The Massive Importance of GlassBuild

By now the news of GlassBuild America in Las Vegas being cancelled is everywhere.  Those of you who know me know that the news of this happening absolutely gutted me.  See there are two events each year that drive me and they both hold various amounts of real estate in my heart.  BEC in the spring is my baby.  I was there pretty much at the start and helped build it and have been along through all of the ups and downs.  GlassBuild though is really on a whole different plane.  This is the event where the entire industry gathers and I (and all of us) can see and catch up with so many people.  It’s the once a year event that makes me feel “whole” in the glass world.  It also has played a significant role in my professional life.  As an exhibitor years ago the successes there allowed my companies to grow.  Then when I struck out on my own, GlassBuild became one of my first clients.  The people there took a chance on me and I’ve been grateful ever since.  When I started to work for GlassBuild I got to see how massive it was- how many moving parts and pieces there were and how this was not an easy event to pull off. I was able to watch the networking up close and see business happening in real time.  Each year was better than the last and I got deeper and deeper into it. 

In March at BEC, someone mentioned to me that this new virus issue may cause GlassBuild to get cancelled.  I was dumbfounded by that suggestion.  GlassBuild was in the fall- we’ve got to be better by then right?  Well sadly we were not and are not.  It’s devastating for so many on so many levels (the virus- its effect on all lives not just this show obviously).  I never seriously thought we wouldn’t have a show in person but here’s where we are now… and how do I and we as an industry react?

On that aspect this is my plea to all before you read what’s next.  I think for all of us in the industry we may take GlassBuild for granted.  It’s always been there but it’s actually more than a show- it’s the lifeblood of the industry and the NGA.  It’s what is needed to be able to have the technical chops, guidelines, bulletins, conferences etc.  Without GlassBuild, a nonprofit like the NGA can’t perform at a solid level and surely would struggle to provide the absolutely crucial details we all need day to day. (You know things like that tech document that helps explain something glass related to a GC that saves you and your company hassle or charges, etc.)

So in 2020 we move to GlassBuild Connect which given the circumstances is an amazing concept.  It is a chance for the remarkable exhibitors and supporters of our industry to get some of the coverage they were hoping for in Vegas and for our industry to get additional education and information.  If you are still looking to improve your operation or career (YOU SHOULD BE) all of the info and insight you would see in Vegas will now be laid out for you on GlassBuild Connect.  To entice you further the incredible content team at NGA is putting together stunningly good pieces and experiences that will absolutely help you and your business.  Nothing ever can replace a great face-to-face GlassBuild.  The networking and camaraderie can’t be duplicated.  But I can tell you this we are going to do EVERYTHING we can to make the month of September memorable and helpful for our industry.  We are going to make the most out of a miserable situation and we will be better for it.  I ask you to get ready to support this and share the news and details as we build it out. 

End of the day the health of the NGA and what it does for our world is at stake.  And obviously I’m connected to that professionally but also emotionally.  It means a ton- so please roll with me over the next few months and get ready to be behind this effort for the good of our industry.

Elsewhere…

Want an example of NGA’s impact- here’s the top 10 list of most downloaded documents for the 1st quarter of this year.  Crucial work being done here folks.  And as noted above it’s GlassBuild that drives these efforts.

1.    Approximate Weight of Architectural Flat Glass

2.    Heavy Glass Door and Entrance Systems Design Guide

3.    Bird-Friendly Glass Design Strategies

4.    Top 10 Items Commonly Missing from Fenestration Shop Drawings

5.    Bid Considerations for Contract Glazing Proposals

6.    Design Considerations for Laminated Glazing Applications

7.    Marking and Labeling of Architectural Laminated Glass

8.    Flat Glass Industry Standards

9.    Proper Procedures for Cleaning Architectural Glass Products

10.  Describing Architectural Glass Constructions

--  The latest Architectural Billings Index was released this past week.  I wrote on my last post that I expected the index to be slightly up and the new inquiries to be slightly down.  Well looks like I was ½ right.  The index did tick up some- coming in at 32 (up from 29.5). Awful still since 50 is break-even but better.  New inquiries also moved more positive a by a few points which surprised me.  None of this is changing the current feel that we don’t have a great angle on what 2021 will look like overall but we do know it’s going to have some valleys we’ll have to traverse.  Next ABI release is July 22.  And then The NGA Glass Conference will have a HUGE report from Connor Lokar of ITR (leading forecast firm) on July 30th so more insight is on the way.

--  New LEED credits are coming with the new world we are living in.  Not glass related but really an FYI.

