Commercial glaziers need to get involved in CMA

Greetings from my hometown of Chicago.

Attended the Cubs game Sunday, where Notre Dame football star Jeff Samardzija added some much-needed energy by tossing two flawless innings in relief in his first big league save. Must've known I was in town for some type of meeting on the topic of energy.

Oh yeah ... the reason I'm here ... energy efficiency ... windows ... the Component Modeling Approach (CMA).

My first meeting representing the NGA as a newly minted member of the NFRC.

I'm impressed. Tech guys from leading companies fill the room. The best in the biz, living out their passion. And the forum is democratic too!

Chicago provides a great background, with some of the greatest architecture on the planet. A distinct blend of the old and new. Heck ... they even chose part of this skyline as the setting for Gotham City in the latest Batman movie (aka the Chicago Tribune Building).

An observation from a homie returning after several years: the brick guys have left town. Glass is the standard feature gracing these buildings. The architectural flair of the Finnish designers really shines through. Am I back in Tampere, Finland?

But I digress ... I was drawn here by the Component Modeling Approach, in all its glory. I find that those who stand to benefit most from the CMA run the show. Most here are apathetic to the issue, or just plain absent. Some actually fall asleep! Insulated glass issues get more play.

Get this: Only 8 percent of the active voices in the audience on the CMA are commercial glaziers -- the specific group it affects! That means 92 percent of those making decisions and voting -- or simply abstaining -- have no dog in this hunt. Hello ... Majority rules on this one, and a whole bunch of unsuspecting glazers are about to get massacred.

Let's get involved!

Like I said earlier, the NFRC is comprised of some of the most talented pros in the business. They’re passionate about glass. And the staff at the NFRC is terrific. So this isn’t personal.

It’s business. It’s about economic winners and losers. And those who are asleep at the wheel can expect to wake up in a big mess on the side of the road.

Speaking of sleeping, while energy effiency rules the day at this meeting, I remain in awe of how quiet my hotel room is, despite facing one of the busiest streets in America: Michigan Avenue -- The Magnificent Mile. Of course, this moment of peace is sponsored by the glass industry! Fabulous windows ... great spacers ... professional framing, etc.

Yet another overlooked benefit of today’s glass: peace and quiet. Ah ... That’s why they call this a "luxury" hotel. (Even the auto guys that defined the word luxury would be proud).

Just wish there was a bit more noise here from the commercial folks.

They sure don't want to wake up one morning and find that their work just got a lot more expensive, thanks to the CMA. Would be a shame for the brick guys to be re-invited to the party. And we all know what that means ...

—By David W. Walker, vice president of Association Services, National Glass Association

In the city of Al Capone, Pizzeria Uno and a presidential hopeful

I have arrived in the city of Chicago, the most populous city in Illinois and the Midwest, with a population of almost 3 million. This is my first time in the Windy City. In 1994, when I first came to this country, I was yay close to making a trip. I got admission in the Medill School of Journalism’s master's program and was super excited. Turned out I didn’t have the money to afford the program, and I couldn’t take out a loan because I wasn’t a citizen.

Times have changed. I can vote now and am in the Democratic presidential nominee’s city, staying at the Conrad on the Magnificent Mile, thanks to NFRC and its summer meeting.

I am privileged.

My flight from Dulles to O’Hare was uneventful except for a tiny surprise in the Sky Mall catalogue. Along with tear stain removers for dogs and laser combs that “promote hair growth,” Sky Mall is selling “Energy films” that “lower utility bills up to 18 percent” and “repels solar heat in summer and retains interior heat in winter … also blocks 97 percent of UV rays.” They are cheap too: 24-inch-by-48-inch for $19.95, 36-inch-by-48-inch for $28.95 and 48-inch-by-84-inch for $38.95. Go to skymall.com and enter item number 82685G.

