Last week the Senate passed H.R. 6, Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (CLICK HERE for more information about the bill). While most news articles are focusing on how this bill will affect automobile fuel efficiency, the bill does have a provision that sets a timeline for creating zero-net-energy commercial buildings, which I’ve talked about in several earlier posts.
Section 422 of the bill requires that the appointed commercial director of the Office of High Performance Green Buildings (established by the bill) lead the zero-net-energy commercial building initiative to reduce the quantity of energy consumed by commercial buildings and achieve the development of zero-net-energy commercial buildings. The commercial director, working with the High-Performance Green Building Partnership Consortium (also created by the bill), will conduct research and benchmarking on design and materials; offer technical assistance activities to encourage adoption of technology and products; provide training for “building professionals and trades;” and support state and local code-setting organizations in developing minimum performance standards that “recognize the ready availability of many technologies utilized in high-performance energy-efficient buildings.” The bill would also develop separate incentive strategies for builders and purchasers, and landlords and tenants. The section authorizes set appropriations through 2018.
This bill, like H.R. 3221, sets a timeline; this one would require any new commercial buildings after 2030, fifty percent of commercial building stock after 2040 and all commercial buildings after 2050 be zero-net-energy.
H.R. 6 has been moved to the House, where it awaits another vote. If it, or another bill like it is passed, what will be the implications for the glass industry? What will be the biggest challenges toward going net-zero? Post your thoughts here.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Monday, December 10, 2007
A Time to Give
As the holidays approach, it’s been getting festive here at our office. We recently took part in the tenth annual Festival of Trees, a local event that included a silent auction of decorated Christmas trees. Proceeds from the auction went toward the Hope House, which provides shelter for homeless women and children in the area.
Our office decorated a tree according to the theme “A Storybook Christmas.” Being a publishing company, it seemed only right to promote the wonderful books written about the holiday season. Our little tree was filled with familiar ornaments—Rudolph, Frosty and the Nutcracker, for example—and the referenced books were nestled among the branches. It turned out to be a fun way to get ready for the holidays, in addition to a great way to give back to the community.
We’re also preparing for our annual Secret Santa gift exchange next week. I’m not sure if it’s like this in other offices, but there’s always a group here that will analyze each detail of every present, from when and how it is delivered to the type of packaging used, to try and guess the Secret Santa of every individual in the office. It’s amazing how the holidays can bring out the competitive side of people!
How does your office celebrate the holidays? Do you decorate and exchange gifts? Do you give back to the community? Do you get together for a special meal? Please share your stories by sending me an email or commenting here. (Our social committee will appreciate any ideas you can send their way!)
Also be sure to let the staff of USGNN know if you are planning to close for the holidays. An announcement will be run on the daily newsletter next week—yes, next week is already the week before Christmas!—to let your customers and colleagues know when your office will be closed. You can reach the survey HERE to respond.
Monday, December 3, 2007
My Net-Zero Reading List
I’ve been doing a little reading this last week about net-zero energy buildings. USGNN.com ran a story on August 14 about the pending legislation that would require net-zero energy commercial buildings by 2050 (the House has passed this bill and now it sits waiting for the Senate) – you can see that story HERE. The term net-zero energy is used because it isn’t that these buildings don’t use any energy at all, they just don’t use more energy than they’re able to produce. What I’ve found so exciting is that in every article about this that I’ve read, glass and window performance is featured prominently.
The technology needed to create these net-zero buildings doesn’t just involve ways of creating energy, such as through solar power. It also involves limiting the amount of energy that is used. It’s the same emphasis on energy efficiency but to a whole new level.
I asked in an earlier post if you think net-zero energy buildings are really attainable. But it seems like many people out there do in fact think this is possible – the designers of Integrated Design Associates’ (IDeAs) new corporate headquarters, for instance. Check out the IDeAs Z2 Design Facility, a very real net-zero building, HERE and notice how prominently daylighting and “advanced glazing” are featured on the website.
One of many interesting facts about this building is that it was actually a remodel—so individuals who believe that net-zero energy may be attainable in new construction but not retrofits may lose some of their argument after reading about this project.
