A BITE OF THE APPLE: In the past week, New York City Mayor Bill DiBlasio has placed his name in the running to become the Democratic nominee for president of the United States. Democratic, republican, independent, left, right, up or down, he wouldn’t get my vote. Here’s why.

It’s not because of his attack on glass two weeks ago (See “A Bronx Cheer,” posted May 13, 2019) but rather because of two things related to that attack. The first is the lack of understanding the mayor’s office has about glass and energy efficiency. The rhetoric the mayor put forth really displayed a knowledge vacuum. The second was the fact that that rhetoric really did not match the terms of the legislation proposed so far. While the mayor focused on glass, the actual amendment is much broader. Presidents, and the candidates that begat them, should be long on facts and short on rhetoric, not the other way around.

The recent amendment to the New York City Charter and Administrative Code is a bit perplexing. First off, it creates an Office of Building Energy and Emissions Performance (BEEP) that will oversee the energy and emissions performance of all buildings—new, existing and renovations. It will monitor the building’s energy usage and create and maintain an online portal for the submission of annual building emission assessments by owners. The office will also validate the info contained therein and audit buildings to make sure the info provided was accurate.

BEEP will also recommend penalties for non-compliant buildings as well as review applications for alternative methods of compliance. Such alternative methods of achieving compliance in a particular area are often questioned by the press.

Overall, the goal of the amendment is to achieve, at a minimum, a 40% reduction in citywide emissions by 2030 and an 80% reduction by 2050. The number that the government itself has to achieve is lower. Oh, and if the BEEP office determines that it is not feasible for its portfolios of buildings owned or operated by the NYC housing authority to meet these goals, BEEP will report this and make recommendations on how it could meet such reductions.

The proposed amendment is a fascinating read and I’ll be covering more of it next week.

ON TO HAPPIER NEWS … I got to spend Friday in the great state of Texas with the members of the Texas Glass Association (TGA), who gather in the years that Glass TEXpo is not held to attend the TGA Management Conference, which was held in Waco, Texas, last week. It was a great day to network, learn and plan and I enjoyed being there thoroughly. Hats off to TGA president Felix Munson, vice president

Sam Hill, executive director Jennifer Fontana and the 80-100 members, speakers and sponsors who came together for education. The TGA Management Conference will next be held in 2021, and Glass TEXpo returns May 1-2, 2020 in San Antonio.

CONGRATULATIONS ARE IN ORDER … To our parent company KMR, for 15 years ago today hiring our own Renaissance Man, Chris Bunn, as a

graphic artist. What a great decision that has been!! Chris spent a number of years designing exquisite pages for our print publications before moving to our video department. And what an amazing impact he has made there. It’s exactly what I would expect from a guy who is a “super-genius” but who never makes it about himself. Congratulations Chris!

AND SPEAKING OF CONGRATULATIONS… KMR was thrilled to win a number of prestigious awards this past month, including:

• The American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE) Gold National Award in the webcast series category for the work of USGlass editor Ellen Rogers, assistant editor Jordan Scott and video producer Chris Bunn;
• The ASBPE Bronze National Award in the video new category for Auto Glass Repair and Replacement (AGRR) magazine editorial director Tara Taffera and event video producer Drew Vass;
• The ASBPE Gold Regional Award for Best Webcast Series for the USGNN™ newscast by editor Ellen Rogers, assistant editor Jordan Scott and video producer Chris Bunn;
• The ASBPE Silver Regional Award for Best Infographics by art director Saundra Hutchinson.
• The ASBPE Silver Regional Award for AGRR’s video coverage of Auto Glass Week; and
• Three ASBPE Bronze Regional Awards for Door and Window Market (DWM) magazine for News Video, News Analysis and Technical Article.

KMR also received three Jesse H. Neal nominations this year. Rogers was recognized in the Best Technical Content category. She was also nominated, along with Scott and Bunn, in the Best Use of Video/Webcast category. AGRR magazine contributing writer Drew Vass was nominated for Best Series.

I am so proud of each and every winner and so thrilled for them.