Green Promotion

Every day the world of “green” continues to gain influence. It is not only a buzz word but according to many, it is the way we all survive what the future holds and in some cases will make a difference in your career. Today I came across a release from YKK that stated you would need to have the LEED AP accreditation to be eligible for a promotion. It’s a very interesting angle that’s for sure but is it right? The reason I ask is you have some amazingly talented people who never got their LEED AP but know the system better than most. And then you have others who just geared up to take and pass the test but wouldn’t know a green building compared to a blue one. And as for that test, those that have taken it will tell you it’s one of the most insane processes ever. Anyway props to YKK for advancing the green push… I'll be curious to see if it has any appreciable effect.

Elsewhere….

Sorry that this will be a very short post. Way too much going on out there that takes precedence…. next week should return to normal... or whatever normal is in my odd world.

-- A MUST read… GANA talks about the Climate Change Legislation and the industry. CLICK HERE. Seriously important to at least view and get a flavor. And by the way guys like Warren Buffett- who is a lot smarter than me, feel like this legislation- as it is written now- is very bad.

-- Saw a very interesting story from the New York Times that several people sent me. Basically the gist is that the solar world is now getting introduced to labor unions. And the unions want their piece. Click here to read.

Off to the links..

The awesome “link chick” was after it again this week…

-- Great story on a woman who was married 68 years that loses her wedding ring (the original) but it gets found and returned by a guy with a metal detector.

-- 80 year old guys playing ice hockey. These guys are awesome. At 80 I hope that I can watch hockey let alone play.

-- And since we are on the track of seniors and their exploits, let’s finish with an 80 year old woman who chases down a purse snatcher on her bike. She must be related to Lance Armstrong.

Video of the week:

Incredible bicycle tricks… sent in by good friend Pat Pickrell. Pat just actually retired making him a hero of mine. (Though he was a hero even before he retired…) So I am guessing with all of his free time he’ll be working on bike tricks too. Thanks Pat!

Buy American or North American

At the bottom of last week’s post, a comment was left with a link to a very interesting story. The story was on how some people thought that any Buy American treaties would be bad and bad for jobs and so on. The article had some interesting points, some I agreed with and some not. The biggest frustration I have is I’d actually like to see the act be a Buy North American play. I simply cannot get why in some circles Canada is considered the enemy. Drives me crazy actually. Yes we are two different countries but our ideals are very similar. There was no worse usage of “Canada is a foreign country” then in the World Trade Center debacle… where the Port Authority in New York basically said buying from China and buying from Canada was the same. The article in its entirety can be found HERE. So if we can get over that hump and remember who our friends are, then I think some good policy could be written. Until then it’s going to be very shaky.
By the way in a ironic move… China announced a “Buy China” plan for their stimulus money… story is here for your comic relief.

Elsewhere….

-- One item that came up in an e-mail to me at the end of last week was the old battle of suppliers selling direct to the end customer. That has been an adventure for years and it’s happening now more than it has happened ever before because its slow out there. However, for some reason, the people who should be mad, aren’t. I’ll never understand it, but getting mad over losing work to your supplier is seemingly not a priority…

-- In case you have not heard, Greg Carney has been released from the hospital and is now at home. Simply awesome… no news now can bring me down when you think about the return to health by one of legends in our industry. Now hopefully in time, Greg will be back at it and the values of our industry will be back in his very capable hands.

-- So many comments I could make on the Bill Stone buying back his company from the UGC… but I can’t bring myself to it. So we’ll leave that one alone… yep finally an issue that even the therapy of this blog can’t help. But I do have to say that they (UGC) did do one good thing, they let BDM Products go, easily the industry’s most talented manufacturers rep firms go… so for that I am grateful.

-- On to good news… the Penguins winning the Stanley Cup… what a year for the Pittsburgh sports fan… Steelers in January and Penguins in June… now if the Pirates win it in October…. Ha ha… actually no way the Pirates can win it in October because if they would make the World Series, the games would be cancelled because all hell would be frozen over….

-- Check out this quote from the GPD in Finland and was on USGNN…
Despite the strong theme of solar energy at this year’s event, Bostick did note one “non-trend“ of sorts: “Solar cells are not really big on any architect’s mind … I think it’s also too expensive still,” he said. He added candidly, “I don’t think the architects are quite that interested in energy efficiency yet.”
Did this architect really say that architects are not into energy efficiency? Did I read that right? Maybe he meant solar, which he’s also crazy on judging from the excitement virtually any architect gets talking about BIPV. Wow. Hell if this guy doesn’t think energy is an issue I may have found an ally against the NFRC- heck he’s gotta hate them!

-- By the way speaking of Solar and new technology I am dying that I am not at the IGMA meetings this week. They have some tremendous speakers going covering some of the newest and most interesting advancements in solar, switchable, thermo-reflective and so on.

-- Last this week… I noticed that the NFRC hired a marketing consultant to push the CMA program in California and then beyond. Yep gotta love this program that no one wants… now big money will be spent promoting it. THIS IS SUCH A WASTE. It’s a freakin shame that so many people will get burned by this and the NFRC and their benefactors will just roll on and count their cash. Simply despicable…

Off to the links…

The Link Chick was all over it again this week…

-- First up… 7 things that will annoy a flight attendant… and me… and anyone else who has to fly a lot for a living…

-- Nice story about unselfish kids and striving to be better than your surroundings allow…

-- Good ole AIG is at it again… this time making life miserable for passengers from the USAIR Hudson river flight. Unreal.

Video of the Week:

The biggest story video wise was Artie Lange’s appearance on HBO… but that keeps getting scrubbed off the web. It was heavy duty guy humor that is for sure. So with that out of the running, I then move to dedicate this space to the Stanley Cup Champion Penguins… here is the best of game 7 with calls provided by the best hockey announcer ever created... Mike Lange.

Battling the Blahs

Is it too early to have the summer doldrums? Well when it comes to the weekly adventure of this blog I do. Usually news is flowing like crazy and there’s always stuff to comment on, but lately that really has not been the case. Basically it’s the same issues coming up again and again with no new good scuttlebutt to work off of. Thanks to the economy the fun of spoiling a sale or acquisition is gone too since it seems like no one is doing any of that right now. So that said, if you have an issue or insight that you think I should be aware of, please drop me a note. Otherwise we’ll keep doing the best we can to keep the industry up to speed on all of the goings on out there… even if they are few and far between right now.

Elsewhere…

-- Color me stunned that my Pittsburgh Penguins are in a game 7 vs the might Red Wings… Friday night will surely be ulcer inducing.

-- Greg Carney update… heard today that Greg may be released from the hospital and heading home. Again that is great news. He is still far from being active and at it, but every day it seemingly gets better. No doubt as he recovers I can guarantee you he will be blown away and thankful for all of the thoughts and prayers sent his way!

-- Old story new twist… I have been convinced for years that Marc LaFrance of the DOE does not ever think for himself. And this week I had another example when LaFrance came out in a speech promoting the use of Triple Pane glazing. (Which is a story I'll save for next week) He also had this comment:

“…for the layman, Congress, etc., they understand an R-value better.”

Hmmm.. I wonder who he is been talking to… maybe the guys from Serious Materials… since that’s a big piece of their promotion and this quote was recently published:

“U-value is confusing to the consumer,” he contends. “All of them are close to zero. The insulation industry talks R-value because R-20 is different than R-1, and consumers get that. The world talks R-values.”- Kevin Surace- Serious Materials

Yep all of a sudden “R Value” is everywhere… sorry it’s not a coincidence that LaFrance and Surace are speaking the same language…. and more proof that the DOE has people that are so clueless it hurts. Especially when they have money to spend and rules to make… Very sad… and I wonder how long before LaFrance starts pushing hard for heat mirror…

-- And while I am at it on the whole window thing… when the goofy 30/30 came out, the folks from Weathershield Window actually sent a letter to President Obama praising its greatness… and then soon after they closed on of their plants… wow must not have been that great eh? Note I am never one to wallow in something like that, but the letter to the President was so arrogant that it amazes me to this day they sent it. (and then promoted it). And even more so since the stimulus was propped today for saving and creating jobs yet it seems like daily (Philips, Silverline, Jeld Wen and so on) you have plants closing…

-- By the way how do you qualify a "saved" job? Would love know how that's figured.