Kim Swanson with EHDD Architecture, the firm that helped to design the remodel, explained to me during a recent conversation that the building started out as a concrete block that had few to no windows. “Part of getting the zero-energy is getting some daylight,” Swanson said. So the first step for EHDD was cutting into the concrete on the south façade to create room for a full wall of sliding glass doors.
The building also now sports a number of skylights. “We cut a dozen or so skylights into the existing roof also … so we could rely on daylight as much as possible,” Swanson said.
In addition to high performance glass throughout, the building also features electrochromic glass on its East façade.
Daylighting and electrochromic – those words pop up frequently in articles about net-zero energy buildings. But in what other ways can the glass industry contribute to these requirements and make net-zero energy a reality? Post your comments on this blog or feel free to drop me a line at mheadley@glass.com. Or share what you’re reading these days and see if that makes it into next week’s blog!
The technology needed to create these net-zero buildings doesn’t just involve ways of creating energy, such as through solar power. It also involves limiting the amount of energy that is used. It’s the same emphasis on energy efficiency but to a whole new level.
I asked in an earlier post if you think net-zero energy buildings are really attainable. But it seems like many people out there do in fact think this is possible – the designers of Integrated Design Associates’ (IDeAs) new corporate headquarters, for instance. Check out the IDeAs Z2 Design Facility, a very real net-zero building, HERE and notice how prominently daylighting and “advanced glazing” are featured on the website.
One of many interesting facts about this building is that it was actually a remodel—so individuals who believe that net-zero energy may be attainable in new construction but not retrofits may lose some of their argument after reading about this project.
Kim Swanson with EHDD Architecture, the firm that helped to design the remodel, explained to me during a recent conversation that the building started out as a concrete block that had few to no windows. “Part of getting the zero-energy is getting some daylight,” Swanson said. So the first step for EHDD was cutting into the concrete on the south façade to create room for a full wall of sliding glass doors.
The building also now sports a number of skylights. “We cut a dozen or so skylights into the existing roof also … so we could rely on daylight as much as possible,” Swanson said.
In addition to high performance glass throughout, the building also features electrochromic glass on its East façade.
Daylighting and electrochromic – those words pop up frequently in articles about net-zero energy buildings. But in what other ways can the glass industry contribute to these requirements and make net-zero energy a reality? Post your comments on this blog or feel free to drop me a line at mheadley@glass.com. Or share what you’re reading these days and see if that makes it into next week’s blog!
Monday, November 26, 2007
Glass Tourism
While I’m sure the thousand+ employees of Owatonna, Minn.-based Viracon enjoy their respective jobs, I imagine it’s been awhile since someone has been so excited about stepping foot into that facility as I was when I visited the company earlier this month. (Want to know what spurred that visit? Then be sure to look for the December issue of USGlass!) While I’ve been working with USGlass magazine on and off for nearly four years now, I hadn’t previously had the opportunity to visit a glass fabrication facility, so the tour I got made me as happy as a two-year-old given free rein in Toys R Us.
Up to this point, trade shows have been the big highlight for me as they have provided an opportunity to go out and see up close the equipment I spend so much time writing about. But it was a greater thrill to see the equipment dirty and in use, and working in such easy coordination with multiple other pieces. Some of the lines, altogether, seemed longer than my apartment. And just watching the big lites of glass moving up and over the floor to where they needed to be was amazing.
I mean, it’s one thing to get a sample of a spacer product in the mail, and another thing altogether to take in the sight of spacer frames hanging ready for application, practiced technicians putting them into place, the machinery running over the spacer and trapezoidal lites—somehow making the whole sandwich line up just right—with the sticky silicone being slapped into place. So that’s how it all works! The silkscreening process was another delight to watch. I’ve helped silkscreen tee shirts in the past; how neat to see that the process isn’t that much different with glass—even if the similarities are only there on a very basic level. That is, the screen and roller I saw putting patterns on glass at Viracon were just a bit bigger than what I used in my mom’s garage. And don’t even get me started on the peek I got at the coating line and the brilliant colors within.
