Pod, Rumors, Projects, Dogs and More
Because of so many other things going this week I am pushing my 2022 predictions to next week. I know for those of you planning your year you are devastated, but it’s worth the wait!
New Podcast Ep
I am thrilled to drop the latest episode of the From the Fabricator podcast and it’s a powerful one. Leading off with Nicole Harris, president and CEO of the National Glass Association I thought was a great way to start the year. Nicole is absolutely brilliant and thoughtful, and she delivered a lot of food for thought and she stunned me on who her current role model is.
Then Tara Brummet from Vitrum joined me and Tara is one of the most talented and popular people in our industry. Loved her backstory and her approach/influence in our industry. Last Andy Russo of Glass & Metal Craft joined, and I absolutely loved hearing about his past, the drive, lessons learned and then the big key—the things we should all be doing to grow our industry. Some of you reading this do what Andy is a big proponent of, we need to get more on that.
Thank you for checking this episode out.
Listen to it (and also Apple, Spotify)
Elsewhere…
Potential Deal for OBE
One of the big items people are talking about … the buzz surrounding a potential deal for Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope. And that buzz is growing big time. Due diligence is moving at a dizzying pace. I just don’t know who’s behind all of the work because it is seriously shrouded in secrecy. But things are moving, so obviously stay tuned.
Andersen Corp. Invests in Ubiquitous Energy
Speaking of items people are talking about; the absolutely monumental news that Andersen Corporation (Andersen Windows) is a part of an investment into Ubiquitous Energy. This is massive given that Andersen is the largest window player in the world, and now they are throwing in to this incredibly exciting and important technology. And the release noted this is just as big for residential as it is for commercial, which is a massive move. End of the day, it is positive news for our industry and it’s no secret I am a fan of the team at Ubiquitous, so a giant congrats to them!
Lower ABI on the Horizon?
Interesting week ahead with the next release of the Architectural Billings Index on Wednesday. The feeling I have is we may have our first under water rating in a year. I hope not, but I just have this feeling of dread coming. I do think if it happens, it will be an aberration though. Possibly my negativity is coming from the overall malaise in our world and the Dodge Momentum Index being down 3 percent in December. I will note the Dodge people said in their December release they are still confident on 2022 and it would be more “balanced” too, and that is comforting. Regardless, let’s see what we get this week and go from there.
John Baldry Passes Away
Some sad news to report. John Baldry long time leading force in the Canadian glass market with Pilkington and then most notably AFG/AGC passed away at the age of 95. Great person and leader, and he was admired by so many both in Canada and the U.S. I didn’t work with him much personally (he retired a few years after I got into the business) but he worked a lot through the years in different ways with my family. Class act, and huge loss for our universe again. My condolences to John’s family and friends.
ENR’s Best Projects 2021
ENR Magazine had its best projects of the year layout and those are always fun and that is actually what spurred me to do my project of the week here. Here are their choices for 2021, but I have to say I am pretty sure many of the projects I spotlighted here should’ve been on this list and were absolute winners. Obviously, ENR is using different parameters, they are more international, and they don’t look at the glass and glazing like we do; still interesting reads and some wild efforts here.
Last this week… you know I love dogs… we now have five of them in our house (including our first “grand dog”) so I’ll end with a cool link shared with me by the great Jen Marsik Friess of Guardian Glass. Dogs saving their owners…
