G3: Industry insiders talk glass

Commercial

Gil DiMaio, president, CBO Glass, Alden, N.Y.

"The June 2010 issue of Glass Magazine [states] that 55 percent of glazing firms reported a decrease in sales [in 2009] and the average [decrease] was 15 percent.  Discussing the average volume among glass and glazing trade contractors reveals that, within our segment, some revenues are down 25 percent to 30 percent.
 
As a result of the current economy, an unfortunate but fiscally prudent trend over this past year has been to “right size,” and this trend  will continue into the next six to 12 months. At CBO, we have focused on working to retain and train key employees, identify and exceed the expectations of our customers and to seek out those opportunities which strongly fit within our experience base.

Looking forward, we expect that the rebounding economy will grow and are planning so that our Design, Manufacturing and Installation groups are prepared for the new wave of opportunities."

Retail

Carlo Di Pietro, product business director, MAAX Bath Inc., Sainte-Marie, Quebec
“It’s pretty simple. Our challenge is to think of innovative ways to make our manufactured doors look like they were custom made. MAAX is not a custom door manufacturer; we like to manufacture doors in large quantities. Our theme is ‘custom-in-a-box’. It sounds very simple, but it’s quite challenging to make sure that a door can be flexible in design and look custom at the same time. We want to capitalize on the fact that customers are looking to showcase their beautifully tiled showers with a shower door that looks like a piece of art.”

Fabrication

Steve Abadi, chairman and CEO, Innovative Glass Corp., Plainview, N.Y.

"Innovative Glass is excited about the latest green initiatives and the industry’s expanded use of glass in modern building design and construction. More architects and designers are recognizing the benefits of daylight harvesting by using large areas of glass to bring natural daylight into the building, not only on the exterior facades but on the interior walls as well. This allows occupants to share the prized daylight deep in the core of the building.

We are also appreciating the trend of architects and designers being more comfortable in specifying dynamic switchable glazings in their plans rather than solid walls, and acknowledging it as a flexible design element.

Designers are now more focused on the sustainability of the fenestration systems, and recognize that they can actually save a significant amount of money in terms of energy by dynamically regulating the tint of their glass throughout the day as needed. This clearly supports sustainability objectives and will save on lighting and cooling costs in the long term."