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One of my favorite reads each week is from e-glass weekly's sister publication WDweekly. This past week, John Swanson had an interesting piece on whether the marketing boom of being "green" had run its course, and it's truly a great question. Two years ago, you could attach the word "green" to anything, and bam, you had an instant marketing piece. But there is no doubt that now other priorities, along with tightened budgets, have changed that. Plus, do not discount the fact that enough people reacted negatively to folks who "greenwashed," and that too has lessened the push. Green is a lifestyle that will persevere for years and years, but for now the marketing sparkle has surely dimmed. And maybe that's a good thing in the way that people will actually try to be green before they promote it. Anyway, this Wednesday, John will have a follow up on his question, and if you are not getting WDweekly, you can click here to sign up. Surely worth it.

Elsewhere... 

Perilstein is chief marketing officer for Vitro America, Memphis. Write him at mperilstein@vitro.com.

The opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Glass Association, Glass Magazine editors, or other glassblog contributors.

A Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) often seems like a daunting task.  I find it helpful to think of accomplishing a BHAG like eating an elephant.  How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time.  How do you accomplish a BHAG?  One part at a time.  One thing I’ve discovered is that the bites/parts are not equal pieces. I am training to run 56 miles to celebrate my 56th birthday.  A couple of weeks ago I ran a 50-mile training run. Fifty miles on foot is tough to comprehend.  I broke it down into the following segments.

Part 1 = Attack

I started running at about 2 a.m. from a central location.  I was meeting a running partner at about 7 a.m. and knew I needed to have finished more than 22 miles by the time we met.  I wanted to run in a familiar territory and get a lot of the task accomplished early.  Why?  When you attack a big project, you want to accomplish as much as you can as quickly as you can so it will build momentum toward the completion of the task.

Part 2 = Encourage

After meeting my running partner, we headed to the original oldest part of town.  Beginning early on Saturday mornings, this part of town is alive with walkers, runners and cyclists.  Early morning runners are outgoing and greet each other with a wave or verbal encouragement.  There is a feeling of mutual respect for what the other runner is doing. At 25 to 30 miles, as the body starts tiring, I need encouragement. 

This is true of any major undertaking.  At some point the “new” wears off.  Obstacles appear; you lose focus; you realize this is harder than you thought.  It’s really important to know discouragement will occur and to surround yourself with positive encouraging people.  Actively seek these encouragers and distance yourself from discouragers.  Remember, encouragers will not seek you out.  Only discouragers will go out of their way to “rain on your dream”.

Part 3 = Stretch

We completed about 10 miles in the second leg.  That gave me about 32 total miles completed.  I was more than halfway to my goal.  I had survived the discouragement.  I was excited because I could see the finish line.  I left on the next leg running alone in an area of town I had never run in.  I will run this area of town during my personal BHAG and I wanted to be confident with the terrain and my ability to navigate this area.  Gaining this confidence required that I stretch and go somewhere I’d never been before.

To grow in business requires a stretch.  It is very easy to stay with the familiar, comfortable area we know.  Whether it is tackling a large curtain-wall project, buying a new fleet of trucks or hiring more people, we have to stretch.  Once we stretch, we gain confidence to do it again.  Once we stretch, we will not return to the old familiar comforts we once knew.

Part 4 = Conquer

I met another running partner and we left on the last leg.  By now, I had completed more than 40 miles.  This last leg was my shortest.  This was intentional because I knew even though I was very tired that I could still run a “short” distance.  I had planned this in advance because I knew I could mentally comprehend a single digit at this stage of the run.  I also knew that my running form could not get sloppy or I would not finish.  On this leg, I was running toward my house.  It was a very familiar part of town. I knew the mile markers at every turn on every street.

When you look at a BHAG, you want to start with the familiar and end with the familiar.  When we reach this stage, we’re tired.  It’s easy to get sloppy.  We all need to know the small mile-markers at the end to help complete the task.  True professionals realize they only have to get to the next marker.  True professionals conquer the BHAG by taking small steps and not getting sloppy.

