Review and Interview

We kick off this week with the latest Glass Magazine review and it’s a favorite of mine because it combines the “Top Glazier” issue with an awesome custom GlassBuild cover.  Good stuff right off the bat!  Because the focus is the “Top 50 Glaziers” this is a jam-packed edition with everything you could possibly want data and detail wise.  Also inside this issue- a tremendous article from Greg Oehlers along with a great piece on workforce development.  Great insights and should not be missed.  Meanwhile ad of the month was tough because this is a popular issue, there’s a lot more ads… but the winner is my friends from Bohle America.  Gareth Francey designed a piece that got me to stop and look.  That is always a big key for me ad wise.  Really easy on the eyes and interests me for more info.  Well done and congrats!

Before I get to this week’s interview- just a couple of quick notes…

Long time industry leader Ron Parker is leading a charge to defeat ALS.  Here is more info on how you can help!

Ride to Defeat ALS will be held on Saturday, July 20th at Mt. Angel, Oregon. If you would like to donate to support those living with ALS and their families, please click here!

Each and every donation will:

·      Fund a treatment and finding a cure for ALS

·      Provide hands-on support to local families during their journey with ALS

·      Raise awareness for a disease that is NOT rare and occurs every 90 minutes in the US

Your gift to this worthy cause is tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law

--  No blog post next week since it’s leading into the 4^th of July holiday in the US.  Hope everyone celebrating and has a safe and enjoyable holiday.

Big 3 Interview

Monique Salas, National Healthcare Business Development Manager, SAGE Glass

This was a fun one for me as Monique brought totally different skill sets to our industry (She was in Pharmaceuticals) and she is a must follow/connect on LinkedIn.  In addition as those of you who read this blog consistently know I am huge cheerleader on dynamic glass, so the fact Monique has an incredible understanding and approach with it, was driving force to do these 3 questions…

You have extensive experience in the dynamic glass space.  There is great confidence that this space will continue to have significant growth.  Aside from the fact you sell it, why are you so bullish on these products?

I have a sincere desire to make spaces cleaner and more beautiful.  Our living and healing spaces are very important for our mental and physical health.  Natural light is a significant component that aids overall wellness.  Starting in the late 70’s, researchers started to study the impact of natural light on patients. Overwhelmingly, patients exposed to natural light began to heal faster, require less medication and report increased comfort in the presence of natural light.   Smart glass now offers the missing element and I find that incredibly exciting.  A façade that changes without disruption of color or uniformity on the exterior, yet provides thermal comfort and greater satisfaction for occupants inside. It is a winning combo that meets the needs of the design community, building owners and most importantly, patients.

Imagine if you will, you walk into a hospital and in the lobby, there are no blinds or curtains.  Yet, the welcome staff is not interrupted by glare or heat. It sounds silly, but these are real solutions to increase productivity and thermal comfort.  Now, take it a step further and imagine you are a patient in a hospital room with little or no mobility. You want to see outside, but that would depend on your Nurse coming in to adjust your blinds of curtains. This could be several minutes or even hours away, depending on how many patients they oversee.  In my opinion, this can be solved in designing spaces with smart glass intelligence.  I have had the unique ability to sell in both spaces, thermochromic & electrochromic.  Thermochromic being a passive technology that operates on radiant heat; Electrochromic an active technology that allows occupants to override with control (app or wall device).   I have come to respect each type or now believe that they should be used in collaboration.

Thermochromic in common spaces, where control is not necessary (lobbies, hallways, and prescription pick up).  An electrochromic in patient rooms, giving the patients the ability to use an app to control their own thermal comfort.  I hope leaders in both subcategories will start to work together on projects to meet the needs of the client.   To me, it is not a one size fits all, but a true deep dive into the building delivering evidenced based designs fusing Thermochromic and Electrochromic.

I’m a big fan of yours for a bunch of reasons but maybe the biggest is you have a sincere desire to constantly be giving back.  Where did this value come from and why should we as a society be doing more of this?

First off, that is very kind; thank you that means the world to me.  I would say that there are many contributors ranging from experiencing the adversity of a mixed raced background to the lessons of gratitude & kindness instilled in me by my Grandfather who passed away when I was 10.  I started off my career in the non-profit and quite frankly wanted to “change the world.”  I don’t think it is uncommon for young college graduates to have these ideals. The reality is the burden of education debt, often command paths.  Living in the Bay Area on a non-profit income is very difficult, if not impossible. In such, I made a conscious choice to exit and enter into a profit generating space.  However, the agreement I made with myself is to not abandon my desire to impact the world positively.