-- Last week the prediction for this year’s hurricane season came out and it’s expected to be light… these guys have been wrong before so we will shall see… but one interesting note is that if anyone is at a higher risk for hurricanes it’s the east coast from the Carolinas and north. Hurricane codes up in that region are nowhere near as stringent as in the south, so this could be a lesson learning time for those folks if Mother Nature takes action.

-- I wonder what’s new on the bogus lawsuits that were filed in the states after the European price fixing debacles came up. I ask because once again someone thought I was involved in it because a company that jumped on shares the same last name(dishonorably, in my opinion). No way would I ever put my name on something so seedy.

-- I hate plane travel and this update on new seats and lack of leg room is pretty depressing… details here.

Off to the LINKS!

-- Funny one off the top… a Holiday Inn gets a crank call that says to hit the fire alarms, make the sprinkler system work and break some windows… and amazingly the front desk person does it… 50k later, you have a mess… the sordid and sad yet comical details HERE.

The “Link Chick” was back with a serious vengeance this week… in fact over the weekend she sent me like 60 stories… it helped me on Sunday forget about the terrible hockey game played the night before. Anyway here’s some of the best of the lot…

-- Don’t you usually consider a vending machine something for candy or pop? Well not here… check out the 10 most bizarre vending machines…. Wild.

-- I just celebrated 15 years of marriage last week… but I have nothing on this couple that has been married 80 years… 80… That is incredible…

-- Answering the age old question… is it OK to steal hotel amenities? By the way I admit I took everything from the Palm this year at BEC.. that was good stuff… but my normal haunts of the Drury Inn just don’t cut it…

Video of the week:

You may have heard about Bret Michaels of Poison getting beheaded by the curtain at last week’s Tony Awards… if you did not see, here it is… not a great close up, but you’ll get the jist…

Something that makes no sense

How does this work? While we are watching the economy take a beating, watching unemployment rise, watching our gas prices careen towards $3 per gallon (on its way to 4 by July 4th) and just watching an overall malaise in the business climate, somehow the stock market is doing great! And not only great now but a recent article states that the stock market is headed towards the 14,000 mark… This to me is a massive mystery. How can the stock market do well and everything else around it does badly? What am I missing here? In any case maybe the markets will lift the rest of down areas or maybe this is just a mirage. I guess time will tell…

Elsewhere…

-- Greg Carney continues to battle, and he is being moved to a hospital in New Orleans. Again all thoughts and prayers are still the call. Can’t wait to get Greg back at it and hopefully his health will continue to progress.

-- Last week the NFRC sent out their newsletter and announced they found yet another sucker….errr sponsor for their meeting. Hunter Douglas will throw money away at the upcoming meeting. Not sure what their angle is (because usually there is an angle!) but I am sure someone knows and will tell me. Otherwise all Hunter Douglas customers should absolutely demand a price break because if they are so rich to sponsor a technical meeting then they have money to blow. What a freakin joke. Maybe Marc LaFrance needs new window coverings so they can pick him up as a customer!

-- Speaking of jokes… let me clarify one item on my issue with the 30/30 sham. I have no issues with creating a standard, for people to hit to get a rebate. My rants are not meant to make the rebates for “everyone” like I have been accused. The issue is the 30/30 makes no real sense nationwide and intelligent, logical people know that. A program that truly met the needs of the regions would’ve added value for the “stakeholder” but this thing as constituted does not.

-- By the way I saw on DWM that Philips Products may be going out of business. If that’s true, that is sad as that was a good old line window company. I thought the 30/30 “saved” everyone because how great it was. Guess not.

-- The Wings are owning the Pens, but as I write this its 2-2 in game 3…(listening to the awesome Mike Lange on play by play) but still I have a feeling my pal Scott Surma will be getting a big bag of M&M’s since his Wings will probably prevail. Dang.

-- Congrats to the folks at Frank Lowe Rubber & Gasket for achieving ISO 9001-2008. Good company, class people that deserve some props. And while there are some companies that just must have publicity to assuage their egos, it’s refreshing that USGNN gave some space to the Frank Lowe achievement.

To the LINKS….

-- Thanks to blog reader W. Cash for this AWESOME article on the price of doing business with China. I am actually shocked I did not get this from Bob Lang because he’s usually all over it. Anyway, click HERE for a great read on how doing business with China could save you money in the short term but ruin you long term.

-- Yet another person calls 911 when McDonald’s screws up an order. Do people not learn in grade school what 911 is for? Unreal.

The “Link Chick” checked in with a couple of good ones…

-- In August Archie, from the “Archie” comic strip will finally pick his chick- either Betty or Veronica… man tough call.. if it’s me, I go with Betty…

-- Very odd story in France… they are letting some prisoners to go cycling… hmmmm

-- A code so tough that even the CIA can’t crack it… and no it’s not the rules and prices of the NFRC CMA program… (though I doubt the CIA could crack or actually believe it either)

Video of the week

I love tennis and love the French Open… but the controversy this week was a teenager that was making some serious grunting noise when she connected. Turn the volume on and listen to this and imagine being on the other side of the net… you’d need ear plugs! (She comes on first for a few seconds and explains herself and then they show the highlites.. wow)

Question of the week...

Are we there yet? If you have kids and ever did a road trip with them, those are 4 words you surely heard… a lot. Now I hear them from customers and suppliers in various regions and segments of our industry as it pertains to the economy and our industry. Some locales and specialties are doing better than others but the folks that are suffering are constantly asking if we hit bottom yet. Are we there yet? No, in my opinion not yet. But I believe we are close. The residential industry is starting to see positive signs (and don’t tell me it’s because of 30/30 either… it may be from the stimulus, but that inane plan actually did a ton more damage than help) and with some new energy related technology gaining traction, we may be “there” hopefully sooner than later…

Elsewhere…

-- The latest Greg Carney update is very promising. Greg is actually up and around and has even talked with some of the folks at GANA. Pretty dang awesome if I do say so myself… We’ll know for sure when he is recovered when he starts reading blogs again… in any case the news has been good and that means the good, solid positive thoughts and prayers that went to Greg were answered!

-- Saw that the GICC announced some new folks into their version of a “Hall of Fame”- a major congrats to those guys… but it makes even more excited for when USGlass brings back the “Hall of Fame” for our industry. We have so many great candidates and really people that deserve the honor, recognition and credit due them for their efforts and impact on the industry.

-- USGNN ran a story last week on a survey done by PPG of architects and their desires. One of the fascinating areas was that the need for ENERGY STAR compliance was high on the list. Which leads to the following questions: Were these folks residential architects? Were they confusing the question when it comes to ENERGY STAR? (maybe thinking of washers and dryers?) Could they really not know that there’s no commercial ENERGY STAR? See that last one is the rub… if an architect thinks that there’s a commercial window version of ENERGY STAR, well that’s pretty scary… It’s coming, you can be assured of that… because someone at DOE will be awake long enough to try and get that program going. But as of now it does not exist- so the fact that an architect may consider a program that does not exist yet an “important attribute” is downright frightening. Oh and the self serving part of the survey… it was funny when they noted that PPG was recognized as the green leader by 33% over its nearest competitor. Of course they would since they have the name recognition (especially since most architects still spec things like Polar Pane and Spectrum etc..) but I’d have to wonder if Viracon and Kawneer were listed as options, no way would that total bear out. Hell I think some architects spec those guys to put in toilets they love them so much.

-- Man summer is weak for TV…. I wish they’d save Survivor or Amazing Race for summer…

-- Stanley Cup is coming around the corner and hopefully my beloved Penguins will be there again… and if it’s a rematch with the Red Wings, I will once again be an enemy in my neighborhood and my house will be subject to all of the great abuse from the Detroit fans… hopefully though this year the Pens will pull it off… Still as I write this both Pittsburgh and Detroit need to clinch and hopefully I have not jinxed them.