Part 5 = Celebrate

Do not withhold any celebration when you reach your BHAG! 

For an update go to www.56at56.com .

 —Bill Evans, president, Evans Glass Co., Nashville   

The opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Glass Association, Glass Magazine editors, or other glassblog contributors.
 

For those of you following the news at ASHRAE earlier this year, you were no doubt surprised by the vote to approve a reduction in permissible fenestration area -- from 40 percent to 30 percent for prescriptive compliance -- in standard 90.1. (Read a Glass Magazine article on the subject). This turn of events is a result of a continuing effort to improve the thermal efficiency of the building envelope. 

On the bright side, there was and continues to be a coordinated effort by the entire fenestration industry to maintain the 40 percent level. This is atypical -- normally, the industry is splintered by vested interests at code and regulatory bodies -- and demonstrates how important this issue is to all of us.    

Recent discussions of  R-value versus U-factor are symptomatic of this industry’s inability to effectively communicate product performance.   

It brings to mind how important it is for the fenestration industry to be sure that all of the benefits of windows, doors, skylights and curtain-wall systems are recognized by the building code and architectural community. These benefits specifically include ventilation and daylighting. To fully realize the potential benefits of fenestration systems, the industry needs to:

• Provide a tool that measures the potential opportunity for natural ventilation as part of sustainable designs;
• Establish a metric for the productivity and health-related gains from daylighting;
• Reach a consensus on the energy-related benefits of daylighting; and
• Work towards a consensus on the potential for positive solar heat gain benefits in cold climates.

Achieving the above would allow us to move toward an annual energy performance rating.

Please remember that NFRC is not a fenestration industry organization, nor do we represent their interests. We provide an organizational forum for valid, consensus-driven, energy-related ratings for fenestration products. However, we are tied to the success of the fenestration industry and hope that we can have a role to play in its continued growth.

--Jim Benney is the National Fenestration Rating Council’s chief executive officer. He has been involved in developing product and performance standards for the window and glass industry for more than 25 years. He can be reached at jbenney@nfrc.org.

The opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Glass Association, Glass Magazine editors, or other glassblog contributors.

They don't just make energy-efficient construction materials, they also contribute to creating awareness and preparing young minds for this increasingly green world.

PPG Industries Foundation, Pittsburgh, took its energy-efficiency agenda a step further by teaming up with EconomicsPennsylvania, a not-for-profit economic education and financial literacy organization in the Commonwealth serving teachers and students in grades K-12, to create a new classroom curriculum called "The Economics of Alternative Energy," according to an Aug. 3 release. The curriculum will be introduced and made available to Pennsylvania high schools at the beginning of the new school year in September.

Teachers and students will explore the challenges of the energy debate and examine what action steps might be taken in the areas of conservation, exploration and need, said Andy Russell, former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker and volunteer vice chair of the EconomicsPennsylvania board of directors. "Issues such as energy choices, consumption, incentive, market price, public policy and 'greening' make this curriculum an effective doorway to learning experiences that will not only impact students and influence their thinking but also challenge them to consider possible life-altering decisions," he said in the release.

"[The curriculum] will provide students with a stronger understanding of economics by encouraging them to consider the many issues surrounding energy and the environment through the lens of the global economy," said Victoria M. Holt, senior vice president, Glass and Fiber Glass, PPG Industries, in the release. "Solving the challenges of energy supply, cost and use -- determining how to protect resources most effectively while affordably powering our ever-increasing energy demands -- is of crucial importance to society. As such, PPG Industries recognizes its responsibility as the world's leading coatings and specialty products company to address issues of energy security and climate change."

EconomicsPennsylvania will distribute information statewide about teacher training workshops and the availability of the curriculum and related classroom materials to school districts, curriculum directors and teachers with the anticipation of scheduling workshop sessions as soon as possible, according to the release.

—By Sahely Mukerji, senior editor, Glass Magazine