game
For many nights, Milde, 40, sat on the floor of the Downtown Arena Design Team’s office, giant sheets of paper and colored markers spread around him.
Ryan Gedney, a project designer then in his 20s, stared at an arena mock-up on a computer screen and rattled off: “One-third left. Two-thirds right. Clear. Two-thirds left …”
With each instruction, Milde worked his colored markers in an elaborate tic-tac-toe game on 2,204 tiny squares.
Each square represented a pane of glass. The pattern on paper ultimately stretched 30 feet, covering the floor like a multicolored bar code.
This pattern would appear on the arena’s “skin” — a wrap of flat glass panes bordered by aluminum strips.
From a distance, the panes on the $276 million arena appear identical — rectangular, roughly 12 feet by 5 feet … just slap them on. In fact, all but a few dozen are unique — each of them designed for a precise spot, and no other spot, on the building’s skin.
Each pane had to be numbered. To fit correctly on the oval exterior, many panes were slightly wider at the bottom than at the top, or vice versa. All told, the design team ordered 128 sizes.
“If you break one putting it up, you can’t just use the next pane in the stack,” a construction worker said last week.
Then there’s the frit factor.
“Frit” is fabricated into some panes to provide a dappled effect, a subtle shade from the sunbeams. Round bits of ceramic paint, the size of paper-punch holes, make up the frit. Bunched vertically, they form straight fields of gray covering one-third or two-thirds of an otherwise clear pane.
Most of the frit will be found on the sunny side.
To jazz things up aesthetically, 66 panes are amber-colored. (The designers originally pitched a shade of chartreuse, but Mayor Kay Barnes preferred amber.)
It’s curtains for sure
When bids for the glass were let, planners estimated the cost at $11.2 million. No bid came in at less than $11.5 million, so the package was rebid with suggestions to cut costs.
Enter Architectural Wall Systems Co. of Des Moines, Iowa. AWS erected the blue-green glass on The Kansas City Star’s Press Pavilion, across the freeway from the arena.
AWS does “curtain walls.”
Shiny and generally more affordable than solid load-bearing walls, curtain walls have been around for a century. (The first in Kansas City were in the Boley Building, built in 1909 at 11th and Walnut streets.)
The distinguishing feature of curtain walls, physics-wise, is that they don’t hold up a building.
A curtain-wall expert — Patrick Loughran of the Chicago architectural firm Goettsch Partners — said elephants could charge through the Sprint Center concourse and their weight would not be felt by the glass outside. The arena’s structure is independent of the curtain. Not even the roof will put weight on the glass.
“It’s by no means cutting edge,” Loughran said while looking at the arena design on a Sprint Center Web site. “The panes of a curtain wall are not exactly assembled like Legos, but it’s similar: You snap them in, slide them down.”
The challenge, Loughran said, is in mastering the elliptical shape of this wall and its pane-by-pane design.
AWS took the challenge and presented a project bid of an agreeable $10.2 million.
How? Think “Made in China.”
Just off the boat
Having spent those long nights on the office floor mapping the design of the curtain wall, Milde and Gedney faced the prospect of handing it all over to foreign-speaking workers half a world away.
“I was concerned … about things getting lost in translation,” Milde said.
But once planners whittled down the cost of their wall, AWS was the only bidder to step up. So Kansas City overlooked its “Buy American” policy, which states that city projects should use U.S. material whenever possible.
“I can see that building from my office on Locust,” lamented Jack Carter, the president of Carter Glass Company Inc. “All this globalization malarkey…
“The promise (of the global economy) was that high-tech jobs would be flowing into our country because we had the facilities. But now it’s all going to the cheap-labor countries.”
Carter conceded that to stay competitive, “we’re looking at China, as well. We don’t want to, but you can’t get beat by $2 million on every $10 million glass project.”
Chicago architect Loughran, who wrote a book on modern glass architecture, said: “China does have brand new facilities for fabricating glass, but is that a good thing? There’s a learning curve” in all manufacturing.