I’m sure there are a few chuckles out there, since I know this is old hat for most of you. But hopefully you can appreciate that for somebody relatively new to the industry—still a bit of an outsider looking in—your business is really quite exciting.
I’ve already received a couple of invitations to visit additional companies, and many thanks in advance. As I’m sure you can all imagine, frequent deadlines keep me on my toes, but as I travel for meetings I’d be happy to extend a trip a day to take in the exciting sights like a true glass industry tourist. (Now there’s a coffee table book idea my dear friend and USG contributor Brigid O’Leary and I have yet to discuss … photos of glass shops around the country. Hmm, why hasn’t the travel channel thought of that …?)
I guess now when I’m on the interstate in the morning and I see the occasional glass carrier, I won’t just wonder where they’re going—I’ll wonder now where they’ve been!
Up to this point, trade shows have been the big highlight for me as they have provided an opportunity to go out and see up close the equipment I spend so much time writing about. But it was a greater thrill to see the equipment dirty and in use, and working in such easy coordination with multiple other pieces. Some of the lines, altogether, seemed longer than my apartment. And just watching the big lites of glass moving up and over the floor to where they needed to be was amazing.
I mean, it’s one thing to get a sample of a spacer product in the mail, and another thing altogether to take in the sight of spacer frames hanging ready for application, practiced technicians putting them into place, the machinery running over the spacer and trapezoidal lites—somehow making the whole sandwich line up just right—with the sticky silicone being slapped into place. So that’s how it all works! The silkscreening process was another delight to watch. I’ve helped silkscreen tee shirts in the past; how neat to see that the process isn’t that much different with glass—even if the similarities are only there on a very basic level. That is, the screen and roller I saw putting patterns on glass at Viracon were just a bit bigger than what I used in my mom’s garage. And don’t even get me started on the peek I got at the coating line and the brilliant colors within.
I’m sure there are a few chuckles out there, since I know this is old hat for most of you. But hopefully you can appreciate that for somebody relatively new to the industry—still a bit of an outsider looking in—your business is really quite exciting.
I’ve already received a couple of invitations to visit additional companies, and many thanks in advance. As I’m sure you can all imagine, frequent deadlines keep me on my toes, but as I travel for meetings I’d be happy to extend a trip a day to take in the exciting sights like a true glass industry tourist. (Now there’s a coffee table book idea my dear friend and USG contributor Brigid O’Leary and I have yet to discuss … photos of glass shops around the country. Hmm, why hasn’t the travel channel thought of that …?)
I guess now when I’m on the interstate in the morning and I see the occasional glass carrier, I won’t just wonder where they’re going—I’ll wonder now where they’ve been!
Monday, November 19, 2007
The Light Bulb Goes On
Well I don’t know about you, but my big plans this weekend involved buying new energy-efficient light bulbs. It’s always the same—you sit in a cold, dark room for several hours listening to incredibly inspiring speeches about the very real ways we can all improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions and in general leave less of an impact on our planet while saving money, and you walk out wanting to change the world. That is to say, I was lucky enough to attend the first inaugural Energy Efficiency Global Forum & Exposition (EE Global) in Washington, D.C., last week (You can read more about the event at http://www.usgnn.com/ and in the December issue of USGlass).
Ok, maybe buying light bulbs isn’t a huge step. But that’s one of the points RK Stewart, president of the American Institute of Architects, seemed to make during his presentation, “What Kind of Ancestors Will We Be?” According to Stewart, we can start right now to reduce energy consumption—at no cost—by using the systems we have available smartly. Little steps from architects, like reconsidering window size and orientation can make the most of available sunlight, Stewart said.
One of the points I found most interesting, that was stressed again and again by speakers on all topics, was how big increases in energy efficiency can be attained through very little cost. Scot Horst, chairperson of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Steering Committee, showed real examples of buildings where energy efficiency was increased—with great financial savings—simply by looking at buildings holistically. Horst put graphs up on the screen showing the cost of investments in daylighting and IG units in a school in New Jersey. The cost savings seemed to support his point. But then Horst flipped to the next slide and explained that because the IG units led to reductions in the amount of heat pumps needed to warm the building, fewer (very pricey) holes had to be dug for the heat pumps and suddenly the cost savings were astronomical. Not only were many of these solutions cost-effective, but many relied on our industry.