We can all do something for someone. This includes the Earth we live on and all of the inhabitants that exist together.  Recently, I have made attempts to help save the monarch butterfly population with the simple act of dedicating space in my yard for the plants they enjoy. These are the types of activities, if done by several of us, can reinvigorate an entire population of butterflies. It is birthed in the philosophy of acting locally but think globally.  I believe that many people have a sincere desire to do something but feel overwhelmed on the various choices of “volunteerism” and the commitment therein.   The truth is, we can all do small acts that can help us feel like we are making a difference.  Because at the end of our lives, we are not going to be happy with how much money we made.  We are going to remember the lives we impacted & the differences we made.

You have been associated with the health care world for a great portion of your professional career, so I have to ask which professional is more challenging (can be both good and bad) to work with- the Doctor or the Architect?

Ha! This is a GREAT question and hilarious! ARCHITECTS for sure.  In my time in the Pharmaceutical industry I had to work closely with Physicians to help meet the needs of their patient populations.  Therein, there was a clear connection to medication and outcomes. By that I mean, if your patient has an elevated AIC and I have the leading Diabetes medication on the market, there are clear evidenced based connections for our dialogue and collaboration.  However, we are not quite there with the design community and Smart glass. Even though, the data exists on natural light & we have shifted into evidenced based design as a standard, resistance remains widespread largely due to color.  I have heard from many Architects that they believe smart glass is just too dark. 

The reality is that the rendering never includes blinds or curtains. Architects demo a beautiful picture that is not realistic.  In reality blinds and/or curtains are typically down when the occupants have inhabited the space, which equals little or no access to natural light, resulting a dark or artificially lit space.  I hope that more Architects will start to apply a larger lens when thinking of designing with Smart glass in SD or DD.   Money can actually be saved with using Smart glass earlier; results being  smaller HVAC systems, blind reduction/elimination and spaces can be reimagined to produced better outcomes.  I am hopeful that Architects with start to see Smart glass in the same way Physicians see medication… as a tool toward provide wellness.

LINKS of the WEEK

This spices up a boring government meeting.

LOOK OUT- This gin got recalled for having TOO MUCH alcohol in it!

The do say everyone has a twin… and in this case that was true and huge.

VIDEO of the WEEK

With Independence Day in the US coming up- I decided to go with one of my favorite Muppets (Sam the Eagle) to take the patriotic role in promoting this holiday in the video of the week!

AIA Recap and GEF MUST DO

Plenty of rundowns came my way about the AIA show and the majority of reports were that it was not very good for the exhibitor.  That’s never a surprise since AIA is not ever geared to take care of or support the folks on the floor, but this year I think it may push people off the bus finally.  Our industry desires architects the way I desire pizza, (intensely) but when you are spending 6 figures for minimal return, it may be time to recalculate the approach.  AIA next year is in Los Angeles, which has people tempted, but I just can’t see it being any better because the show model is what it is and always will be…  For additional perspective this very good recap (along with very helpful insight) from Mark Mitchell is worth checking out.

Elsewhere…

--  The agenda is out for the Glazing Executives Forum at GlassBuild and its dynamite.  Aside from the yearly economist talk, there’s an awesome pair of presentations- “A New Type of Glazier: From Glass Company to Building Enclosure Expert” and “Labor Power Hour: Engage Your Front Line to Increase Your Bottom Line” – both of these sessions will be worth the price of admission and then some.  Seriously look hard at this- link is HERE.

--  If you are EXHIBITING at GlassBuild make sure you check the last e-mail you received from the show and take advantage of the free webinar on “Increasing Brand Awareness & Driving Qualified Booth Traffic” – it is a fabulous session and worth your time.

--  Personnel news… an old friend lands in a new spot.  The great Bob Cummings has taken over the role of VP of Architectural Sales and Marketing for Consolidated Glass Holdings.  Bob is one of those guys that everyone loves.  Not likes.  Loves.  So I am sure there are many thrilled folks out there especially having him back in the fabrication side of our industry.  Congrats to Bob on the new gig and it will be nice to have him back in the mix at all of our events!

--  At the end of the month the bi-annual Glass Performance Days will take place in Finland.  This event is the international home for excellent technical insight for the glass world and features education in many different ways and settings over its time period.  In addition a major award will be presented… the Jorma Vitkala Award of Merit will be handed out during the opening reception and there’s a ton of very good and interesting candidates up for it.  Click HERE for more details on the award and the nominees.  Personally I’d love to see Ren Bartoe win it as a fitting cap on his epic career in the business but there’s no bad candidate on the list…

--  Last this week I was on an excellent webinar about travel security with regards to electronics.  Learned amazing insights on the dangers in USB ports and airport boarding passes along with other dos and don’ts. (Boarding passes and luggage tags- shred them when done, the bar code contains a ton of info on you)  The moderator also put up a slide of the riskiest airports with regards to WiFi and data.  So heads up here they are:

5- Newark- having spent so much time there in my life, this does not surprise me.