The intricacy of the Sprint Center design didn’t ease worries: Numbered panes, various sizes, specific frit patterns — all had to be translated to metric and precisely executed by Chinese manufacturers Sanxin Inc., in Shenzhen, and AMC Limited in Dongguan.
“We had two companies doing two different things — one to make the glass and one to assemble our frames” around the glass, said AWS President Mike Cunningham. Representatives of his company supervised the work in China.
An AWS project manager made sure all panes were stacked and shipped to Kansas City in the order they would be installed: pane 117-A atop 118-A, and so on.
The first batch arrived last summer at a port in Long Beach, Calif. Just one rack of a dozen panes approached 6 tons. Off the boat, the racks were loaded into boxcars and shipped to a rail yard in North Kansas City, where U.S. Customs officials inspected them.
A U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector showed up at the checkpoint and, with a flashlight, combed the shipment for foreign snails and insects that might harm American crops.
After crossing the Pacific, only a few panes arrived at the work site cracked— and those were damaged on a truck bouncing on Kansas City roads.
I seal your pane
“If all these panes were the same? Boring,” project architect Milde said, walking along a concourse where the curtain was nearly complete.
Climbing steps that offer a bird’s eye view of Interstate 635, he paused at Level 5 to watch up-close the wall being built.
It works this way: Seven steel, horizontal pipes encircle the arena like a hoop skirt. Along the pipes are window anchors — 4,498 in all — each with a couple sets of nuts and bolts. A crane lifts a 700-pound pane with hooks on top to its designated spot, this one being 215-E.
A guy named Brandon in a cherry picker dabs black stuff on the anchor bolts and snaps a photograph. The pane swings into place, to be hung from the top of the pipe, where an ironworker named Mike waits.
One side of the aluminum frame is “female,” the other “male.” The edges snap into the next pane, and that pane into the next.
Four bolts hold each pane in place. Mike twists the anchor nuts with a wrench that others might use to fix a lawn mower. Done.
Elapsed time from ground to pipe to installed: 20 minutes.
“Like hanging a curtain,” said AWS supervisor Rich Griglione.
And this “curtain” will withstand rain, hail and our wicked prairie gusts?
“No doubt,” Griglione said. The panes were built to take 139 mph winds, and AWS has done the testing — once using a roaring aircraft engine pointed directly at a mock-up.
As the curtain starts to close, some concerns linger: It is not bulletproof, and the replacement cost for one broken pane is about $5,000.
Milde also is bracing for the “golden spike” moment. With glass spreading in both directions from the northwest, the two fronts will meet on the arena’s south side — all panes aligned perfectly, he hopes.
“You can’t have something standing out like a glass zipper,” he said. “Not on this building.”
He will know next month, when the final pane is hung, if China got it just right.
------------------------------------
Unreal... there's so much to say but just a few quick thoughts because otherwise my head will explode...
This is another example that it is just a matter of time before the Chinese go direct and cut out even more of the food chain. They (the Chinese) have to salivating at the fact that a middle of the country city like Kansas City would just blow off their "Buy American" policy for this material. Yep, keep helping them get a foothold here and the results will not be kind- just go ask the the industries in the Carolina's that have been destroyed by these actions in the past.
Plus the glass was estimated to cost 11.2 million and the low bid came in at 11.5 million!! But of course the Chinese would come in a million cheaper than that... after all the goverment subsidizes them and so on... but if the numbers are right, Kansas City threw the United States down the river for 300 grand on an 11 million dollar job? Yes it's KC's money- and they can do what they want, like offering the arena rent free to the Pittsburgh Penguins if they move there permenantly. So its ironic, on one hand they gave up the "Buy American" policy so they can save 300K (and that was without allowing any value engineering by the way) and on the other they are so flush with cash they can "give" the arena away at no charge to attract a full time tenant.
Not to mention the lack of responsibility of Kansas City and the people involved, so let me ask you, if there's a problem with this material, who will you take to task? The Chinese? Yep I am sure they'll gladly step up to the plate, just try. The Architects? The Glazier? Everyone will point at each other and back at the Chinese. And they will laugh at you.
Yes the Global economy strikes again... and every day it gets scarier and scarier.
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