The solutions presented during EE Global all made good sense to me. But then sitting and listening to Representatives promote their books about the environment and energy efficiency “idea” people talk about how easy it could be to make these changes isn’t the same as listening to product engineers and curtainwall consultants talk about the very concrete things that need to be done to make buildings more energy efficiency. So you tell me, you’re the experts—is improved energy efficiency really about changing our mindset to look for the available opportunities? Is it as cost-effective as the idea folk would have us believe? And while we’re on the topic of improving energy efficiency, do you think net-zero energy buildings are really attainable? What do you think?
One more important point. I’d like to encourage all of you meeting organizers out there to consider the value of an ice cream sundae bar at your next event. Don’t underestimate the power of chocolate and vanilla covered with m&m’s, sprinkles, whipped cream and cherries at provoking networking.
Ok, maybe buying light bulbs isn’t a huge step. But that’s one of the points RK Stewart, president of the American Institute of Architects, seemed to make during his presentation, “What Kind of Ancestors Will We Be?” According to Stewart, we can start right now to reduce energy consumption—at no cost—by using the systems we have available smartly. Little steps from architects, like reconsidering window size and orientation can make the most of available sunlight, Stewart said.
One of the points I found most interesting, that was stressed again and again by speakers on all topics, was how big increases in energy efficiency can be attained through very little cost. Scot Horst, chairperson of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Steering Committee, showed real examples of buildings where energy efficiency was increased—with great financial savings—simply by looking at buildings holistically. Horst put graphs up on the screen showing the cost of investments in daylighting and IG units in a school in New Jersey. The cost savings seemed to support his point. But then Horst flipped to the next slide and explained that because the IG units led to reductions in the amount of heat pumps needed to warm the building, fewer (very pricey) holes had to be dug for the heat pumps and suddenly the cost savings were astronomical. Not only were many of these solutions cost-effective, but many relied on our industry.
The solutions presented during EE Global all made good sense to me. But then sitting and listening to Representatives promote their books about the environment and energy efficiency “idea” people talk about how easy it could be to make these changes isn’t the same as listening to product engineers and curtainwall consultants talk about the very concrete things that need to be done to make buildings more energy efficiency. So you tell me, you’re the experts—is improved energy efficiency really about changing our mindset to look for the available opportunities? Is it as cost-effective as the idea folk would have us believe? And while we’re on the topic of improving energy efficiency, do you think net-zero energy buildings are really attainable? What do you think?
One more important point. I’d like to encourage all of you meeting organizers out there to consider the value of an ice cream sundae bar at your next event. Don’t underestimate the power of chocolate and vanilla covered with m&m’s, sprinkles, whipped cream and cherries at provoking networking.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Speechless
I’m sure that those of you who helped to vote for the Key Communications’ employee with the best Halloween costume at www.glass.com/halloween know that a picture is worth a thousand words. (I know, I didn’t dress up this year—let’s just say I’m already planning something elaborate for this time next year!) When advertising coordinator Erin Harris, winner of this year’s contest, was describing to me her plan to dress up as a rabbit in a magician’s hat, I couldn’t have pictured the top hat the one-time set designer ultimately put together as part of her costume. If you missed the chance to vote on USGNN.com, you should check out the link above for a good giggle.
Yup, sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words. That’s how I felt when I saw Erin’s costume. That’s how I felt when Don Kelly of Midwest Curtainwall sent me the photos of the glass installation for the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge (featured on the cover of the October issue of USGlass). Many times I’ve driven over the bridge that crosses the Potomac River, and can see the finished product anytime. But for me, seeing those photos of the glaziers in action was a fascinating glimpse of a challenging job. To read (and write) about the difficulties faced on this job was quite a learning experience, but the photos offered a different perspective.