Once in Chicago, I took the airport shuttle to the hotel because the Metro blue line was closed for construction. The driver was particularly chatty, and the beautiful and long drive through the city tantamounted to a sightseeing tour. The city of no-cell-phone-while-driving, famous for Wrigley Field and Buckingham Fountain, features some of the tallest buildings in the world: Sears Tower, Aon Center, John Hancock Center, Trump International Hotel and Tower, and the under-construction Chicago Spire designed by Calatrava. Other beautiful glass architecture in the city includes the 111 S. Wacker Drive, and developments such as the new east side sheathed in aqua glass. Soaring above the Chicago river and the Magnificent Mile, Trump's new tower is 92 stories high or 1,362 feet, enclosed in high quality reflective glass, and designed by Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill. Calatrava’s Spire, the seven-sided glass tower, tapers and twists up 2,000 feet above a public plaza. When completed it will be the tallest building in North America. The 3-million-square-foot structure will contain 1,200 condominiums and aims for LEED Gold certification.

I am not sure if I’ll get a chance to see these amazing buildings up close and personal given the packed meeting agenda but, hey, at least I have the choice.

By Sahely Mukerji, news editor, managing editor, Glass Magazine

GlassMagazine.com grows up

I’m glad to see you’ve made a stop at GlassMagazine.com. It looks different, doesn’t it?

I’m sure you’ve all watched one of those TV shows in which a new baby arrives to liven things up and add plot twists. Then you tune in next season, and that child is already in elementary school.

That’s the sense I hope you get with our new Web site.

The new site has grown considerably overnight, is livelier and certainly has a few new “twists.”

The previous site launched years ago and hadn’t “matured” much during the years as Internet usage expanded and Web technology increased exponentially. Now, we feel our site has caught up.

The first thing you might notice is that the site is divided into segments to mirror the magazine: Commercial, Retail and Auto. The site also has a Fabrication segment since that process touches all areas of the glass industry.

I’m sure frequent users are happy to see GM.com now has a Search box. You can make a full-text search on content back to 2004. We’ve also created filters within the segments to search by issue or by topics such as machinery. In the Auto segment, the “how to” filter includes hundreds of installations, the oldest going back to 1957.

The site has RSS feeds available for articles, news and products. When you subscribe to a feed, it is added to the Common Feed List. Updated information from the feed is automatically downloaded to your computer. So, whenever something new in those categories is added to the site, you’ll be alerted. For those who are curious, RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication.

The Most Clicked area needs no explanation. It is the place where your favorite stories will be displayed.

I’m sure we’ll be experiencing growing pains during the next few days and weeks. Please bear with us and we’ll be adding other features as we “mature.”

Now it’s your chance to be a critic. Send an e-mail to mslovick@glass.org to let me know what you like or dislike, or if you have any questions.

Matt Slovick, editor in chief, Glass Magazine

Confessions of a would-be glass addict

—By Meredith Lidard, Glass Magazine intern

Ever since I started interning at the NGA, it’s hard for me not to notice glass.

I never really paid attention to it before, but I definitely notice it now, something that Matt Slovick and I have in common.

On my first day here I sat down with Matt and he told me that he didn’t know much about glass before he started working here either and he never really paid attention to it, but now notices it all the time. He pointed out the apparent lack of glazing on his office windows (the sun really heats them up making a lot of offices in our building very toasty, especially when the A/C is on the fritz).

I interned for a trade publication last summer, Building Products, and I have some knowledge of the construction industry--my parents own a small, general contracting firm in Baltimore--but I never noticed how important glass is to every kind of building, from single family homes to skyscrapers.

I wanted to intern at Glass Magazine to gain more experience working in the trade publication field. Because I knew nothing about glass beforehand I thought this would be a good opportunity to learn more about an industry I was completely unfamiliar with.

I go to the University of Maryland in College Park, but I’m from Baltimore so I spend a lot of time driving up and down I-95. I sometimes zone out and go on mental cruise control during the drive and don’t pay attention to my surroundings (don’t tell my parents). There are a couple of buildings that always make me snap back to reality though. These buildings held no significance for me before except that spotting them meant I was only a few minutes away from my exit and campus. But now when I see them I notice a common element: they’re all made of glass!

