Bumpy Forecast, Great Pod, And More

Even in the dog days of summer, like we are in now, news gets made in our industry. This week a few items led the way, and I’ll kick it off with some notes from the Dodge Construction Network quarterly webinar.  

The overall vibe was while things are pretty stable right now, the simulations into the future aren’t as positive and we could have some murky times in 2023/2024. The telling piece was the initial projections when adjusted for inflation. Those actually have the non-residential space going down next year versus the up we all expected. Single family homes are now lagging and in the past that was a red flag for our space to slow up down the line; so that was eye opening. Also as we all know, projects are taking much longer to get going and to get to our spot in them, so that makes things nightmarish schedule wise.

Now not all is negative, some individual segments are poised to do well including lodging, hotels are back folks, multi-family, which I consider non-residential, and surprisingly retail. The southeast rounding into Texas is still smoking hot market wise, so happy for folks there. In addition, as I have noted previously, renovation and retrofit are big drivers going forward as well. So we have some challenges ahead but nothing we are not expecting, that is for sure.

Also, best bet for all of you who are interested, get to the Glazing Executives Forum at GlassBuild to hear Connor Lokar talk on this, his insight will be crucial. 

Elsewhere...

New podcast episode

New podcast episode is live. Yes, the latest one is now ready for your consumption.

Guests this time are Tim Widner of Lippert Components and Dan Shields of Fabricated Products Group. Great people with tons of experience in our world. Interesting takes on products, training and getting involved along with other subjects covered. Also, the need to have bowling outings versus golf outings, Dan would be a ringer there. Seriously very good stuff and I think you’ll enjoy. Thanks for checking it out! Watch here or listen here.

Photovoltaic technology

The world of transparent photovoltaic had a strong week too. First off, the huge news that Andersen Corporation is now taking the next step with Ubiquitous Energy. They will develop windows and doors with the new technology and this is massive. Andersen is the biggest player out there and they set a lot of tables, so there is no doubt this just took the Ubiquitous product into a big-time world. 

Meanwhile, UbiQD Inc. had big news too with announcements of a contract with the U.S. Air Force and demos at Western Washington University. Items like this are great for them but also for the entire space and continues to show the way our industry keeps evolving with new technology. Love it all. Congrats to everyone on the great news!

glasstec 2022

Are you headed to glasstec next month? If so let me know, would love to connect with you while there.  

NGA is once again sponsoring the North American pavilion and that is exciting. I am looking forward to seeing some of the new technologies in person. Top of my list is possibly joining, if I can get a spot, on a tour of a facility running the ground breaking systron fabrication line with the team from IGE. Michael Spellman changed the holes/notches/fab space once and he’s doing it again here. Also on my list is seeing the next great tech from Clearshield and their do it all guy there, Shaun Gustafson. Clearshield had been somewhat quiet for a while but now are primed and ready. Cool stuff ahead! 

Important terminology correction

Just one to always keep in mind after I saw a massive thread on Facebook on this and a good industry friend also pinged in on it.  When it comes to ballistic glazing- the term is “bullet resistant”- never “bullet proof”  Yes for many of us that is obvious, but I think we just have to keep hammering away with the right term.  Too many slip and use the wrong term which really isn’t a good thing for anyone. 

No blog next week

Last this week, a programming note, no blog next week. I’ll be back in this space in September with the latest ABI, will it keep rolling? Even now with the worries from the other forecasters? Plus a lot more. I figure with us about to hit show season you are going to get your fill of me, so this is a good breather for everyone before everything breaks loose!