DEBlog

You’ve probably heard it said before, but no one has ever shown it more graphically than Serge Martin of AGC did during his presentation at the Building Envelope Conference (BEC) two weeks ago in Las Vegas. There before us was an updated and horrifying look at what everyone says anecdotally, that is, that glass has shown no real increase in price in nearly the past 20 years. Using the producer price index for a number of construction materials, including brick, asphalt, wood and cement, Martin showed that our industry is the only one pricing itself lower as time goes on. Take a look: Now maybe if there were some great… Read More »

This week, just some random quick thoughts: 1.  In case anyone hasn’t noticed, the glass industry seems to be imploding before our eyes. The bankruptcy (however complex the reasons for it) of Vitro, the large losses announced by Apogee last week, the radical changes in the contract glazing industry and the retirements of many smart industry veterans who decided now is a good time for change including Apogee’s Huffer, California Glass Association’s Donn Harter and the soul of MTH Industries, Lyle Hill*, have led many to wonder if there will be any glass industry left. The answer is yes, there will be. This is just what happens when you reduce… Read More »