A story this week gave me a flashback moment. I remembered sitting in a NFRC meeting years
ago when one of the people I probably disliked the most stood up and stated
that it was just a matter of time before commercial buildings would not use
aluminum or steel for framing- it would be all wood or vinyl. I of course, being the brash, nightmarish
person I was back then, scoffed loudly. Flash
forward 12 years and my scoffing was right as to date that effort has not taken
off and recently a push on a major wood skyscraper was placed on hold. Maybe some day wood or vinyl will find a place
on the commercial building landscape, but for now, I’m still scoffing, though
I’m surely much more mellow than I was then.
The Vanceva World of Color Awards were announced this week
and I simply love the results and winners.
I am sure these projects are not for everyone but I appreciate that
there were designers who went for it.
Nice work! Congrats to the
fabricator winners!
There is more and more environmental talk in the news these
days and carbon footprints are back in the spotlight. So much so that St Paul, Minnesota announced that
they want all of buildings in their city to be zero carbon by 2050. I think it’s a great goal and luckily for
those who are pushing this that region does have some of the best glass and
metal minds in its backyard. Hopefully
they lean on those experts, sooner than later, to start meeting the goals.
This week’s Big 3
Interview, Dan Danese, Sales Representative Thompson IG and Pleotint.
I met Danny (no one calls him that anymore- It's Dan now) 20+ years ago
when I first moved to Michigan. He was
one of many people in the new area of my life that welcomed my family and me
and made the transition so much better.
Workwise he was this incredible force of energy and passion for the job
and from what I can tell nothing has changed since then! Danny is a great, caring man and I am grateful our
paths crossed and that he’s still out there doing great things in our markets
today.
I’m honored that I
have known you for many years now, but many of my readers may not be aware of
you and the path you’ve taken to the point you are at today. You just didn’t end up as the excellent sales
pro you are today. How did you get here?
I enlisted in the Marine Corp at the age of seventeen;
served three years traveled the world and was out by the age of twenty. I did
this to make a change and boot camp did just that! I learned that we all can do much more than
we think, mentally and physically. My first “glass” job was in 1980 at B &
G Glass, an upstart fabricator of insulated glass. A strong work ethic helped me to advance to
supervisor positions in multiple in departments then to the front office as production
control manager then to plant manager. During this span we had been bought out
4 times, the first by Perilstein Distributing Corp. This (I did not know at the
time) would shape, enhance, refine and elevate my knowledge in the glass
industry by association with the staff they brought with them. We all need a
little luck in life and I was lucky to work alongside industry leaders like
Steve Perilstein, Bob Cummings and Rob Taliani – They had a lot to give and I
paid attention. In the year 2000 I was asked if I ever thought of moving into
sales – I answered yes before they finished asking.
5 years ago, I came to work for Thompson IG (Thanks to
Margaret Brune). Here I am still in sales as well as architectural
presentations. A bit more luck again as the people at Thompson IG are great to
work for.
You are out on the
road every day seeing glass shops and glaziers.
What are they telling you is their biggest concern/worry?
The biggest concern and this has been true for a good 5-6
years is a shortage of qualified help – Glaziers, Project Managers and
Estimators. A recent PM changed companies after a long stay and remarked that
he hoped he didn’t make a mistake, I replied “Don’t worry you can fix that –
there are six other companies that would hire you next week!”
I know you are big
fan of innovation. What are the products
that really excite you to sell? I assume
it has to be easier to walk into a customer when you have something that gets
your blood pumping.
By far ands away it is Suntuitive Dynamic Glass. This is the
biggest reason I came to work for Thompson IG. We are owned by the people (a
group of chemists and engineers) that developed this technology, a laminated
glass with a chemically altered interlayer that self-tints (darkens) when it
feels pressure from the sun. We take this laminated glass (colored substrates
included) and pair it up with the other leading technologies of the day, warm
edge spacer and high performance Low-E and get one of if not the best
performing insulated windows in the world.
As an example, the new Masco World HQ completed last year with 18,000 sf
of: Guardian Crystal Grey Suntuitive HS Lami / warm edge spacer / Guardian
SNX-62/27 Tempered. This IG construct has a starting SHGC of .25 – that’s a
good start, then during the hottest parts of the day, when there is peak demand
and energy costs are the highest this glass fully tinted will have a SHGC of
.12, all while maximizing daylight, preserves the view, blocking 99.5% UV
transmittance, STC rating, mitigating glare and is a safety glass. I call this the “smart phone” of glass - it
will be everywhere. Four years ago, we
had installs in 2 countries; today we have over 450 installs in 25 countries. I
really see this as the future.
LINKS of the WEEK
Incredible and awesome story. 3 year olds can be clutch and this one was!
Never a dull moment in the world of Uber
Good news/bad News on this candy company?
VIDEO of the WEEK
It was Shark Week and ABC decided to get Shaquille O’Neal to
take these on… so Shaq vs Sharks….
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