-- Hope everyone had a good Memorial Day and hopefully everyone took a little time to pay a thought to the incredible men and women who have protected us from evil. Every current member of the forces and every veteran deserve your respect and good thoughts. Without them, we would never have the freedom to do all we do…

Off to the LINKS…

-- Living in Michigan is good for a few things… the weather for 3 months out of the year is awesome… and the bizarre Detroit City Council is always good for laughs… this week.. a City Council member only paying $68 in taxes on her house… and saying she did it because why would she question a bill like that? Story is here and it’s pretty comical…

-- Beware the evils of texting… the New York Times takes a look…

-- The “Link Chick” checks in with an awesome and cool one… check out these pictures that look seriously photoshopped… but they are not… wow.

Book of the WEEK…
“Bust” by Adam Resnick… the story of a very sick compulsive gambler and one that ended up losing millions and going to jail because of his addiction. Pretty riveting read and while some of the story you would say “no way” the author sells it well. It is a true story by the way. Thanks to my brother for lending the book.

Video of the WEEK…
A very huge hockey hit that blows up the glass… always fun to see when you are in the business… but oddly did you know that at the United Center (home of the Blackhawks) that they use PLASTIC for their “Glass” along the boards? What’s going on there? Are there no tempered suppliers there? I mean that’s sacrilegious!

And yet another thing to worry about...

Folks once again I am here to sound the alarm and this time on the list is the Cap and Trade provision that is currently working through congress. This bill will be a massive disaster to our industry (and not to mention all of us personally- but that’s another story for another time.) Basically this bill will hurt the primary glass guys badly, even the “beloved” Cardinal (who always seems to get their way). Cap and Trade has not been successful and Europe and it won’t be here either. What it will do is run industries like ours into even bigger issues than we all already deal with. I am no expert, but do some research, check out the info GANA has on it and you will agree (if you have logic) that is not good. And once again I expect to be skewered for being a puppet of the primaries (even though most of them can’t stand me either.)


Elsewhere….


-- By the way follow all of the Energy stuff on GANA’s incredible Energy page that can be found by clicking HERE.

-- Greg Carney update… according to the last note I received not much has changed with Greg but he did make what was termed a “baby step” in the right direction. Let’s keep the thoughts and prayers going his way, the man deserves that much.


-- This week the 30/30 disaster was back in the news again via USGNN and a story on how this provision makes no sense from the skylight side of business. So yet another angle appears that wasn’t thought of by the brain surgeons on Senator Olympia Snowe’s payroll. (That makes like 112 so far…) The funniest part of the story was this line: "Collins' office said they are working to change it while Snowe's office sent a form letter, which didn't address any of our issues," said Magnuson. WOW what a stunner, you mean the person that slipped this idiotic provision in with a 3AM discussion did not reply? Color me shocked. Hopefully the folks of Maine have an option when Snowe runs for re-election because she needs to go.


-- And by the way, Gas went up again this week and Oil is at $60 per gallon… sorry I have to do this, its my therapy… talk it out and hope I am oh so wrong.


-- 24 ended and if you did not watch it, skip this paragraph… I did not like the finale… you invest 22 hours in something and then the end is a let down… that pretty much sucks. Still a bad Jack Bauer is better than no Jack Bauer! All in all I just thought they should’ve ended it with more of a 24-like shock and less of a skittish soap opera obvious cliffhanger.


-- I just finished my next column for USGlass (on newsstands where the best magazines are sold) and one angle I hit was this… are you surprised that in this slowing economy everyone is still standing? Or do you like many others think that it’s just a matter of time when companies will start to fall off? To me that is the story to watch for the 2nd half of the year.


Off to the LINKS…


-- A solar house in Michigan… good idea right? Well not when the pipes freeze… oh boy… methinks there’s still a lot of technology that has to be figured here before we all live this way.


-- Fewer people are flying this summer but travel will still suck according to this article. But you know what sucks… people who use up the overhead space for their laptop case/purse/briefcase. THAT’S FOR BENEATH THE SEAT MORON… I swear one day you’ll read about me getting tossed off of a flight for that. Major pet peeve.


From the always awesome “link chick”… who is unlike me… positive and happy…


-- Rewarding stores who adopt green policies… I like it…


-- Interesting story on how people in Indonesia beat traffic… by using Carpool jockeys…


BOOK OF THE WEEK:


You may have heard about the two girls who were involved in a major car accident 2 years ago and the folks at the scene mis-identified the girls and for five weeks one family believed their daughter was dead and the other family sat bedside with a girl that they “thought” was their daughter. Now the whole story of that time is being told in a book by both families called “Mistaken Identity” Great read and your heart just goes out to everyone involved. It also makes you want to hug your kids and not let go.


VIDEO OF THE WEEK:


Former KC Royal great George Brett goes off on the media… and you have to love his passion… but his choice of golf slacks has got to go.

Greg Carney on my mind

No question the biggest news of the week was the release from GANA on Greg Carney’s health. As you may know by now, Greg is fighting very serious health issues and as an industry we all need to keep Greg in our thoughts and prayers. It is no secret that I am huge Greg Carney fan. He has done so much for this industry… he has stood up and fought for what is right, he has helped develop technical documents and he has brought people from various backgrounds together for the good of the industry. Bottom line is Greg Carney is a class act and good man and now all of us need to send as much positivity as we can as he fights on.

Elsewhere…

-- By the way I am sure Greg would’ve preferred that no one know what he is going through, but he has touched so many people that it would be unfair to not spread the word and let people know that their friend and cohort is fighting. The more people who can send prayers and thoughts his way- the better.

-- I know I was not the only one who was sickened on the puff piece the Las Vegas Sun did on Chinese company Zetian. Journalism took a beating with that one sided piece that’s for sure… (It should be titled “Advertorial”) heck I am surprised that it’s not in there that Zetian can cure cancer too. I have already gone on and on with this issue but it just sucks that sometimes angles like this get justified when in my mind (and I think many others) they do not deserve to be.

-- Postage stamp rates are up to .44 now… but I saw you can buy “forever” stamps now at .44 and use them forever no matter what the price is then… and you buy these at no premium whatsoever… I guess the bizarre way our industry prices stuff is not that unique afterall…

-- Gas went up again this week… more than .20 on average nationally. I’m telling you we’re barreling towards $4 per gallon again and that is depressing.

-- And on that same depressing note… Downsizing the “Big 3” autos has a pretty severe trickledown… dealerships… closing… yikes… check out this story on an empty stomach.

-- The BIM push is back with a few releases in the last week propping it back up. As you remember last year BIM was smoking hot- USGlass had some tremendous stuff on it and basically everyone was planning on it… then BAM the trail went cold…until the few days… basically it was a combination of items that scared people off… the costs were high, and probably higher now that BimWorld was bought out, and there’s still a major question of usage by architects. So in times where you are tightening your belt, do you really want to spend money on a program that may not be used mainstream for a few years? Evidently a few companies do…

-- I am bumming that 24 is making Jack Bauer look stupid going into the finale next Monday… hopefully the end of the show swerve this week is just that and all will be right with the world come next Monday night!

-- Great blog post from Jim Plavecsky over at the DWM site. (Post is HERE) He writes about the explosion of social networking tools… amen Jim, amen…. I can deal with a LinkedIn but if you see me “twittering” it has to be an imposter….

Off to the LINKS!

Yes after a few weeks break, the Link Chick is back… hooray!

-- As someone who wears glasses, they can drive me crazy… but this idea to have “pierced” glasses is simply insane…

-- A great story on a very good deed…

-- Something I think you will more of in the future… instead of letting a house sit forever empty… tearing it down… its happening in California..

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Marg Webb sent me this one a few weeks back… if you have not heard of the singing sensation that is Susan Boyle, check out this video… an amazing back story to go along with an incredible voice. Thanks Marg for the video!

Better than expected

Well I admit it… I was wrong… Yep I missed my mark on the prediction that the AIA show last week would be a disaster. Amazingly it went a ton better than I thought. Now attendance was not great and I heard from many exhibitors that the floor was not kind to them (the show floor was perhaps the most stupid yet- which is saying something), but the big reason I mark this as a success is the fact that the tone of the attendee changed. The average architect in the past was usually detached and arrogant at these gatherings, now they had a focus. They were more friendly and engaging. Maybe being slow and seeing their careers and livelihoods in danger changed them. Who knows maybe this was an aberration and next year in Miami the snooty, distant designers will return. But for 3 days in crazy San Francisco it was not evident.

Elsewhere…

-- The AIA floor was a mess- 3 halls and in 2 buildings… I wonder how many exhibitors were like me and felt the bait and switch with that goofy layout?