I sure do appreciate the beautiful building photos that get sent my way, and that are often featured on our covers. What better way to celebrate the end of a tough project than by showing your peers the end result. But don’t forget that those photos of works-in-progress have great value too. How about sending them into USGlass for a chance to have them published in a future issue? That’s right, we’re looking for photos of your most unique jobs, your most challenging jobs, you or your employees hard at work on the job, the most unusual problem you’ve run across on the job and any of the other fantastic photos you look forward to sharing with your peers. Here’s the chance to show off the innovative ways that you get to your end result.
You can email photos to me at mheadley@glass.com. For a chance to be featured in a future issue, please make sure your PC formatted TIF or JPG files have a resolution of 300 dpi or higher. I look forward to hearing from—I mean, seeing—you down the road!
Yup, sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words. That’s how I felt when I saw Erin’s costume. That’s how I felt when Don Kelly of Midwest Curtainwall sent me the photos of the glass installation for the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge (featured on the cover of the October issue of USGlass). Many times I’ve driven over the bridge that crosses the Potomac River, and can see the finished product anytime. But for me, seeing those photos of the glaziers in action was a fascinating glimpse of a challenging job. To read (and write) about the difficulties faced on this job was quite a learning experience, but the photos offered a different perspective.
I sure do appreciate the beautiful building photos that get sent my way, and that are often featured on our covers. What better way to celebrate the end of a tough project than by showing your peers the end result. But don’t forget that those photos of works-in-progress have great value too. How about sending them into USGlass for a chance to have them published in a future issue? That’s right, we’re looking for photos of your most unique jobs, your most challenging jobs, you or your employees hard at work on the job, the most unusual problem you’ve run across on the job and any of the other fantastic photos you look forward to sharing with your peers. Here’s the chance to show off the innovative ways that you get to your end result.
You can email photos to me at mheadley@glass.com. For a chance to be featured in a future issue, please make sure your PC formatted TIF or JPG files have a resolution of 300 dpi or higher. I look forward to hearing from—I mean, seeing—you down the road!
Monday, October 29, 2007
If Only …
Bill Bryson, author of A Short History of Nearly Everything and A Walk in the Woods, once wrote: “Among the many thousands of things that I have never been able to understand, one in particular stands out. That is the question of who was the first person who stood by a pile of sand and said, ‘You know, I bet if we took some of this and mixed it with a little potash and heated it, we could make a material that would be solid and yet transparent. We could call it glass.’ Call me obtuse, but you could stand me on a beach till the end of time and never would it occur to me to try to make it into windows.”
Well, Bryson, my amazement doesn’t stop there. With the wide variety of glass products now available, it’s amazing to think that product engineers are able to look at a perfectly useful window and say to themselves, “Sure, this is great, but what if it were also able to—” thus inspiring a future winner of the USGlass Product of the Year award.
Just this weekend I was discussing the wild options available for residential windows. My mom mentioned during a phone call that she would be replacing the windows in her living room. The room has a shaded view of Hampton Creek and while during the summertime the river breeze cools most of the house, the winter heating bills can be painful. We discussed some of the options that are now available to help keep the heat in and the frosty weather out.
“Now if only I could find a window that would clean itself,” my mom sighed before we said goodbye.
“Actually,” I couldn’t help but add, “there are self-cleaning glass products now on the market.”
Maybe this option isn’t right for my mom now, but it might be someday. And surely you engineers out there who work on a somewhat larger scope than my Mom’s ranch house also begin your designs for the next breakthrough in glass products with the simple words “if only.”
You can think of our Product of the Year awards as a tribute to the ingenuity that follows those words, “if only.” This spotlight isn’t just a tribute to the exciting advances in our industry over the course of the last year, but also an indication of the direction new products in the year ahead may take us. So keep an eye on your inbox for our upcoming survey for the 2007 Product of the Year, and be sure to cast your vote.
Well, Bryson, my amazement doesn’t stop there. With the wide variety of glass products now available, it’s amazing to think that product engineers are able to look at a perfectly useful window and say to themselves, “Sure, this is great, but what if it were also able to—” thus inspiring a future winner of the USGlass Product of the Year award.
