Buildings’ energy usage was impacted significantly during the pandemic. Studies have shown that the energy consumption in commercial buildings decreased as many adjusted to the work-from-home approach. Building owners with fewer tenants and occupants may assume that energy use and costs also will remain low, so there’s no need to invest in thermally efficient building envelopes. But, they would be mistaken.
In all of the scary things happening right now, the one that brings the most worry but probably gets the least overall attention is our shortage on the workforce. We are battling so many things, but if we don’t have folks to make and install the material, nothing else matters.
The glass-clad 25-story Grand Hyatt Nashville, completed in 2020, will serve as host hotel for the National Glass Association’s 2022 Building Envelope Contractors Conference and Glass Processing Automation Days, March 27-30.
According to NPR reporting, one million fewer students are in college than before the pandemic began. How has the education landscape shifted, and how will this trend impact students’ futures? Either way, how are we thinking, evaluating and taking action to support the current and future work needs of students?
When I joined the National Fenestration Rating Council as document coordinator in 2009, it was my first job in the building environment. And, of course, when I attended my first NFRC meeting, it was hard to miss the demographic make-up of attendees—a lot of men. There may be some positive news, though, as I have observed more women becoming NFRC Certified Simulators, with approximately 50 women in the group—26 percent—of simulators.
That was a busy week, eh? Not every day the week starts with a $3.4 billion-dollar-deal and it will be very interesting to see how things progress there.
It’s almost time to pack your best practices and your bags for the return of Glass Processing Automation Days, or GPAD, set to kick off Tuesday, March 29 in Nashville at Grand Hyatt Nashville. The conference, hosted by the National Glass Association, will draw leaders in glass fabrication, technology, machinery and more for education, tabletop displays, plenty of networking, and solutions for the future.
I’m neither an economist nor a forecaster. However, there are a few key market indicators I’ve been tracking in recent months in an effort to see though the cloudy forecasts of leading construction economists.
Proven to boost employee satisfaction and performance, concentration levels and healing, biophilic design trends are gaining traction. Ushering in the wonderful benefits of natural light and promoting views to the outdoors, windows, curtain wall, storefronts, glass partitions, skylights and glass doors are key. But there’s more to it.