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March 19, 2009

INDUSTRY ACCESS*

DOE Announces Revised ENERGY STAR Criteria

The Department of Energy announced the release of the ENERGY STAR for Windows, Doors, and Skylights Revised Draft Criteria and Report. This revised draft contains DOE’s latest assessment of the ENERGY STAR program, including their consideration of the stakeholder comments submitted last November, as well as consideration of recent limits contained in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The Revised Draft compares favorably with the comments submitted by WDMA last November. As a result of our comments, DOE has changed the criteria to:

* Reflect criteria for 4 climate zones instead of six,
* Modify the criteria for windows to reflect a broader range of available products,
* Modify the criteria for skylights to reflect available products,
* Modify the criteria for doors to correctly reflect glazing combinations,
* Continue to evaluate additional requirements for submission of shipment data.

DOE is accepting comments on this latest draft until March 25th. Over the next two weeks, WDMA will be formulating our formal response. For more information on what WDMA is doing, contact Jeff Lowinski at 312-673-5891 or via email at jlowinski@wdma.com.

Click here for more Industry Access news including recent new hires, merger & acquisition activity and who's offering new products.

* DHI Members may submit news releases to be considered for inclusion in DHI's IndustryWatch. Send to: jmadden@dhi.org.

BUSINESS UPDATE

The U.S. market for "green" building materials generated sales of almost $57 billion in 2008. This market is projected to expand 7.2% annually to over $80 billion in 2013, outpacing the growth of building construction expenditures over that period. Demand for "green" doors is forecast to grow 4.9% per year to $5.4 billion in 2013, according to a report from the Freedonia Group. Full Story (PDF file)

Underwriters Laboratories has begun offering assessment and certification of environmental product claims, reported Building Design & Construction. Full Story

The February Producer Price Index for Wood Doors (flush & panel, interior & exterior) was up 1.7% from 2008 and the Other Wood Doors (Incl. garage, screen, storm, etc.) PPI was up 3.1% compared to a year earlier. Compared to January, the unadjusted January PPI was down 0.5% for Wood Doors and the PPI for Other Wood Doors was up 0.3%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The PPI for Metal Doors, Sash & Trim was down 0.7% from January and up 3.9% from 2008. The PPI for Builders Hardware was up 8.7% from 2008 and down 3.0% from a month earlier. Click here to view the full February Producer Price Index report. (PDF file - Wood Door information is on page 16, Builders Hardware is on page 21 and Metal Door data is on page 22)

CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN

The First Quarter 2009 Turner Building Cost Index, which projects domestic commercial building construction costs, has decreased 5.77% from the Fourth Quarter 2008. Since the First Quarter 2008, construction costs have decreased by 2.59%, reported Building Design & Construction. Full Story

How will the recession affect the green-building market? BusinessWeek put the question to Peter Morris, principal of the construction consultancy Davis Langdon. Morris heads up the firm's research initiatives. Full Story

FMI's Construction Outlook forecasts nonresidential construction will begin at least three years of contraction. The bottom, in terms of both dollar volume and percent decline, will not be until 2010. Full Story - Read the report (PDF file)

SECURITY & SAFETY

K-12 and university campuses have made great strides in their safety and security programs since the April 1999 Columbine High School shooting. That said, budgets and the availability of resources, as well as security personnel levels continue to pose major challenges to today's U.S. academic institutions, according to a survey conducted by Campus Safety Magazine. Survey participants were asked to indicate the five most important upgrades their campus/district could implement to improve safety and security. Among the top five answers was: Install or upgrade access control (31%). Full Story

A nationwide survey of more than 1000 U.S. adults - conducted by the Society for Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) - has found that among a list of building features, Americans rank building security at the top, beating out other factors such as fire safety, comfort, and environmental friendliness, reported Consulting-Specifying Engineering magazine. Full Story

Standalone, computer-managed (CM) locks are well suited to school or hospital situations where older doors or facilities need to be retrofitted with higher-security locks. CM locking systems offer many of the same benefits as a networked, hardwired system, without the higher cost and additional care associated with routing network cable when retrofitting an existing facility with electronic access control. These standalone, programmable, battery-powered locks are networked through software to provide audit trail capability and time-based scheduling for restricting access, reported Campus Safety Magazine. Full Story

GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

The Mandan City (ND) Commission approved a new law that states - "Every building open to public use that has received the benefit of public funds from the city of Mandan shall provide for the installation of an automatic door for at least one main entrance to the building," reported iStockAnalyst.com. Full Story