Just this weekend I was discussing the wild options available for residential windows. My mom mentioned during a phone call that she would be replacing the windows in her living room. The room has a shaded view of Hampton Creek and while during the summertime the river breeze cools most of the house, the winter heating bills can be painful. We discussed some of the options that are now available to help keep the heat in and the frosty weather out.
“Now if only I could find a window that would clean itself,” my mom sighed before we said goodbye.
“Actually,” I couldn’t help but add, “there are self-cleaning glass products now on the market.”
Maybe this option isn’t right for my mom now, but it might be someday. And surely you engineers out there who work on a somewhat larger scope than my Mom’s ranch house also begin your designs for the next breakthrough in glass products with the simple words “if only.”
You can think of our Product of the Year awards as a tribute to the ingenuity that follows those words, “if only.” This spotlight isn’t just a tribute to the exciting advances in our industry over the course of the last year, but also an indication of the direction new products in the year ahead may take us. So keep an eye on your inbox for our upcoming survey for the 2007 Product of the Year, and be sure to cast your vote.
Monday, October 22, 2007
How Do You Say That Again?
I knew there would be perks when I became the editor of USGlass. After all, what’s more glamorous than the world of glass? OK, maybe I anticipated more hard work than I did fun and excitement, but I was recently lucky enough to combine the two. The 15th Vitrum equipment and machinery trade show held in early October in Milan was my first international trade show.
I’d been overseas a few times in the past, and I was prepared for the usual hardships: not recognizing anything on the menus (or on the plates); perfecting Charades when communicating with shop owners; trying to remember what size shoe I wear in European sizes … But I wasn’t sure what to expect on the trade show floor, so I had plenty of questions. Would my boss really send me to a show where I couldn’t read the brochures or talk to the people in the booths? Would anyone have time to talk to a lowly editor from the USA? Would the Italian women scoff at my comfortable shoes? Would my brother’s Italian roommate get sick of me asking for translations?
My anxiety vanished, even before the jet lag subsided, once I reached the beautiful FieraMilano exhibition center in Rho. It was true, there were a small number of booths at the trade show where I could only exchange a smile and a shrug with the person pacing within. For the most part, however, it was fascinating to speak to people—even people I’d spoken to at recent American shows—about their products within the context of an international setting. I hadn’t thought before about the increasing popularity of solar glass in Europe, where astronomical fuel prices put our record highs to shame. Or considered how a piece of equipment designed for shower door notching could be adapted for more utilitarian functions (am I the only person who has never seen a shower door, much less a shower curtain, in Europe?).
And I couldn’t help but marvel at the size of the booths. To answer my earlier question – due to the large size of the booths, I was perfectly content with my ugly, yet comfortable, walking shoes. The mammoth pieces of equipment made the big booth sizes mandatory, of course. But for someone who has yet to step into a manufacturing facility, it was fascinating to wander within the confines of a company’s booth and watch one individual and then another set a line of equipment in action.
As I became used to the large booths, I started noticing other details—like the food. In the past I’ve appreciated the bowls of Snicker bars and the like often on display at trade shows in the States. But I’ve never been to a show where the wine comes out first thing in the morning alongside the plates of cheese, meat, olives, sculpted confectionaries and other amazing sights. As these goodies might suggest, even when company executives didn’t have a moment to spare for questions, this sense of hospitality kept attendees content to wait and socialize with their peers until a free moment arose.
Another of the many important details I took away from my trip was that the pocket-size Italian-to-English dictionaries leave out some critical translations. Luckily, I have a plan to fix that. I’m hoping to get your help in preparing for the next Vitrum, October 28-31, 2009, with my very own Glass Industry Italian to English Dictionary. It will be filled with such useful words and phrases as:
Vetro = Glass
Stato dell’arte = State-of-the-art
Fotovoltaico = Photovoltaic
Padiglione = Pavilion
Uscita = Exit
Permesso = You’re walking too slowly on the moving walkway
Espresso = My tongue doesn’t feel hairy this morning, do you have anything to drink?