4- Southwest Florida (Ft Myers) Shocking at first but then you think, snowbirds could be great targets.

3- Houston Hobby-  I have never flown in or out of there- so no idea.

2- John Wayne- Whoa Pardner… the Duke would not be happy with his name on    a “risk list” like this.
and.....

            1-    San Diego!  This stuns me.  I love San Diego- love that airport- so its amazing that your data and privacy may be more in play there anywhere else.

So fellow road warriors be aware when you are in these airports- use your VPN etc. to stay safe!

LINKS of the WEEK

Not sure if I believe the excuse but interesting none the less

A “V Shaped” Plane… coming to your airport in 2050

You gotta read this parking space story!

VIDEO of the WEEK

I know a lot of you out there enjoyed the amazing run of “Jeopardy James” the guy who dominated the TV Show Jeopardy for weeks.  The run is done, but he recently did a fun interview that gave some new insight…

Technical Topics

Some very good technical information hitting the streets over the last few weeks and with holidays and vacations, you may not have seen them all so I figured I would do a quick roundup for you.  Surely worthwhile information to be had…

Trex Commercial Products had a fantastic release- “Three Glazing Myths Debunked” which was very impressive.  The team there did a nice job addressing some big issues on the railing side and they did it in a sharp and concise way.  Well done!

Meanwhile the National Glass Association (NGA) released THREE new Glazing Informational Bulletins (GIBS) that are all complimentary!  These GIB’s were developed by your peers in the industry (an incredible list of talent that is for sure) and was led by my reigning Industry MVP Nathalie Thibault of Prelco Inc.  The subjects were systematic updates to the “Recommended Applications for Heat-Treated Glass” and “Approximate Weight of Interlayer Used in Laminated Architectural Flat Glass” along with a new release “Thermal Stress in Heat Treated Spandrel Glass.”   The last one has gained notoriety thanks to some incidents in the field, so having a GIB at the ready is only making us better as an industry.  Kudos to everyone involved and THANK YOU for volunteering your time and knowledge.  To get these docs along with tons of other technical pieces, click this LINK and you’ll be directed to NGA’s technical website.  

NGA also announced the launch of its new Glass & Glazing Academy and it’s an online portal that will be work in combo with the fine folks from Architectural Record.  This is a huge addition for our industry and credit to Andrew Haring and his team at NGA for spearheading it.  More info can be found HERE

Obviously things are happening all the time in our world and keeping up with them can be a challenge.  So do yourself a favor and make plans now to get to events like Fall Conference in Toledo (Register before 6/15 and save $150!) or GlassBuild America in Atlanta.  Don’t get left behind!

Elsewhere…

--  The annual AIA show was last week in Vegas and I was not there- I’m looking forward to hearing feedback on it and anything relevant I’ll share here next week…

Big 3 Interview:  Joanne Funyak, Vitro Architectural Glass

So now it’s time for the kick off my summer interview season.  I am very excited about the folks I have lined up and I’m still chasing a few.  So if you get an e-mail from me asking, please give it a consideration! 

The format is this- I ask 3 questions to folks I have chosen that I think have some interesting backgrounds and approaches.  Also I try to choose people that may not get the regular publicity that others get. 

To kick things off I interviewed Joanne Funyak of Vitro Architectural Glass.  I have been a fan of Joanne’s for a long time but I had absolutely no idea of her incredible background and I am glad she escaped the chemical side to be in the glass world- our industry is better for it!

Max: In reading your LinkedIn page I was fascinated by some of the positions you held at PPG (and then Vitro) before you ended up on the glass side of things.  You spent a ton of time in chemicals and coatings before you landed in the glass world.  What have been the biggest differences in working with glass and glazing vs. your previous roles?

Joanne: They are quite similar, especially the metal coatings and glass side for building products.  The value / supply chain starts with the project architect looking at performance and aesthetics.  Then it goes down the chain to general contractors to fabricators / metal coaters to the material supplier.  Due to those similarities, my experience in metal coatings and glass made my role as PPG’s Construction Market Team Manager a little easier. 

When it comes to the products… it’s the same; performance and aesthetics.  When I made the transition from coatings to glass though I thought to myself “How difficult can glass be?”  It’s just melted sand.  In coatings we had thousands of formulas for different applications.  We made coatings for what we called cradle to grave.  We made coatings for baby swings to caskets and everything in between (golf balls, washers & dryers, Harley Davidson, etc).  So glass had to be so simple, right?  Boy was I surprised!

What are the some of the biggest glass and glazing trends going right now in your opinion? 

Right now, jumbo (over-sized) glass is a major trend.  The addition of our jumbo Coater in Wichita Falls which can produce our Solarban Low-e Coated Glass has positioned Vitro well to serve this market.  One of the main purposes of this jumbo coater is to provide more efficient yields to our Vitro Certified Network Members.  Architects are also designing with larger vision glass units which this will service.  However caution must be taken when designing on things such as wind load, thermal stress and cost to handle the weight and size of such large units.