As part of my daily duties I research news in the glass industry. I come across a lot of articles with accompanying pictures about new buildings and homes that use glass extensively. Here are a few of my favorites:

• http://www.smh.com.au/news/house--home/from-terrigal-to-eternity/2008/06/04/1212258868867.html
• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1027956/First-picture-4billion-glass-tower-save--dwarf--Battersea-Power-Station.html
• http://www.latimes.com/features/home/la-hm-upstairs3-2008jul03,0,6611220.story http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=6192815

I really enjoy checking out these glass applications. My coworkers passing by have probably overheard me “ooh-ing” and “ah-ing” and saying “that’s so cool!” at my computer screen. Maybe I should stop talking to myself at work …

I’ve learned a lot about the glass industry after just two months at the NGA. I’ve picked up on the language used around here and words like “low-E” and “curtain wall” don’t sound foreign anymore.

After I finish up my internship and resume classes in September I’ll take a second look at the glass used in buildings on campus. The university just broke ground on the new journalism building, Knight Hall. I wonder what the glass will look like … http://www.knighthall.umd.edu/

America's smallest retail glass shop

—By Jenni Chase, senior editor, retail and auto glass, Glass Magazine

Nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, Colorado’s “Tiny Town” boasts the oldest kid-size village and railroad in the United States. How does this relate to retail glass? Well, like a typical small town, Tiny Town features a grocery store, a library, an auto repair center and … a retail glass shop. That’s right. Tiny Town’s Gump Glass, pictured here, offers tabletops, mirrors and auto glass, among other products and services.

With the inclusion of Gump Glass, the creators of Tiny Town make an important point: The retail glass shop is an essential part of any community. The editors at Glass Magazine agree, which is why we’re dedicating an entire section in each issue of the new Glass Magazine to glass retailers. In the July/August 2008 issue, set to hit your mailbox the end of the month, you’ll find information on the latest trends in decorative bath enclosures, advice on how to hire the right people and step-by-step instructions for handling glass cases. If you’re a combo shop, check out the auto glass section as well, where you’ll find installation instructions, technical tips and other information.

And we’re just getting started. Retail glass shops are as diverse as the communities they serve, and we want to hear from you about the types of articles you’d like to see in upcoming issues. Please share your ideas!

Atlantis has PPG glass, Chihuly sculptures

By Matt Slovick, editor in chief, Glass Magazine

A week before I left for vacation, Rob Struble, manager of business communications, growth initiatives and performance glazings for PPG Industries, stopped by the office.

I mentioned I was taking my daughters to the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas, and he said: “We did the glass.”

This photo from its Web site shows the PPG IdeaScapes China Azuria Spectrally Selective Glass on the Royal Towers, where I stayed. The small area connecting the Royal Towers appears to be a walkway. However, it’s the 10-room Atlantis Bridge Suite that goes for $25,000 a night.



CNN.com reports the suite was a staff of seven, including butlers, cooks and maids. The article says guests have included Michael Jackson, Oprah Winfrey, Celine Dion, Michael Jordan, Bill Gates and Donald Trump, although it is most frequently occupied by Saudi sheikhs or high-rolling businessmen visiting the largest casino in the Caribbean.

And what better way to enhance the casino than with glass sculptures from renowned artist Dale Chihuly. The resort is based on the mythical sunken continent of Atlantis. Chihuly created the Temple of the Sun and Temple of the Moon for inside the casino and Crystal Gate for the entrance. Chihuly’s Web site says he used new forms and glassblowing techniques developed specially for the entrance project. The owner, South-African entrepreneur Sol Kerzner, was so pleased with the first three creations, he commissioned a chandelier as well.

A quick review of Atlantis: a great resort but extremely expensive. If you plan on eating at the resort, buy the meal plan. And bring your own sunscreen. I saw someone buy four spray-on bottles for $99.