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The Green Vaccine

By Debra Levy on March 3rd, 2014

I always take it as a quiet honor when readers contact us because they are having a problem sourcing a particular product. And I take it as a quiet victory when we are able to help, which we are able to do more times than not. But there’s one type of call I get, about once every four to six weeks, that always starts with the same sense of frustration, bordering on anger. That’s the call from the purchasing or estimating agent who doesn’t know where to turn. You can just about hear the sense of defeat coming through the phone. The scenario has minor variations, but in general it… Read More »

AGRR, Door and Window Manufacturer, USGlass, Window Film 6 comments

No Cure for This

By Debra Levy on February 10th, 2014

I let out a silent sigh and exhaled slowly so the sound was imperceptible to the caller on the phone. It was her again and she was calling once more to let me know she’d be late. This used to happen occasionally but it had turned into a monthly, and now almost weekly, occurrence. And she always used the same excuse. I took a long look out the window. Yes, our vice president Tara Taffera was in a situation that no drug, alcohol or gambling rehab was going to cure. In fact, it might not be curable at all. What was I going to do with her? Now before I… Read More »

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Quiet Victories

By Debra Levy on January 27th, 2014

It happened on January 22 ever so quietly, with barely a whimper so no one would notice. But we noticed. Yes, the glass industry noticed and reacted with a mixture of joy and relief, proving that quiet victories can be the most satisfying of all. The occasion of that industry-wide sigh-of-relief was the announcement by the American Society of Heating and Air Conditioning Engineers that its working group and then full committee had voted to withdraw the dreaded proposal, the 189.1 Addendum, which would have severely limited the amount of glass that could be put into a building. (For more information, see “The Battle for the Wall,” USGlass, April 2013.)… Read More »

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BULL-oney

By Debra Levy on January 6th, 2014

It seemed like such an innocent article, so righteous, so true and on point. It detailed how the “good guys” had gone after the “bad guys” and gotten money back for the innocents. And in return, they had agreed not to go after the “bad guys” in court. What a victory! BULL-oney!! The article to which I am referring ran on our own daily e-newspaper Friday. It details how attorneys for the creditors’ committee in the Trainor bankruptcy have been able to recover nearly $500,000 that they allege was paid inappropriately to creditors in the months prior to the bankruptcy filing. Again, I say BULL. Those of us who have… Read More »

Solar Glazing, USGlass, Window Film COMMENT HERE

The End of an Anno Domini

By Debra Levy on December 30th, 2013

Okay, okay, we’ve been talking about it for the past few weeks so I’ll just come out and say it. Here are my picks for the top five glass industry stories of the year. Now when I say “top five” I don’t mean in terms of popularity or shock value. These five are my picks for the stories that will have the most impact and effect on the industry. Here they are in order: ASHRAE’s withdrawal of its addendum to 90.1 that would have reduced the amount of glazing allowable in buildings. (See the story here). That addendum had the potential to do more damage to the glass industry than any… Read More »

USGlass COMMENT HERE

Have a Happy Merry

By Debra Levy on December 23rd, 2013

2013 was one of the strangest and most unique years through which I have lived. It started with a bang–literally—and ends with a reminder that the miracle of life is all around us and not just the result of a live birth, although that is rather fitting at Christmas time. Join me a for minute and you’ll see what I mean. That bang that began in April was actually the bomb that went off at the Boston Marathon. It’s still hard for me to believe that I was there and saw the bombs go off—what really were the odds of that especially for a person who had never before been… Read More »

USGlass COMMENT HERE

It’s Round-Up Time

By Debra Levy on December 16th, 2013

This is number two. Numero dos. This is my penultimate blog of the year and I am taking a look back at the biggest industry stories of the year. Today, I am focusing on news events in the past six months that have long-term ramifications for the industry. I have even included a category called “stories with legs” for stories about glass that grow legs beyond the glass industry and into the mainstream consumer press. Here is a brief look at the last six months: Bankruptcies: Dlubak Inc. in early August. Mergers and acquisitions: The acquisition of said Dlubak by Grey Mountain after quite a bidding war, Apogee’s acquisition of… Read More »

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And the Envelope, Please

By Debra Levy on December 9th, 2013

Well, it’s almost that time of year again, and we are getting ready. No, it’s not Christmas or New Year, and Hanukkah is over. Nope, it’s not any of the usual suspects. There are three annuals that hit every December and you won’t find them on any datebook except the glass industry’s calendar. The first is the USGlass Magazine Product of the Year Awards. Announced every December, these highly anticipated awards are given by our readers and editors together to the products we wrote about in 2013 that were so new, so revolutionary or unique that they merited honor. The Products of the Year will be announced in the December… Read More »

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Wired on the Wire

By Debra Levy on November 4th, 2013

Sometimes you hit a nerve. Sometimes you open a wound. Sometimes you rub the proverbial salt in it. Well, I guess last week I did all three. In addition to the comments posted in response to my blog about misinformation about wired glass being thrown around like fact, a received a number of email comments and phone calls. Though the callers were different, the message was the same: why doesn’t somebody do something? Well, a number of people have offered some possible courses of action and I will start putting them out there for your input during the next few weeks. Thanks to everyone who wrote with acknowledgement of the… Read More »

Door and Window Manufacturer, USGlass 4 comments