Other areas that are trending include decorative (printing on) glass and bird avoidance to name a few. 

If you could have dinner with 3 other people, whether they are currently dead or alive, who would they be and why?

Well of course my dad, He passed away 5 years ago and I miss him dearly.

Someone from the pioneer days.  I often wonder as I watch old movies of how they survived… how they determined which terrain to travel, land to homestead, etc.  How did they survive the heat during those hot, dry summer months, and cold during those freezing winter months?  I think to myself if I had to go back to those days, could I do it? 

And I think Mario Lemieux would be one.  I have been a Penguin season ticket holder for 30 years.  I met him once in an airport but only to say thank you.  I respect what he has done as a player, owner and community leader. 

LINKS of the WEEK

Honestly I only read the headline here.  Still laughing.

Is this real life?  A real story?  My goodness.

Love this- High School delivers 100% graduation rate.  Even my kids HS, which is idiotically easy, didn’t graduate everyone. 

VIDEO of the WEEK

You know me- I love the movies and this week a trailer was released for one coming this November that looks fabulous.  Based on a true story “Ford vs. Ferrari” is about the two famous carmakers battling for the title of fastest car and includes all the politics and insider stuff going on at the time… good trailer too! (Anytime you can use “Gimme Shelter” by the Stones, is a winning play in my book)

Gone but not Forgotten

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So this post is a special one… and they’ll be no other news or links in it, so if anything breaks I’ll share on next post or via social media.  The goal of this post is to follow what the headline says… "Gone but not Forgotten."  It dawned on me after Doug Nelson passed away a few weeks ago that we pay homage to the person who passes and then we move on- we rarely if ever look back and remember those folks who made a difference in our world.  So I decided that with this post, I’d start to change that approach.  I want to look back at a few folks who are no longer with us and remind/educate the readers of what they did to advance our universe.  They all played significant roles in the glass and glazing industry and while they may be gone; in my mind they are not and will not be forgotten.

I’m remembering 2 incredible technical guys, 1 manufacturers rep who set the bar very high and 2 fabrication leaders who left us a legacy that thankfully continues still today.

Greg Carney is probably the one guy who’s no longer with us that still gets spoken about the most.  So many folks at the trade level had deep and meaningful relationships with Greg that his name and memory are brought up on many occasions.  Greg was the technical conscience of our industry.  He was passionate about the products and the people and the approaches that were developed and perfected through the 90’s.  Many technical standards Greg led remain in place today.  Personally I miss him a ton, he was fun, unique and caring and was not afraid of the fight. I hope that we keep invoking his name and theories for many more years to come.

Lowell Rager was not as industry popular as Greg (not many people were) but Lowell was the personification of pure class.  He was a technical mastermind and was a guy who saw the huge future of soft coat low e when so many of us were still trying to figure it out.  He was ahead of pretty much every technical curve despite finishing his career for a company that only sold tinted glass.  I just loved how cool Lowell would be under any condition.   He deflected heavy compliments to him the same way he smoothly dealt with any jobsite complaints.  He was class to the end.

I saw Lindsay Price recently at the Texas Glass Association event and it immediately had me thinking about her dad Dave Helterbran.  Dave was awesome.  I knew Dave as one of the best manufacturers reps in the US, one that immediately added legitimacy to your product when he added it to his companies line card.   Every time I ran into him he had a warm smile on his face and encouraging words- even if things weren’t going great.  Dave battled and beat Cancer and then somehow got the West Nile disease and beat that too.  Eventually he couldn’t outrun the health issues but during that entire time, he kept plugging away and fighting.  I’ll never forget that because I don’t think I’d have the strength to fight on the way Dave did…  In addition Dave had massive fan club of people who really legitimately loved the guy and honestly I think the feeling was probably mutual.  

Last ones to mention this time around are fathers of two sons who to this day carry on the amazing class and style that their fathers were known for.  I’m speaking of Jim Dwyer and John Mammen.  Both were incredible people, top notch businessmen who did things the right way and they both brought sons in to the business (John Dwyer and Syracuse Glass and Chris Mammen at M3 Glass Technologies) who are carrying on the same sincere approaches today.  As an industry we are lucky that the lessons from Jim Dwyer and John Mammen are continuing and I am personally glad that I can call John and Chris friends of mine. 

In the end I wrote this because I don’t want these folks to be forgotten by the industry at large.  (As well as others who may have passed that I did not mention, and there are quite a few industry titans on that list)  Take a few minutes today and think about someone who passed who made a difference in our industry and do right by them- I know I am inspired to do so daily.

Thank you for reading through this non-traditional post, next week I’ll be back with my traditional insight and details.