-- USGNN did a tremendous job, as always, of covering the event. Props to Megan, Ellen and Drew for a job well done. By the way, Drew was the guy holding the camera… most people (guys especially) probably paid him no mind with Megan and Ellen (talented as always!) around but Drew does a tremendous job and deserves props too.

-- Big part of the show? The push of the BIPV products- and full disclosure… I had one in our booth that was well received (people can and do abuse me for being a “self promoter” but in this case, the BIPV was a big item at the show and there’s no way I can ignore it or the involvement by the company I work for when it was a big part of the show) and I am sure that the others that showed this product probably had some solid interest too. No doubt that this is a line that has the interest of the design community.

-- Bummer of the show? No Starship Enterprise. Damn.

-- Seen on the floor… I stopped by Sage and saw the gang there… had to give them congrats on a tremendous new ad that they have out. They were able to explain “value” in an ad better than anyone had done it previous. Good work!

-- Speaking of ads I did get to meet the brains behind Glassopolis. You may remember them for their fantastic ad from a few months ago… anyway they promised a new and even better ad is coming. Can’t wait. Seriously the Sage ad should win an award for 09, same as the Glassopolis one should’ve gotten for 08.

-- Of course the Walker Texture guys were there and once again dressed to kill. These guys never disappoint and this year at the show they did take on a charity case- see the results below. As always old faves Pilkington (with the fine folks from W&W and TGP) Zeledyne, Guardian and Viracon were in place and always nice to see the folks from all of those places. I know many others were there but unfortunately because of the crappy layout of the show and the traffic at my booth, I never got around the last 2 days. But I did see Jim Benney and Tom Herron from NFRC…. Many people would not expect me to do that… (they actually stopped by my booth first- then I went to there’s) but while I disagree with the actions, I like and respect Jim (just met Tom for the first time.) So no fireworks there sorry…

Other stories…

-- Last week’s lead on “selling your way” out of a crisis really hit some nerves… I got a ton of e-mail on that… most good but a few telling me that I am calling the kettle black… and I responded to those accordingly. Bottom line is that strategy will not work for the long term.. and as someone noted on the comments that in the Office episode, Michael ended up OK, in a way he did not… and that was surely not reality…

-- Get ready… did you notice over the last few days gas prices are on the rise… and Oil is starting to go up too… somehow I have this sick, sick feeling that gas will be heading towards the $4.00 mark again this summer… seriously depressing folks… and by the way I noticed Natural Gas is on the up too… yeesh.

-- Did you see the IRS delayed the implementation of the bogus 30/30 rule to June 1? The thing should be completely abolished but at least I enjoyed the rebuke of the idiots that pushed this through. Still I want explained how this benefits homeowners in Phoenix or Miami? It doesn’t because it’s bogus.

-- LAST but least… April set another traffic record for this site… and for that I must say THANK YOU! I truly appreciate you joining on my weekly therapy sessions!

-- The link chick is back, but I am going to stockpile them for next week…

Instead of a video this week… leftovers from AIA… with pictures… the craziness of San Francisco! I swear that city was surely a new experience for this sheltered country boy. Major thanks to the Cajun Legend JD for the pics!

This guy was NOT an architect… but read that sign- isn’t that what we all deal with everyday?

Amazing what the police force was doing… a bum who did his “business” in the corner and he gets a ticket! Yep I am sure he has the funds to pay for that.

A Dog, with a Cat and a Rat… yep. Amazing eh? And people were giving this guy money... what I am missing here?

And thanks to the guys at Walker Glass, I got an extreme makeover… I wish!! Great suit… sadly if I tried to pull that outfit off in real life it would not be pretty... but I can dream right?

A theory that works...

Ok time for some free advice…. And this would be thanks to a recent episode of The Office where the newly formed Michael Scott Paper Company learned a good lesson. Anyway, in some segments of our industry times are tough. There’s no disputing that. But it is the reaction to those times that is probably making it worse. Basically the key here is simple. You cannot sell yourself out of this malaise. You can lower prices all you want but that won’t help you survive or be in any position to thrive once the worm turns. Smart companies are making the hard decisions based on the fact the sales pie is smaller- instead of dropping numbers for volume they are taking other approaches like cost controls to stave off the effects. If you watched The Office (and that clip is NOT on line dang it) you will see Michael’s accountant explain to him that you can’t have sales without profits…. (he started a new company and undercut his old company everywhere to get business. Then his accountant had to point out to him he was not doing business smartly… ) Seriously it should be required viewing for everyone…

Elsewhere…

-- And remember this blog is ME talking…. Representing my views…

-- Once again the guys from DOE are in the news and once again they are making absolute fools of themselves. I swear that department needs fresh blood so badly it’s not even funny. Here’s the latest.
Quote from Richard Karney DOE:
He also added, "Marc [LaFrance from DOE] and I joke that on the commercial side we should just mandate low-E. The industry tap dances around that."

OK, let’s go to work here…. First off guys its 2009 and not 1990. In 1990, Low E was new and confusing and people had many issues with it. (that’s where he is probably getting his intel) In 2009 Low E is established and good. People understand how to run it. You have certified and preferred fabricator programs. It is legit. So that said, the industry would LOVE Low E being pushed- however the industry does not TRUST YOU. Why? Because neither of you listen to the industry! You listen to people like Garrett Stone (a lawyer) and the NFRC. If you would talk to some of the truly brilliant people in our industry who know Low E (Start with Don McCann at Viracon, Chris Dolan at Guardian, Ted Krantz at PPG, Joel Smith at Arch, Jay Phillips or Doug Zacharias at Oldcastle and I could go on and on and on…) you would understand it better. The fear actually is if you two knuckleheads would get your way, you’d probably hamhand the implementation of this by mandating that everyone must use a certain type of Cardinal Low E (wait did I just say that out loud) and leave all others behind. Or you would muck it up by adding some additional cost (and truly un-needed) program run by your pals at the NFRC.
I guarantee if you actually reached out to the right people and groups you COULD get this done. Instead you’ll keep making flippant remarks and doing nothing to really improve this issue. Put your money where your mouth is guys and I think you’ll be stunned. Come on and join us here in 2009….

-- Is everybody ready for LEED 2009? Does that mean that people will stop using LEED 1.0 now? On LEED, I read a blurb from an architect mad that a company he wanted to use because they were only 30 miles away had to send an expert from 900 miles away to deal with one of his problems… he felt that was a violation of LEED…. So much so that he wanted to throw the company out of the specs. My gosh some people are really bizarre eh?

-- Movie alert… the sequel to Wall Street is coming… complete with Michael Douglass back in the role of Gordon Gekko…. Wall Street was one of the best movies of the 80’s (for me at least) and I’ll be curious to see how they bring it back…. And if Charlie Sheen is in there somewhere too… and don’t forget one of the great lines in that flick… “Greed… for the lack of a better word is good…” ah man the whole movie- fantastic.. hope they don’t screw up its legacy with a bad sequel…

-- In San Fran at AIA… I just got back from the show “floor” though it’s not a floor- its 3 separate buildings! Ugh… I’ll have a post mortem on this debacle when it’s done. I never thought a show floor could be as bad as the San Antonio “kids table” debacle of 2 years ago… but it looks like it has been topped!

-- Last, I know some of you only check this blog out on Thursday and Friday- so a heads up that I had a post on Monday of this week… it concerns a Senator, a drama queen, and decisions that were made at 3AM… check it out below this post.

No links this week… sorry…

Video of the Week

Last week the NFL schedule for 2009 came out and there was a lot of controversy. Jimmy Kimmel has the details here…

Inside the 30/30

Well folks through the last few years of doing this blog, there’s been some amazing issues covered and quite frankly this whole 30/30 debacle is at or near the top. Last week, interest was reignited in this sham when USGNN ran a piece about the sponsor of the legislation and with that more fury and anger raged. If you did not read the piece from Friday you need to… then come back to this spot because I am going to tear it up… here goes…

After reading the article the first reaction is “my gosh I hope that not every decision in DC is made with haste and no intelligence…”

And that all surrounds how this came to be… at the great working time of… 3AM….