--  Was passed word that Lou Niles formerly the President and CEO of Benson passed away recently.  I did not know Lou but people who I respect a ton in this industry did and they were hit hard by this loss.  Benson was a small company (believe it or not once upon a time) that Lou built into a giant.  I was told Lou also had a big impact on many of the best industry folks in our midst today- so his influence will continue to carry on.  I’m sad for my friends who were close to Lou and my condolences to them and Lou’s family.

LINKS of the WEEK

This is one impressive family when it comes to “Homecoming”

Paternity Tests for Goats? 

Pretty interesting here- golf pro to high school teacher

PROJECT of the WEEK

We go inside for an AWESOME shower enclosure that I found on the BEST FACEBOOK group going- the Shower Door Professionals run by the great Chris Phillips.  So this set-up is a stunner and it was done by the team at Triple Crown Glass & Mirror in Belton, Texas and was posted by Corey McGregor.  The glass looks great and its just a eye catcher all the way around.  And as for the group- it is seriously an awesome gathering of pros that support each other with insight and dialogue.  Incredible in this day and age really.  Kudos to Corey and the team at Triple Crown and all of the women and men on Chris’ group page for having a great outlet on social media for us to show off!

Surprising Code Watch

We had a double blast of code dives this week with webinars from the National Glass Association and from Glass Canada.  All in all very detailed and helpful items were discussed but I wanted to pull out a few to take a deeper dive.  Both webinars did sound at least a minor alarm about the next area of concern for the commercial glass world when it comes to codes… that would be the spandrel area.  It was just a matter of time before focus came to that part of the building and its here now.  So this is something that bears watching.  A few companies have tried to come up with big ideas for that space (phase change materials, BIPV, organics etc.) but so far nothing has stuck.  But if the codes keep advancing something will have to be in the lead spot.  What will that be and who’s going to take the lead?  Now note, no way the traditional spandrel is going away anytime soon, but there is now a target on it. 

The other big takeaway was the interest in VIG. This came across as intense and with it the misconceptions were vast.  When the Glass Canada webinar was over the questions on VIG dominated the Q&A, which really perked up my interest.  I have seen what Michael Spellman and VIG Technologies have going on, along with some others out there, and it’s taken a product that has been in the “hope” space for so long into reality.  Now with task groups working on durability and other standards being developed the playing field will now have some lines on it- which is only good for the product and our industry.  Why?  Because there’s going to be some code and retrofit plays that will be lined up perfectly for a product that fits the VIG profile.  We need a product like it to fill the hole for sure.

The other angle to cover is natural light and occupant comfort are more than just marketing buzz.  They are being taken into account in the code cycle- which is HUGE for our industry. 

End of the day, the whole code world is fascinating to me and I’m really curious on what comes next.  I was actually stunned on how far behind I was on details like ASHRAE 90.1 etc.  so these webinars were crucial for me.   Obviously if you are not keeping up on everything code related, make sure you sign up for the July Glass Conference to stay in the loop.  You will thank me later….

Elsewhere…

--  Later this week the latest Architectural Billings Index will be released.  I am expecting it to be up slightly from last month on the index and possibly a bit down on the new project inquiries.  Very curious though to see it and dig in. 

--  The starts in May had a little uptick I see.  Not anywhere where we want but hey plus is plus right?

--  Excellent article shared by the folks at Virginia Glass Products (via LinkedIn feed) on the future of the office and what may or may not truly be happening.  I liked the insight here though may not agree with all. 

--  Guardian Glass has been making some serious news lately… first an upgrade to their “Select” program with enhancements that will help put our industries best foot forward on supply.  I like the approach, as we always need to be at our best.  Then the news that they rebranded their warm edge spacer product was a big one too.  That is more a play on the residential side but again it’s a good move to keep raising the energy efficiency bar and that is what I am all about.  Nice work to the team there to continuing to evolve and grow!

--  Last this week… sad news again to report as I got word of the passing of Joe Krusienski also known as “Joe K.”  Joe was awesome.  I had the supreme honor of working with Joe for several years at Arch Aluminum.  Joe was friendly, energetic, and passionate about the glass world and one of the best co-workers ever.  He loved the glass business- he spent almost 50 years in it!  He was always upbeat and he was always there for you.  You needed something you called Joe K and he got it done, and along the way he also told you a great story about his family or his past, or a great (sometimes corny) joke, or a job he was in the middle of.  And each time it was worth every second.  He’s another one of those guys that every one loved and all week I heard from so many lamenting the passing of this great man.  He touched a lot of lives that is for sure.  Joe battled a ton of health issues in the last several years but still was determined to work and help out when he could.  He simply could not stand possibly letting a friend or co-worker down. My heart and condolences go out to all of his family, friends, and co-workers from the past at PPG and Arch and current Aldora.  Such a great man and huge loss for our industry and world.

