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The Window & Door Dealers Alliance is urging dealers to help it oppose clearance testing requirements that could be added to the Environmental Protection Agency's lead paint regulations that went into effect in April, reported Window & Door. A proposed rule would require contractors working on jobs where lead safe work practices are mandated to achieve certain clearance levels before concluding the renovation work. According to a WDDA statement of principles, contractors would be required to hire (or have as a member of staff) an EPA certified inspector, certified dust sampling technician, and/or certified risk assessor. This person would collect dust samples to be sent to an EPA-accredited lab to a conduct lead-based paint dust clearance test after the contractor has completed "cleaning verification." Full Story Legislation passed by Congress would replace the .30/.30 standard to qualify for a $1,500 tax credit with the 2010 ENERGY STAR standards for windows, doors and skylights. The legislation was included as part of the tax extenders bill, which passed by a vote of 215 to 206 in the House of Representatives, and must now go back to the Senate for final approval. The Senate passed the legislation in March, reported Window & Door. Full Story Rep. Frank Pallone, D-NJ, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and that panel's Energy and Environment Subcommittee, proposed a bill that would provide an exemption from the "no-load" requirements in the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 for security and life safety products. The bill would retain EISA's "active" mode efficiency standards for those products. Reps. Roy Blunt, R-MO, and Doris Matsui, D-CA, are co-sponsoring the legislation. Full Story The Federal Trade Commission will delay enforcement of the "Red Flags" Rule through December 31, 2010 to allow Congress the opportunity to consider legislation that would affect the scope of entities covered by the rule, reported SDM. The Rule was developed under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, in which Congress directed the FTC and other agencies to develop regulations requiring "creditors" and "financial institutions" to address the risk of identity theft. The resulting Red Flags Rule requires all such entities that have "covered accounts" to develop and implement written identity theft prevention programs to help identify, detect, and respond to patterns, practices, or specific activities, known as "red flags," that could indicate identity theft. Full Story Industry Access The American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) and the Window and Door Manufacturers Association (WDMA) have jointly released the updated 2009/2010AAMA/WDMA U.S. Market Studies. The downturn in new construction starts had an impact on the residential door market as unit volume decreased in 2009 and will remain stagnant in 2010. Nonresidential door volumes have also decreased in 2009 reflecting the slowdown in nonresidential construction activity. A weak outlook for 2010 is expected to force steep declines in 2010 before flattening out in 2011, according to the study. Full Story 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
Facing tight budgets as the result of recession, local communities are set to lay off another 222,500 workers beginning this summer, threatening to overwhelm the recovery, according to an analysis released by the Economic Policy Institute. Full Story The economy may not be expanding as fast as many would like but that isn't stopping industrial manufacturers from introducing a large number of new products this year, reported Modern Distribution Management. In fact, more than 93% of manufacturers plan to introduce new or improved products in 2010, according to a survey released by Grant Marketing. Full Story In an effort to find out how much money energy efficient retrofits can save, Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation is financing the creation of a public database of several hundred retrofitted buildings in New York City and a companion report to determine the savings from such moves, reported the New York Times on the Web. Full Story Engineering News Record's Top 400 Contractors had a combined revenue of $290.63 billion in 2009, down 14.1% from $338.28 billion in 2008. Of the 374 contractors on this year's list that also submitted surveys last year, 291, or 77.8%, saw revenue declines in 2009 compared to 2008. Full Story Modern Distribution Management ranks the Top 10 Building Materials/Construction Distributors. Click here to view. The cost of operating the nation's business logistics system declined in 2009 to $1.1 trillion, an 18.2% drop from 2008 levels and the steepest year-on-year fall since record keeping began in 1981, according to the annual State of Logistics Report. In all, business logistics costs last year declined by $244 billion over 2008, the report said. In the past two years, logistics costs fell by almost $300 billion, with most of 2008's drop occurring after the financial crisis hit in September and U.S. and world economies went into virtual free-falls, reported DC Velocity. Full Story Many schools and universities are recognizing the feasibility and benefits of adaptive reuse - acquiring existing buildings and reimagining them as educational spaces, reported American School & University. Full Story Construction & Design Construction spending rebounded strongly in April, with an increase of 2.7% or $23 billion from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $869 billion according to the latest analysis of federal spending figures released by the Associated General Contractors of America. The association noted that the gains were primarily driven by private residential construction (up 4.4%) and public construction (up 2.4%), but that private nonresidential also increased significantly (up 1.7%). "The stimulus is clearly driving one of the biggest increases in construction spending the industry has experienced in a