Yes this decision was made and added at 3AM and with no background, no information and no clue. Senator Snowe and her staff should be ashamed of themselves but I am sure they have no time for shame because they are working too hard to pat themselves on the back…. So at 3AM it happened… if I am the person running against Snowe in 2010 one of my ads is about this issue..

Narrator: Voters of Maine… do you really want rash and incoherent decisions made about your state and country at 3AM?.... Well that’s how Olympia Snowe thinks…. She’d rather rush a line into legislation with no idea how it works or what it means, then get the facts…. In fact weeks after her legislation was rushed, there were still many questions that needed answered… Maine and the United States deserve a Senator that will take the time to make sure it all makes sense….

Seriously 3AM? And to make matters worse the Senator’s staff member threw the DOE under the bus stating that criteria needed from them was not published yet. Most of you know I have little to no respect for the DOE… It drives me nuts that a guy like Marc LaFrance allows himself to be mocked by the NFRC (they ignore his every last rant and laugh at him behind his back)and controlled blindly by people like Garrett Stone, but in this case I have to defend the agency. The DOE has worked for YEARS on Energy Star… they have worked with hundreds of people and gotten a program that people can understand… and in one ignorant and clueless swoop the work was shot. You cannot tell me that the moronic staff of the Senator could not of gotten with someone at DOE to make sure that a program like this has logic.

Again you wonder what other issue was at play here… who is in Snowe’s ear? And how dangerous can a person like Snowe be when an irresponsible line like this can just get added willy-nily? What’s to stop her from adding a line in a future legislation that says you can only buy material from companies whose names start with the letter C?

So we have a hasty decision made quickly with no logic. Brilliant.

Bottom line is I think the DOE had the info and the Senator chose to ignore based on advice from “someone” and then played up the excuse that the info did not exist.

Plus if you did not have info from DOE how do you come up with the numbers you did- 30/30… hmmmmmmm THERE IS NO DOUBT SOMEONE INFLUENCED THIS! Yet the people there were too busy sucking up instead of asking questions… We deserve full disclosure!

And yes that brings us to the other frustrating part of the article…. where the slobbering affection shown by the starstruck school boys from the NWDA… my gosh guys there’s 12 year old girls at a Jonas Brothers concert that show more restraint. Let’s review some of the quotes:

As soon as you came out with these numbers, the industry went to work,” said Darryl Huber of BF Rich, who also serves as the NWDA president.

NO WAY really? What a stunner… I thought the industry would stay asleep…. OF COURSE everyone had to go to work… the legislation was ignorant and uninformed. Most window guys had to rearrange how they do things and represent themselves. The others had to go get their materials tested. Dude, the industry did not have a choice. This is not something to be proud of.

Tom Channell of Chelsea Building Products, NWDA second vice president, added that his company has spent a quarter of a million dollars helping companies recertify their products to meet the 30/30 standards.

I am impressed 250K! Yep that is the stimulus at work… make sure you send Senator Snowe a commission. But seriously would love to know how that was spent… sounds like an off the top of my head BS number.

Another Channell quote: “We as a group are pleased this bill passed,” says Channell. “This revitalized a dying industry.”

DYING INDUSTRY… Drama queen alert…. Times are tough but not THAT tough… gee you went from dying to being able to supposedly drop 250k without a blink…. Amazing… thousands of window companies out there and this guy calls it a “dying industry”… a dying industry would be people who make VHS VCR’s… sell Chinese Drywall...

And with the NFRC adding people left and right, I somehow don’t think the industry is “dying”

“And it stimulated jobs,” Huber added.

Seriously… it stimulated jobs? Outside of the NFRC and the labs, can you tell me how many jobs this idiotic provision added? Funny I haven’t seen much on all of those laid off shifts returning…

OK enough of making fun of our little school boys on their fun field trip to DC… wonder if they went to the Monument while they were there!

Let’s now look at the comments from Snowe’s legislative assistant Patrick Woodcock… but be aware this may be some of the most clueless, yet arrogant stuff you have ever read…

The group then asked a variety of questions all relating to how the criteria will be enforced. Other questions include what happens to those consumers who purchased windows from January 1-February 17.
“No one should be able to answer that question,” said Woodcock. “Only the IRS can answer that.”

Wait you create this inane crap and you have no idea on how it will be enforced? What an unreal answer. I’ll you how, the people who bought windows between those dates are screwed… the same as the folks in Miami will be when the only way THEY can get a credit is putting in windows that make NO SENSE for their region.

And this:

“We were concerned with this proposal and we tried to improve it as best we can,” added Woodcock. ” … Tax credits do move companies to make more efficient products.”

Yes tax credits are great.. I thought we all made better products because the NFRC said we had too. Seriously I love how he takes credit for this stuff. You know what would make people make even more efficient products? A program that makes sense not only in your home state of Maine but in the rest of the US too… this country and its window needs are not one size fits all…

Thanks for your time Mr Woodcock, you slayed the tourists that sat at your feet, but the public is not impressed.

Also a quote from my favorites at Keystone Certifications:

“What concerns me the most is that there is no reference to a standard in the legislation,” added Jon Hill of Keystone Certifications.

Yep of course this would concern you…. You should’ve just said: “We already have a great gig with the NFRC, and this should make us a ton of cash too… c’mon by not making this crystal clear, this will cut into our profits!”

Yes that is a rich that the guy from the certification agency is bitching…. Shut up man, you’re making your money.

Last but not least the end of the article featured the DOE trying their best to tread water…

Earlier in the day, Richard Karney, program manager for the Department of Energy’s Energy Star program, spoke before NWDA members regarding Energy Star but also addressed the tax credits.
“It hit me as quickly as it hit you,” said Karney. “We received many inquiries asking, ‘Why can’t you fix it?’” He then joked, “Even I can’t fix it.’”
He said even DOE found out about it at the eleventh hour.
“We had no idea it was coming until 24 hours before it was passed.” He added that DOE was never consulted on the criteria.

Hmmmm.. what was it…. You found out 24 hours before it was passed eh? Interesting…. So in 24 hours you couldn’t or wouldn’t try and talk sense into this? Maybe these guys are just as bad as I think.

And the kicker:

He also brought up a point that many NWDA members asked as well.
“The tax credit doesn’t specify a particular rating. Is it center of glass, etc.”
He says the DOE is asking the IRS for clarification on this matter.

CLUELESS ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And yet another area where it shows this sham in all of its glory… hey lets come up with this legislation but let’s not have any clue what it means, how it works, how it will be measured, how it will be implemented or what effect it will have….

So there ya go… a Senator who obviously has someone whispering in her ear creates a stupid last minute legislation and at the end of the day the IRS will make the call on how it will all work….

Simply brilliant….

What will the AIA show bring?

The annual AIA show is next week and it should be interesting on several levels. The first angle is… Will anyone show up? Basically I am hearing that people are not going and with travel being cut all over, I can see that being the case. It’s not just the architects who are staying home but many industry folks who would walk the show are staying back and booth staffing has been cut as well. Also interesting will be the attitude of the folks who DO attend. When do they see the malaise ending? Will it be 2010 like some think or will it be 2011 like many others are predicting? Last the other interesting angle will be what new products and wrinkles will be out. Healthy companies still do R&D during bad times, and so this should be interesting to see who is working for the future and who is just hanging on.

Elsewhere…

-- Last week’s post had a great comment attached- to save you from scrolling down here it is:

John Lewis was laid off from AAMA. The majority of AAMA's income comes from residential label sales, and we all know how that market is right now. Membership dues are also way down- people are choosing to forgo the meeting expenses and dues in order to keep people employed in their departments. All this translates into reduced income, and like any company they have to balance their books, so layoffs happen.
John is a good guy, but it really burns me up that his title is "New Business Development". NFRC is not in business, it is a pseudo-government agency. It shouldn't be looking for new areas to extract money out of. I swear, it seems just like an extortion racket ran by the mob. Unless you pay the NFRC their "protection" money, they break your legs and prevent you from doing business.

Great comment and thank you to the Anon who left it… his last paragraph was classic and again the whole “Restraint of Trade” angle comes up again. Obviously NFRC is all lawyered up so they have that angle covered, but it sure seems shaky. And its funny about the title, I wonder if the IRS has a “New Business” person.