LINKS of the WEEK

This is what our world is now- a guy losing his mind over not being able to ride his horse through a fast food restaurant drive thru

The absolute greatness of Simone Biles on display!

Just reading this made me think of the movie “Stripes”

PROJECT of the WEEK

So I am always on LinkedIn on the lookout for a great project for this spot and this week my friend Darijo Babic of Guardian Glass provided it.  Love Darijo by the way- great guy.  Anyway this is the Valley Children’s Hospital Eagle Oaks Specialty Care Center project. (That’s a mouthful-lol)  Just love the whole layout and look.  Guardian Glass with SNX 62/27 on Crystal Blue looks super in the Smith Group Design.  Nice work from Cristacurva and Walters & Wolf on the fabrication and installation respectively.  Again part of why I do these project spotlights is to show off how great our product and industry is- this is a good example for sure!  Well done everyone!

Back at It

Back at it after taking a few days away to go offline and clear the brain… or at least try to!  I really enjoyed going dark and did not miss the online rat race a bit.  Read three books and cleared out an online article app that I have on my phone that had stories as far back as 2014 waiting to be read.  So a good few days…

--  I came back energized and that feeling only grew with some of the interesting events and news we had popping in our industry.  First and foremost seeing that Dr. Tom Culp will be doing a free webinar on June 18^th had me fired up.  Any chance you can get to acquire the latest code info from the most connected guy in our industry is a must.   So count me in there.  Don’t miss it.

--  Then more details came through on the July Glass Conference that will be all online. I mentioned the Conference on my last post but the extra particulars on the schedule got me going.    The agenda is loaded and the value for 3 days of education ($150 for members and $200 for non-members) is off the charts.  There’s a few big pieces scheduled but the “All About Glass” segment is one that has me very pumped.  Between that and several others this will be a great three days of learning.  Obviously more on that in the next few weeks, but I would surely click HERE and get registered.

--  Then there was the news that BEC and GPAD will be co-locating next year in Las Vegas.  That makes an already awesome pair of events even better.  GPAD was founded by FeneTech and the great team there built a top notch event that I am excited will have even a bigger platform next March.  Obviously with this several months away they’ll be more on it as it gets closer but for now it really gives you something to look forward to!

--  The Year of Glass work continues and we are still in the running to make 2022 OUR YEAR!! Check out the website HERE and register your interest.  The more that can get behind this movement the better!!

--  Vitro Architectural Glass continues to do some awesome communication work on the education side.  Rob Struble and team are on a roll with a timely new tech doc on decontaminating glass surfaces HERE as well as a recent push on the always-adventurous question of U-value vs. R-Value.  I love the education so keep it coming!!

--  Major congrats to my old friends at Binswanger Glass.  They have been in the news a ton lately for all good things- and the latest being a visit from the Kansas Secretary of State to check out production of voting shields.  I love when our industry gets positive coverage in the traditional press and this was an item that brought it.  Props to the folks there for making it happen!

--  We keep hearing about the changes to workplace design.  This article gives some history and a few thoughts going forward.  For me, as readers of this blog know, I am expecting A LOT of glass. 

--  Very interesting Dodge Momentum Index that came out while I was offline.  The index hung in there and has not crashed. In fact in one area the numbers were up.  Obviously there’s a lag here and a lot of backlog happening but commercial construction is hanging in there.  Once again all eyes point to those postponed project numbers.  Which ones come back and which ones don’t- that is going to tell the tale for 2021 and beyond.

--  Last this week… While I was off I was lucky enough to go to an actual restaurant and eat inside of it.  First time since early March.  It was wonderful...  From my experience a bunch of things have changed including limited menus that were printed on “single use” paper.  Yes- I was told no more (for now) traditional menus but pieces of paper that will be discarded after each customer use.  This brings up an area that the virus is changing and that is environmental angles – less multi-usage or recycled materials on things like this and items like re-usable bags at super markets.  Interesting to see how this will continue.  In the meantime here’s a read on how restaurants are adjusting to the new world- and I am not in agreement with a lot of what the author is saying but still worth the read.

LINKS of the WEEK

As if I didn't give you enough links above!  LOL 

--  Even the pandas are worn out by the lockdown…

--  Continuing on the animal theme, how about a kangaroo spotting?

--  This story starts with the ominous “Florida man” and then goes way down hill from there.  Ugh.

PROJECT of the WEEK

So I am talking about offices and one group that seemingly always has some incredible design within an office is Galaxy Glass and Stone.  I came across these shots online and this shows how flexible and interesting glass can truly be.  (Actually pretty much everything Galaxy does is stunning- really impressive)  Great work by the awesome folks at Galaxy – keep making the industry look strong!