long time," said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the construction trade association. "Once you look beyond the stimulus, however, these figures show how uneven and fragile the construction recovery remains." Full Story Contractors will start buildings with 29% more square feet this spring than they started last spring during the worst panic period in the recession. While this is a substantial increase, it only restores the square footage of starts to just above the fall 2008 level when the initial shock of the financial crisis was causing widespread delays in construction starts. Nonetheless, the impact of rising starts has already prompted resumption in construction hiring, a boost in construction materials production and a spike in construction materials prices, according to Reed Construction Data. Full Story In New York City, plans to redevelop the Domino Sugar refinery site along the Williamsburg waterfront were unanimously approved by the City Planning Commission. The $2 billion project will create 2,200 units of housing, including 660 affordable units, four acres of high quality public open space, 143,000 sq. ft. of community facility space, and office and retail space, reported Crain's New York Business. Full Story The City University of New York has some $1.2 billion worth of projects in the planning stage, however, some will be slowed by state and city fiscal constraints, reported The Wall Street Journal. Full Story Since February 2009, 364 building sites in New York City have restarted work, and of those projects, 94 have been completed, reported The Wall Street Journal. Full Story The federal stimulus program is providing new benefits for Pennsylvania, funneling more than $600 million to help pay for construction projects in many of the state's school districts, including 13 districts in Western Pennsylvania, Gov. Ed Rendell said Thursday. The largest single amount going to southwestern Pennsylvania is $50.5 million for the Pittsburgh Public Schools, reported the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Full Story Security & Safety The Holiday Inn chain of hotels will be piloting a new trial that will let their customers use their smartphone as a key less entry system for their hotel room. It will be tested out in various hotels in the U.S., including ones in Chicago, and Houston and it will work on a number of smartphones including Apple's iPhone and various BlackBerry handsets. Full Story The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released a Private Sector Resources Catalog, which is filled with training, publications, guidance, alerts, newsletters, programs, and services available to the private sector, reported Campus Saftey Magazine. This is the first such effort to encompass all of DHS and represents a commitment to facilitate public access and increase transparency, according to the agency. Full Story To view the catalog, click here. American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act The Senate may take up H.R. 4213, American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act, this week. The House passed H.R. 4213 just before the Memorial Day recess by the narrowest of margins. The bill extends various expiring and expired tax relief provisions and does a bunch of other things too. The extenders range from the research and development credit to the accelerated depreciation for store improvements to energy efficient credits. The total package adds up to over $110 billion and at least $50 billion of that is not offset with tax increases elsewhere. Of the amount that is offset, the one offset provision we are not happy about is the one that requires professional services S Corporation shareholders to treat all of the income from the business as wages and thus subject it to employment taxes. The offset that is giving the Senate the most heartburn is the "carried interest" provision that would require those in the investment community to treat the proceeds of some transactions as regular income rather than income subject to the usually lower capital gains tax. If the Senate does not deal with the extenders this week, it is primarily because the leaders cannot get the sixty votes for the offsets, although there are some holding out for other reasons. If the Senate does tinker with the bill, it must go back to the House, and it is doubtful the House can produce the same votes for another version of the bill. 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 DHI members. It cannot be distributed, reprinted, referenced as a source for attribution, or otherwise made public. Foundation News
The Door Security & Safety Foundation's Local Champion Campaign Tuesday, June 29th at 1:00 pm (EST) Join us for this free, 60-minute overview of the Foundation's new Local Champion Campaign. Tuesday, June 29, 2010 at 2:00 pm (EST) We recommend you visit the site at least 15 minutes before the webinar and click on 'System Check' to verify your computer will work with Soundpath's e-view.
DHI News
DHI's 35th Annual Conference & Exposition Advanced Registration Special Through 7/30/10 - $150 Member / $250 Non-Member 2010 Sponsors for DHI's 35th Annual Conference & Exposition events and activities. DHI's INTERACTIVE MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY Now Online! The all-new Interactive Membership Directory for 2010 provides contact information for all DHI members; National and Chapter Leadership, distributors, manufacturers and sales agencies. NEED 'Member Listing' CHANGES? Let us know if your member profile information needs to be updated at: 703/222.2010 -OR- contact us with changes by email at: Membership@dhi.org Update your information online… ARIZONA CHAPTER EDUCATION Last Day to Register is Friday, June 11th! AHC205 - Detailing Hardware - June 26-28th (24 hrs) TUITION: $445 TO REGISTER: Richard Stockton/ Kris Kurce DHI Membership Affords You a Number of Networking Opportunities LINKEDIN FACEBOOK DHI Now Offering Computer-Based AHC and CDC Exams
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