G3: Industry insiders talk glass

Commercial

Chuck Mowrey, vice president of business development, Carmel Architectural Sales, Anaheim, Calif.

Daylighting devices, carbon footprint calculations and thermal performance are "green" areas in our business. In Southern California, Carmel has exclusive distributorship of Solatube, a daylighting device installed in ceilings/roofs, especially schools.

Code changes around thermal performance in wall systems are extremely important as green ratings like [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] require higher U-values. Carmel, in joint venture with A-1 Glass [Englewood, Colo.], developed "Unistak," a multicomponent wall system. All components are pre-engineered and fabricated off-site; ready for final on-site installation in one complete, green system that meets all codes with regard to U-values and moisture barriers. Unistak helps move field labor into the shop, increasing quality and reducing jobsite injury.

We are asked to provide information to calculate how much energy is used in completing our scope. Centria [Moon Township, Pa.], for whom Carmel is an installing dealer, has done much research with its carbon footprint. The math on how much it takes to get its panel system manufactured, shipped and installed is far less than its alternatives like precast for example.

Retail

Keith Daubmann, president, K.D.D. Inc. dba Mr. Shower Door Florida, Naples

We want to be entirely paperless, so we purchased a large [software] program made by SAP [Newtown Square, Pa.]. We've put computers in the sales cars, and we have multiple computers in our facilities and offices. We did it to be more organized, but also to conserve ink cartridges and paper. Now, it's all installed and operational. It was an eight-month process.

Everything we did was the dinosaur way before the changeover. We used good old pen and paper. Now, all phone calls and sales are tracked via computer. The opportunities are endless, and it allows us to be more green at the same time.

Fabrication

Michael Saroka, vice president of operations, Goldray Industries Ltd., Calgary, Alberta

We've always recycled glass, but we've reduced waste in the plant by two-thirds by recycling paper and cardboard. We recycle to the point that office people will give you heck if you put something in the garbage.

In addition, we always look at the products themselves to see if there are better ways of disposing things that can't be recycled. We also look at products to see if there are other products we can use that are less harmful.