-- Amazing how Earth Day and Green keep getting bigger and bigger… but don’t you get the feeling its going to backfire? In fact true energy and green people- folks that really live it- have told me of their disdain and dislike for the USGBC. In fact one guy told me I should stop wasting my life on NFRC and go after USGBC. I worry that angle will grow and the good of doing the right things will get lost in the BS and bureaucracy of our universe.

-- If you are not watching 24… shame… and if you are… can you believe the whole Tony Almeida storline? Holy heck….

-- By the way, everyone on the commercial side knows the blogs to visit- but Tara Taffera of sister publication DWM Magazine has a pretty cool blog focused more residentially and its worth a visit. It’s here. One thing she wrote on was the folks from the Iowa window plant that got screwed in the whole “Republic” disaster. Those folks in Iowa got hung out terribly and its tragic. My heart goes out to all of them… and while the BS that happened originally to the folks in Chicago was terrible… to me what happened in Red Oak was a lot worse.

-- Congrats to my friend E on her UNC Tarheels winning it all… great hoops tourney by the way…

Off to the links!

Link chick has gone underground… too busy working on high end cover stories for the magazine world… so these are from me…

-- An awesome article on 12 major brands that could go “bye bye” in the recession… some shockers here folks- worth the read.

-- Want to see where the job losses are in your area… this article lets you do it interactively! Wow, depression, internet style.

-- And this one was actually from the Link Chick but I thought of Arlene Stewart when I read it… it’s the “top 10 Greenwashers” out there right now… Arlene does an awesome presentation on “greenwashing” so somehow either her stuff will make it in there or their stuff will make it in her next piece…

VIDEO of the WEEK

This was a few weeks ago… a dunk that went upside down and to the floor… wow.

The Captain of the Titanic

Short post this week…. Those of you who know me, know why… anyway… a week can’t pass without a NFRC comment, especially when they make news like they did last week. NFRC announced the hiring of John Lewis to a new position to help push the CMA program along. Lewis used to be at AAMA and TRACO so he’s seen the battles and who knows he may have a tiny bit of logic in his head. But regardless this hiring has issues all over it.

First only the NFRC is hiring right now and it figures since thanks to the bogus 30/30 sham and the continuation of the Titanic (CMA) they expect to be rolling in the cash. Remember a lot my argument with NFRC centers around the money and from day 1, this has been an issue of money- don’t ever let anyone from the NFRC tell you different. It’s been documented over and over so I won’t go there again. Anyway the NFRC being a charity probably can’t “make” money (show big profits) so why not hire more people!! (and probably continue to pay consultants like Bipin Shah 6 figures and same for Potomac- plus I may be crazy but they've surely expanded staff quite a bit in the last year or two).

Second this continues to prove this program is a mess and in trouble- a hire like this should’ve went down years ago- with someone intelligent enough to want to understand both sides. Instead we got John Hogan pontificating at the podium at every meeting even though chances are he would not know a high performance piece of glass if it hit him in the face… and same for Marcia Falke and so on.

It’s funny they’d make this move now when it does not matter… John Lewis can reach out all he wants but what we will he really be able to do? Walk people through how they’ll be wasting their money? Show them the time that will be wasted? Explain to them that NFRC is a monopoly? Point out Marc LaFrance sound asleep in the corner? I think they’ll understand that quite well on their own thank you. I’ll be curious if Lewis makes any sort of real effort but in reality there’s nothing he can do this die has been cast- which makes the hiring even more puzzling really.

Last many people commented on why Lewis would leave AAMA for NFRC… that one was be a head scratcher for many but I am sure Lewis had his reasons.
On that note, someone who is intimate with the NFRC debacles sent me this video that sums up the move of John Lewis… classic! Hope you weren’t too hasty John!



A normal traditional post with links and more than just NFRC babble will return to this space next week!

Tons of Stuff

Last week the World Trade Center issue dominated so I had to table several other big topics. Anyway today I hit on a bunch of things still percolating out there and as always they involve some serious frustration. The good thing is the amount of responses I am getting from people out in the industry who share my views. That gives me hope. Anyway let’s take a look at what’s happening…

On the 30/30…

The issue keeps coming up and confusion still abounds. Fact of the matter this shortsighted sham will eventually be adjusted. When a group like the WDMA that usually is against everything that “our” side is for, comes out and expresses its unhappiness, you know this thing is doomed. Here’s the bottom line… when Senator Snowe, or the radicals that helped hornswoggle her into this debacle can prove to me that the climate in Maine is the same year round that it is in Miami, I’ll be on board. That and the fact that years of consensus and work on Energy Star blown to bits is tragic. Funniest part is you go to the Energy Star website and they have to specifically call out that this sham would possibly NOT include all Energy Star windows… pretty pathetic… nice to see that our elected officials are so clueless that they’ll do anything someone tells them, without taking two seconds to properly vet. Also in typical fashion, the NFRC has done nothing to help the window companies adjust to this heinous rule, and have actually hurt these companies because they are now swamped. (Which makes me wonder why said companies cannot sue the NFRC for restraining trade)
Comically if this swamps the NFRC, I cannot wait to see how bad they perform when or if the CMA ever reaches the light of day.

The NFRC White Paper…

And speaking of my all time favorite group….The NFRC published a white paper and the main goal was trying to show that their CMA program has value! 3 pages of horsehockey littered with bullet points and numbering to try and make it look official. The only thing they were missing was graph charts. The classic and typical thing is they make it seem like their program is just there for the taking… you know FREE… when we all know it is not… they are trying to pull a fast one by ignoring the fact that this program will cost the end user significant money (and time)… Bottom line here is they are trying to promote a program that some will say “hey I’d love to use it” but without telling them the whole story… buyer beware. Also the other fact is by doing this paper, they know they are getting little to no traction or acceptance. And once people find out how much this will cost and how time it will take (no matter what they say) people will flee… ABANDON SHIP!!

Solar Farms on a desert makes sense right? Not so fast…

This one is the tops though… everybody and their mother is pushing for Solar these days and on one level a big key of solar success is being able to have the solar farms... and according to a few speeches I have heard if we use the land in the Southwestern portion of the US, we could generate TREMENDOUS amounts of renewable energy. Getting that land was going to be tough and now it was made tougher by none other than California (figures, good ole California!) Senator Dianne Feinstein. The Senator, who usually would promote this stuff, is against putting Solar and Wind in the Mojave Desert and is preparing legislation to stop progress and make that land a national monument!!! Yep leave it to California to have a barren desert as a national monument, maybe that’s where they can place the statues of Tony Rygg and Nelson Pena. So let’s see we’ll protect a land you can’t do anything on instead of using it to create energy… BRILLIANT!
Don’t believe me.. cause its hard to believe isn’t it… here’s the STORY.

So there ya go… frustrated yet? I am not done yet...

Congress… Do as we SAY not as we DO…..

Great story HERE from the LA Times on the fact that Congress has dropped its plans to go carbon neutral in all of its buildings. So let’s see… we’ll stuff all of this crap down your throat but we won’t do it ourselves. Why am I not surprised? These would be the same people who would probably ignore NFRC too (though that's a good decision)

DOE…. Scareeee….

Easily one of the most popular items that appeared in this space recently was the story of the DOE giving 170K to a group that only asked for 130. I heard from people all over… shock, dismay, comedy, frustration, and “it figures” were the type of reactions. But now the bigger thing to watch is how the DOE and the government start to give away money as it regards to “energy”… To me it’s going to be frightening actually. First off some companies get money without even trying because they have big names, then you have all of the sickening cronyism that has basically overtaken the DOE to the point where some folks at the DOE can’t have an original thought without checking with one or another group. So while the administration and the new blood at the top of the DOE push to work on our energy program, color me as one person extremely worried that the money will not go to good use. I hope I am wrong.

World Trade Center

Thank you to all of the posters and E-mailers last week.. good to see people have their passions on demand. As for communist China…. When will the industry that actually cares on this issue (most of us, except a few people that go for the money and pray everynight that it does not come back to haunt them) step up? Will it be through GANA or a gathering of like minded people, but eventually the playing field has to be leveled. Hopefully something will happen soon or do we wait until the Chinese glass story becomes like the drywall issue… because I believe it’s just a matter of time. As for the PPG portion, I stick by my comments and despite the semantic denials the fact remains that PPG licensed people in China to produce their products- you play with that fire….