Stressing the importance of keeping the construction trades working in a worsening recession, NJ Gov. Jon Corzine announced the state will pump $180 million into hundreds of school repair and construction projects. The funding isn't new. It comes from $3.9 billion in borrowing approved by the state in July, but districts were cautiously waiting to hear whether their projects would be approved, reported The Star-Ledger. Full Story

President Barack Obama on Mar. 16 unveiled a package of measures aimed at boosting lending to small business by freeing up the frozen markets for credit that serve the nation's entrepreneurs. Obama plans to commit $15 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) so that the government can purchase loans backed by the Small Business Administration from the banks that have originated them. The moves come on top of earlier Administration efforts to ease the strains on small business lending. As part of the stimulus package, the government agreed to increase the guarantee it provides to banks on SBA-backed loans from the current 75% to 90%, as well as temporarily reducing some fees linked to Small Business Administration loans, reported BusinessWeek. Full Story

Stimulus Resources

On March 7th, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that $44 billion in stimulus funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) will be available to states in the next 30 to 45 days. It is not clear how much this round of funding will be made available for school modernization projects at this time. Full Story You can find other ARRA related information from the Dept. of Education by clicking here.

National Association of Counties (NACo) is offering a free webinar, Implementation of the Stimulus Package: What Counties Need to Know, to discuss the implementation of the stimulus package. To sign up for the free webinar click here.

Follow the progress of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act at www.recovery.gov.

SMALL BUSINESS NEWS

Labor Organizing Law and Small Business

The long awaited Employee Free Choice Act has finally been introduced. Under the proposed legislation, often referred to as the "card check" union authorization bill, if an organizing campaign can collect signed authorization cards or a petition from more than 50% of the employees (this is often referred to as the "50 plus one" rule as the cards must be collected from 50% of the employees plus one more employee), an employer would be required to recognize the union.

How does this apply to small businesses?

The National Labor Relations Act is the basic law from which the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) derives its authority. The authority is very broad; generally, the NLRB has jurisdiction over any enterprise whose operation affects commerce, with "commerce" meaning interstate commerce but with "affects" interpreted to include indirect activity. There are some specific exclusions for types of employees, most notably agricultural laborers, but there is no exclusion based on the number of employees.

The NLRB has the discretion not to assert jurisdiction over enterprises. The NLRB's requirements for exercising its power or jurisdiction are called "jurisdictional standards." These standards are based on the yearly amount of business done by the enterprise, or on the yearly amount of its sales or of its purchases. They are stated in terms of total dollar volume of business and are different for different kinds of enterprises. The two most notable for small business are:

Nonretail business: Direct sales of goods to consumers in other States, or indirect sales through others (called outflow), of at least $50,000 a year; or direct purchases of goods from suppliers in other States, or indirect purchases through others (called inflow), of at least $50,000 a year.

Retail enterprises: At least $500,000 total annual volume of business.

More information on specific exclusions can be found at www.nlrb.gov.

DHI's Jerry Heppes sits on the board of the Small Business Legislative Council. If you'd like more information on these or other issues affecting small businesses, feel free to contact him at jheppes@dhi.org.

This material is protected under copyright law and contains confidential information. It is for the sole personal, informational use of The Door and Hardware Institute members. It cannot be distributed, reprinted, quoted, or otherwise made public.

DHI NEWS

SPACE IS LIMITED AND CLASSES ARE FILLING FAST!
DHI’s May MEGA School
May 10th – 17th, 2009 in Lansdowne, VA

Now is the time to set yourself above your competition! DHI's National Education and Certification Programs are designed to help you do just that! With only 2 National schools scheduled this year, take advantage of DHI's upcoming May MEGA school to increase your technical knowledge and hone your skills!

This upcoming school offers 29 different classes – including DAI 600 Fire and Egress Door Assembly Inspection class!

Please note that due to consistent high demand for DHI National Education, we recommend that you sign-up for classes as soon as possible to secure your spot BEFORE classes sell out. For a complete list of course offerings and to register online click here.

In Case You Missed It In Earlier IW Issues...
DHI Discusses the Impact of the Stimulus Plan on the Openings Industry

On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed the Economic Stimulus Bill into law. From an initial glance, this stimulus package has a number of provisions that may positively impact the openings industry. For a summary of how the $787 billion economic stimulus fund will be distributed, as well as a look at other construction projects that have received funding and how this may have a direct and positive impact on the openings industry, click here.

This legislation also includes provisions affecting the continuation of health insurance coverage ("continuation coverage") covered employers must make available to certain former employees and their families under provisions of the "Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985" (COBRA). The National Association of Wholesalers has prepared an outline of the key provisions of the Stimulus Bill that touch COBRA coverage and how employers may be affected as of March 1, 2009. Click here for more information.