And many more. For our overseas readers, please leave me a comment with the useful words and phrases you wish these slow Americans visitors would finally learn (or a comment defending your espresso). For my North American friends (and I saw at least a handful of you at the show), what invaluable words did you pick up on the trade show floor? Send in your suggestions - and just wait and see if they don’t show up in our Vitrum 2009 Preview.
In the meantime, keep an eye out for the November 2007 USGlass and the (more technical) review of this year’s show.
Oops, one last thing. As you might expect, I did make the most of every available sightseeing opportunity while in Milan. But even when wandering through the city, I couldn’t help but think about Italian glass. Check out this captivating view of the famous Galleria shopping mall in Milan:
I’d been overseas a few times in the past, and I was prepared for the usual hardships: not recognizing anything on the menus (or on the plates); perfecting Charades when communicating with shop owners; trying to remember what size shoe I wear in European sizes … But I wasn’t sure what to expect on the trade show floor, so I had plenty of questions. Would my boss really send me to a show where I couldn’t read the brochures or talk to the people in the booths? Would anyone have time to talk to a lowly editor from the USA? Would the Italian women scoff at my comfortable shoes? Would my brother’s Italian roommate get sick of me asking for translations?
My anxiety vanished, even before the jet lag subsided, once I reached the beautiful FieraMilano exhibition center in Rho. It was true, there were a small number of booths at the trade show where I could only exchange a smile and a shrug with the person pacing within. For the most part, however, it was fascinating to speak to people—even people I’d spoken to at recent American shows—about their products within the context of an international setting. I hadn’t thought before about the increasing popularity of solar glass in Europe, where astronomical fuel prices put our record highs to shame. Or considered how a piece of equipment designed for shower door notching could be adapted for more utilitarian functions (am I the only person who has never seen a shower door, much less a shower curtain, in Europe?).
And I couldn’t help but marvel at the size of the booths. To answer my earlier question – due to the large size of the booths, I was perfectly content with my ugly, yet comfortable, walking shoes. The mammoth pieces of equipment made the big booth sizes mandatory, of course. But for someone who has yet to step into a manufacturing facility, it was fascinating to wander within the confines of a company’s booth and watch one individual and then another set a line of equipment in action.
As I became used to the large booths, I started noticing other details—like the food. In the past I’ve appreciated the bowls of Snicker bars and the like often on display at trade shows in the States. But I’ve never been to a show where the wine comes out first thing in the morning alongside the plates of cheese, meat, olives, sculpted confectionaries and other amazing sights. As these goodies might suggest, even when company executives didn’t have a moment to spare for questions, this sense of hospitality kept attendees content to wait and socialize with their peers until a free moment arose.
Another of the many important details I took away from my trip was that the pocket-size Italian-to-English dictionaries leave out some critical translations. Luckily, I have a plan to fix that. I’m hoping to get your help in preparing for the next Vitrum, October 28-31, 2009, with my very own Glass Industry Italian to English Dictionary. It will be filled with such useful words and phrases as:
Vetro = Glass
Stato dell’arte = State-of-the-art
Fotovoltaico = Photovoltaic
Padiglione = Pavilion
Uscita = Exit
Permesso = You’re walking too slowly on the moving walkway
Espresso = My tongue doesn’t feel hairy this morning, do you have anything to drink?
And many more. For our overseas readers, please leave me a comment with the useful words and phrases you wish these slow Americans visitors would finally learn (or a comment defending your espresso). For my North American friends (and I saw at least a handful of you at the show), what invaluable words did you pick up on the trade show floor? Send in your suggestions - and just wait and see if they don’t show up in our Vitrum 2009 Preview.
In the meantime, keep an eye out for the November 2007 USGlass and the (more technical) review of this year’s show.
Oops, one last thing. As you might expect, I did make the most of every available sightseeing opportunity while in Milan. But even when wandering through the city, I couldn’t help but think about Italian glass. Check out this captivating view of the famous Galleria shopping mall in Milan:
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