Video of the week:

Chuck sent this awesome piece in after he read about my complaints of all of the “get out of bankruptcy” commercials on the radio… and man this would be the best program out there! Hillarious stuff... Thanks for the video Chuck!

Pure Insanity

Tons of stuff this week… tons of topics too... but they will all go the backburner so we can talk about the biggest issue out there… USGNN’s tremendous effort on blowing the cover off the Chinese supply of glass to the bottom 20 floors of America’s next great monument the Freedom Tower… aka One World Trade Center…

Pretty sickening eh? If you missed the story on the fact that a huge American landmark will have 20 floors worth of communist Chinese glass, click HERE. (Note the rest of the building is Viracon, so at least they got that right).

Also ABC News in NY did a great piece on it and you can view that HERE.

Overall this is a sad issue but not unexpected… what bothered me the most is the fact that WABC reported that the Port Authority has gone to China to monitor the glass and will continue to do so. Ummmm… since when were the taxpayers of NY and the US flush with enough money to support that part of it?

At the end of the day this is no different the Sprint Arena in KC where the mayor of that town blindly ignored the Buy American provision (more on that in a separate post) to allow the Chinese glass. Or the council in Durham, NC that allowed their airport to have all chinese stuff. Amazingly, this is allowed to happen but maybe this job, with the high profile will change it.

I know that USGNN got at least one incredible letter from a fired up industry guy and one of the items he mentioned was it was time to take on the higher levels of government on this one… see if they can scrape the egg off their face. Already the senior senator of NY jumped in…. Regardless this is extremely shameful and you have to wonder who else the Port Authority is allowing to provide material. Simply disgusting…

But there is a sad irony here… and I had several people e-mail me to remind of it… what’s lost in this issue is that PPG’s dealing with China came back to bite them… When I first started this blog I linked to an article called “Sleeping with the Enemy” and it was about PPG doing work with the Chinese. The full piece is HERE, but how about this line:

PPG now actively co-operates with many Chinese glass manufacturers, ranging from contractual arrangements to technology licensing. "We give orders to Chinese companies and then we supply them in the United States or we license our technology to local companies to help them develop better glass," Diggs says.

Yep bet your glad you helped them develop BETTER glass… unreal. Whether or not it’s the same company or not that is supplying this job, by teaching and selling the formulas you opened up yourself for this mess. I am sorry that PPG spent so much time and money and now looks to be burned by this, but years ago that thought did not come into play… and with China also being a part of PPG’s vaunted CFP program when do you think that issue will raise its ugly head?

Oh and don’t worry at this depressing rate I am sure when the White House needs new glass it will probably come from Colombia.

That’s it for now, but something tells me there’s more to come on this….

Buyer Beware... Again

A while back I linked to a story on bad Chinese drywall… since then the story has grown and grown and today as I am sitting in South Florida, the lead story on the news is none other than… Bad Chinese Drywall… A quick Google search and you see major coverage of this story (people are calling it a “Massive” problem) is now taking place… and guess what there is nowhere to go on this.. no one to get retribution from or sue… yep that’s what happens when you deal with these folks. Now people will be going out of business and bankrupt because of this… and I have been warning and warning… now we (those of us who never went cheap and bought in) can sit back and watch as all of you who went that route have to worry that your glass and aluminum is not going to fall apart or fail miserably. Somehow I have a feeling we will see the failures come to us, just a matter of time. Maybe now people who still are tempted by this whole adventure will realize that buying material made in North America is the only way to go. Otherwise you may be the lead story someday in a place other than this blog. (I’ll link to some of the stories below)

Elsewhere…

-- Let’s talk DOE which is becoming a favorite of mine and instead of putting it in the links, I’ll throw it here… the New York Times did a nice piece on the new Secretary of Energy Dr Chu. The man is facing some challenges, and heck he probably has no idea how hamhanded some of the people he inherits really are. Oh and there is an opening for his #2 by the way… anyway the story can be found HERE.

-- Our industry does lack a true “ambassador” though that could go to Washington somewhat unencumbered. You know like an envoy to the middle east like former secretary of states like Warren Christopher and James Baker… If we had a guy/gal that could go to Washington and work our industry without being attached or an a payroll of an “evil” trade group (the “evil” is because that’s how all trade groups are looked at by some of the morons out there). Now I have no idea how we would compensate but to me a perfect candidate would be Jack Deyo… the man would immediately command respect on the hill, he’s a veteran and a business owner and would put us in a much better light. Just an idea but every day I believe we fall further and further behind the special interests…

-- Remember last year at this time all the talk was BIM… BIM.. BIM… whatever happened there? Yes I was solidly on that bandwagon and still do see the advantages but I was clearly wrong about how quickly it would become a significant player at our end of the industry. Thankfully smarter people than me (which adds up to about 2499 actually) at my company made the right call.

-- I was in the car for a ton last Friday and while I love Satellite radio I must say the commercials (on places like ESPN Radio) just kill you. Every ad is for either credit protection, lawyers who will help you with bad credit, bankruptcy, and lawyers who will help you with bankruptcy. I mean you start to think after a while, are the only people who listen to this stuff broke or about to be broke? Or is this just an offshoot of the growing economic storm? Or are these folks the only ones with marketing or ad budgets left? Anyway you slice it… it’s not fun.

-- How’s your brackets doing? I am still alive… but I really have no chance… meanwhile the King of West Virginia, aka Joe Staffileno of Zeledyne is in position to win his poll yet again.. he wins every year and if he wins this year I am officially changing his name to Joey Brackets… much easier to spell…

Off to the links!

Some assorted Chinese Drywall nightmare stories.. and the stories are scary with lots of words like “toxic” and “deadly”… yikes…

-- The LA Chronicle weighs in HERE.
-- ABC News HERE
-- CNN HERE

And I could go on and on and on… but I won’t…

-- Watch out YOUTUBE is cracking down on… Christmas Carols?

-- And a sign of the 2000’s… a mistrial by IPhone… man oh man jury duty nightmares..

Video of the Week:

A guy trying to pole dance… and if that’s not funny enough, his choice of music… the Doobie Brothers… (Don’t get me wrong I love the Doobie’s but not exactly the right music…)

March Madness

It’s March Madness and that really does count for one of the great times of the year. And while the tournament will keep many people’s attention (my picks are below) the other “Madness” that of the shameful 30/30 provision continues to make news daily. This week, AGC jumped into the fray and a local congressperson from their territory pulled some of the covers back on the issue. First off, kudos to the folks at AGC, I know none of them read this blog (because if they did they’d come to BEC) but regardless it’s nice to see the passion! And they are not the only ones, basically I have been hearing from a ton of people who are not “connected” to the company that drove this measure that they will be jumping in as well. Who knows what will happen but it sure is nice that there’s logic in our world.

Elsewhere…

-- Also on the 30/30 last week another website had a story on this and they included a quote from a pretty big window guy. The quote was basically this… that anyone “could” meet this 30/30 provision if they would so choose. Amazing… so my comment back is.. hey… Mr. Window Big Shot, what if the government slipped in a provision that every window had to be 120 x 120. Surely everyone “could” make that too if they choose… you know if they change out equipment, change manufacturing etc and spend tons of tons of money. I also “could” eat my young if I wanted to- but I don’t because it’s stupid. And my kids would probably not taste good. Just a patently ignorant comment that was typically self serving. Anyway the point is anyone “could” do anything but when something is so incredibly wrong like having a bogus and un-thought-out provision “slipped” into a huge bill like this, there’s more reasons on why it’s not being done other than “we can’t”…. See and its crap like this that the DOE looks at and assumes things like the moronic “the industry doesn’t like making Low E” argument.

-- Man can you imagine if I made windows how crazed I’d be? And again its the fact that this country does not have the same climates all over so why in the world would we try and jam the square peg into the round hole?

-- As noted on my previous post the passing of Bill Davidson was a tough one to swallow. No doubt our industry is weaker for it, but the one thing missed in all of this was that Guardian (in my opinion, and many will call me biased) still has by far one of the most talented groups of people working there in our industry. (I’ve written about Brian Craft as one, but they are seriously loaded all over) And it’s because of that fact that Mr. D’s legacy will live on- by hiring and growing good people that will carry on the concepts and culture that he started. Anyway the man will be missed but his lessons will carry on for many many years.

