From the fabricator: Uh oh, the ABI stays negative

That awful sound you might be hearing is the Architecture Billings Index gasping for air. Can it really be happening again? Once you think you have made it out of the woods, you realize you’re still lost. In any case, the news last week that the ABI is still trending in negative territory was brutal. And considering that the graph of the ABI from year to year looks eerily similar, 2013 could take the same shape as 2012. Part of me believes the ABI and its ilk are just educated guesses anyway, but even if that's true, people believe and follow them. Bottom line is we are still in tenuous territory. That said, does any of this matter? The election in November is going to move the needle one way or another, and all of the future research is basically worthless because of that. So we wait…

Elsewhere…

• I got great insight and reaction to my post last week about SAM saving the day.  The best was the education I received from people who have dealt with spontaneous breakage due to nickel sulfide, and how hard it is to find. These folks pretty much shot down SAM’s effectiveness. So, now I am curious to see how this program will actually work, as the experts I talked with were pretty adamant that this is wishful thinking.
• Anyone else having trouble picking their winners for the Glass Magazine Awards? Man, it is brutal; so many great candidates. I am betting these elections are going to be insanely close, so please vote. Best of all, this is a great and fair way to recognize talent. Even being nominated is huge. There are no politics in the selection process, which is really refreshing.
• Great tweet from the account of ICD last week with a story on “green” being old news and “zero impact” being the future. Totally dead on. The zero impact approach really is the next frontier. The story is here, and if you want to follow a person who is constantly linking to interesting and need-to-know stuff, follow ICD and my pal the glass pundit, Kris Vockler.
• Speaking of “green”… Last Wednesday, a new group was announced that brings together a lot of building and construction associations. The American High-Performance Buildings Coalition is going to do something that I have been preaching here for a long time: get into the real crux of the green movement and ensure that the development of all green standards makes sense. This group will be ANSI accredited, which is a positive too. Hopefully, it can be fair and transparent--not biased or political--and make these programs truly effective.
• In my weekly look at GlassBuild America news:  the Innovative Product Pavilion has sold out. That is awesome news; it proves that the technological advancements in our industry are not a fable, but true blue. So, on the floor in Las Vegas will be the technology that will take our industry into the future, and that is extremely exciting. I am not sure how anyone in business can choose to miss this… So there ya go, my weekly plug for the show; be there!
• Last this week, back in December 2010, I ran this story about an online eyeglass seller who let bad reviews drive his business and then bullied people who purchased from him. Basically, he did the opposite of what we all try to do, but it was working… until the guy eventually went too far with his threats and was arrested. Now, an update comes that his bail has been revoked, and he is still in business. Amazing.

Read on for links and video of the week...

The author is founder of Sole Source Consultants, a consulting firm for the building products industry that specializes in marketing, branding, communication strategy and overall reputation management, as well as website and social media, and codes and specifications. E-mail him at MaxP@SoleSourceConsultants.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.