-- OK on to the original March Madness… as most of you know my nickname is “Mush” and that’s because whomever I pick usually plays like mush and loses. So sorry in advance to fans of these teams I am about to tell you about…. I have UConn winning the whole thing beating UNC. Sleeper teams are WVU and VCU…

-- By the way speaking of betting… how about the fall of Las Vegas? Everything there is down across the board pretty dramatically and now news reports are talking about MGM looking to sell properties. Simply amazing as I don’t think anyone expected that joyride to end but it sure looks that way. Still I think eventually that city will right size and they’ll have to live within themselves instead of always trying to be more excessive. Best part is some really, really nice hotel rooms can be had for cheap. That I like.

-- If you did not see Megan Headley’s blog on her trip to Dlubak, please check it out. (it’s here). I’ve known those folks for many years and I thought Megan did a great job of catching the aura there.

Off to the Links…

It’s funny both myself and the “Link Chick” had the same idea this week… let’s try and hit some good news instead of the normal mix of bizarre and depressing…

-- A tremendous story of unselfishness.. classy people thinking of others.

-- A cool story about the USA Baseball team and a soldier. Again more class.

-- A hero who deserves publicity that’s wasted on things like the “OctoMom”… this guy saved a life and went on with his business.

Video of the week:

From my friend Angela… a great stand up performer on the ills of flying… and watching this I know many of you feel the same way.. in fact I thought of Bob Lang since he and I had a nice long talk at Glassweek about the pure misery that is flying…

A very sad night

Folks...

Sad news... According the several media reports, William Davidson, owner of Guardian Industries has passed away at the age of 85. (or 86 depending on the media source- I've seen both tonight)

Truly a monumental loss in so many ways- and not only in the glass industry. He was also a very charitable person who donated millions to many efforts around the globe. In addition he was the owner of the Detroit Pistons and Palace of Auburn Hills.

But for most that read this blog, his efforts from the glass side is all that counts and his legend and accomplishments will never be matched.

Just tough news to swallow overall. My condolences and thoughts go out to his family and all of the folks at Guardian. He was admired like you would not believe there and I really feel for all of those folks and their loss.

More info on this is forthcoming I am sure and I expect USGNN to have plenty of info when the week starts.

30/30 Vision

OK so the big news has been the shenanigans on the whole 30/30 issue. Now for me, the first time I heard 30/30 I thought it was a baseball term. Turns out the 30/30 was a sneakily put provision that made its way into the stimulus bill calling for residential windows to have less than a .30 U Factor and .30 Solar Heat Gain. If people “comply” with this, they can get up to a $1500 tax incentive or rebate. The problem is that years of work and organization on Energy Star for residential may have went up in smoke by doing a provision like this. See as you may be aware the weather and Low E and window needs are a weeeee bit different in many parts of our country- so doing a “once size fits all” makes no sense. There’s been lots of speculation on who was behind it (possibly a female Senator from the upper Northeast) and why and right now supposedly the DOE is saying they knew nothing of it. Believe what you want but I think this issue is not over and the shame is that someone maliciously got this thing in there and obviously made whichever sponsoring Senator look like an idiot since it simply does not make sense. By the way, Guardian has a great breakdown of what this thing is on their website and you can find it HERE.

Elsewhere…

-- I love the DOE… well not really…. And aside from the above (which I have a hard time believing that a Senator would just willy-nilly put this provision in WITHOUT discussing with the “so called” experts- then again we don’t have a lot of great Senators these days so this could’ve happened) the other issue was something I ran into this week. I met a person who went to the DOE for a grant… they asked for $130,000…. And the DOE gave them….. $170,000! Yep gotta love that department folks… they blindly support one of the most unbalanced and unfair groups ever created (NFRC) and they give out money like drunken sailors. I swear I was born with the wrong genes.

-- I loved the USGNN story on the slowing of the communist Chinese imports… and not because I was in it. The story itself is great and its proof that people are catching on… hey buy at your own risk… now the focus needs to be on the material coming into this country from Colombia. A lot of the same rules and hazards apply so beware…

-- Do you sometimes get depressed when reading or watching the news anymore? Man I know we have lived through a few of these times, but doesn’t this one seem more severe? Or is it just me… and the media that makes it seem worse? Then again I was not driving in the 1970’s when gas lines stretched around the block…

-- Don’t forget about GANA’s education and technical conference coming up in April. For your tech guys and project managers it really is a strong event. Check out the details on glasswebsite.com.

-- I feel bad for the good people that live in California… not only do you get the honor of having two NFRC Board members from the CEC (ooooooh sorry – just one and one … ahem… ‘consultant’) but your also stuck with the “Octomom”…. That whole story makes me ill and now that she has now moved into a 500K house thanks to “contributors” and will have nanny’s at the willing, I am furious… So she went from food stamps to a ½ mil house? Yep the taxpayers of California you get the honor of paying for that nightmare for a long time. Who’s gonna pay that hospital bill? Somehow I think its gonna be you… but that makes sense in a way… as a state you wanted the NFRC CMA and that makes no sense so why not pay off the Octomom….

-- Yes even I can somehow connect two things as far apart as the Octomom and the NFRC… crazy eh?

To the LINKS we go…

The awesome as always “Link Chick” is back this week… evidently instead of being the diplomat to Cuba she’s now going to work the Global Warming angle after having 8 inches of snow one day and 81 degrees the next…

-- Tempered Glass strikes back! Well not exactly… a backboard explodes after a pregame dunk and there’s long lasting consequences…

-- Like noting of bad news above… how’s this.. Sesame Street now laying off… yeesh.

-- A cool building with glass like a crossword puzzle… neat stuff….

Video of the week:

I got this from a few people… THANK YOU… for the 50th birthday of the Barbie doll… it’s been updated for today’s times… classic stuff!

That was a fun week...

Recapping and catching up... Saturday style...

NFRC ended its meetings and the "Awning" controversy swirled... best part is that they made the comment that the Awning folks will get what they want but they (the awning guys) will pay for it... which brings up...

1. Why sponsor an NFRC meeting- let alone two? What benefit is there? Are they hoping that when Jeff Baker needs a new Awning he'll use a member? I have never seen a more worthless call.
2. Obviously the rest of us are in the wrong business if the Awning guys can sponsor a meeting and foot the bill for the research needed... obviously that is a group flush with disposable income.

Anyway the whole thing still smells and will continue to do so...

Also the DOE twins of Karney and LaFrance had their moments in the sun...

I am sure LaFrance once again sounded like the teacher from "Peanuts" as he talked and everyone summarily ignored. "wonka wonk wonk wonka"

Meanwhile Karney played to the crowd with a wild comment that was listed on the NFRC blog saying along the lines of make sure if you are fighting, discussing, dealing with the shameful 30/30 issue to make sure that NFRC numbers are used.... OH THANK YOU.. What a freakin shill. (Now note I was not there and so I am using the NFRC Blog as the source- you don't think that they would put words in Karney's mouth would you????)

It's really pathetic that these two guys from DOE have done nothing for the taxpayers that pay their salaries. They pander to the NFRC and in some cases repeat the NFRC lines verbatim. I really hope that eventually that the new regime at DOE moves these two somewhere else (since being bureaucrats they can't get fired) and bring in some fresh and unbiased blood. It really would make a difference.

And it's guys like LaFrance and Karney who play the wrongful perception that manufacturers and fabricators hate running low e... yep could not be further from the truth guys... we hate organizations who make money off our hard work because people like you take a blind approach to it.

Then again as someone said previous- "what happens if the new guys are worse" and my answer has always been... "its impossible to be worse..."

I mean could a new guy have a meeting under the heading of "Building Envelope" and not invite GANA, IGMA, Viracon, Oldcastle, Kawneer, Arch and so on like the teacher from Peanuts Marc LaFrance did? "wonka wonk wonk wonka" Yes a meeting like that happened but don't worry TRACO was there so we're all safe!! I can only imagine what was discussed and how clueless everyone was.

Anyway the 30/30 is something we'll cover more later this week when readership is its highest and not just the NFRC junkies.

Wow the therapy of writing this is just so good...