If you are using a mobile device or are having trouble viewing this email click here

September 3, 2009

INDUSTRY ACCESS*

Overhead Door Corporation Reaches Agreement to Acquire Wayne-Dalton Corp.'s Door Business

Overhead Door Corporation has agreed to acquire Wayne-Dalton Corp.'s overhead door business in North America and Europe. Under the terms of the tentative agreement, Overhead Door Corporation would acquire substantially all of the assets of Wayne-Dalton Corp.'s commercial and residential overhead door business, as well as their Fabric-Shield storm panel business. Wayne-Dalton Corp. would retain its garage door opener and wireless home access control businesses and will continue to manufacture, market and sell products of those businesses. 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

The Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) made a new tool available to product manufacturers to help customers identify building products that contribute to sustainable, healthy, built environments. The tool is an online, searchable database where manufacturers can list products that have met certain environmental or health standards ranging from recycled content to materials that contribute to improved indoor air quality. The database can be found at: www.chpsregistry.com/live, reported Building Design & Construction. Full Story

The July Producer Price Index for Wood Doors (flush & panel, interior & exterior) was up 0.7% from 2008 and the Other Wood Doors (Incl. garage, screen, storm, etc.) PPI was up 2.2% compared to a year earlier. Compared to June, the unadjusted July PPI was down 0.4% for Wood Doors and unchanged for the Other Wood Doors category, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The PPI for Metal Doors, Sash & Trim was down 1.8% from June and up 0.4% from 2008. The PPI for Builders Hardware was down 1.8% from 2008 but up 0.6% from a month earlier. Click here to view the full July 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)

The U.S. Green Building Council’s own research suggests that a quarter of the new buildings that have been certified do not save as much energy as their designs predicted and that most do not track energy consumption once in use, reported The New York Times on the Web. And the program has been under attack from architects, engineers and energy experts who argue that because building performance is not tracked, the certification may be falling short in reducing emissions tied to global warming. Full Story

Construction materials costs are again at risk of being driven sharply higher by international economic events, according to Reed Construction Data's Jim Haughey. The world economy, and with it commodity demand, has resumed expanding, especially in Asia. The $US, dollar after a crisis period spike in value, has resumed depreciating. Both of these trends will raise the prices of construction materials faster than overall inflation in the economy, just as they did in 2008 and earlier in 2004. This is because such of large share of the construction bill of materials is imported commodities, notably metal ores and petrochemicals. Full Story

As signs continue to emerge that the U.S. economy is improving, a recovery from the worst recession since World War II is likely to be "modest and fragile," according to a new report. The Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI Quarterly Economic Forecast predicts that inflation-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) will decline 2.7% in 2009 before rebounding to 2.1% growth in 2010, and by 3.2% in 2011. The GDP forecast for 2009 in the current MAPI report is marginally better than the previously anticipated 2.9% decline for this year projected in the May 2009 release, reported Industrial Distribution. Full Story

CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN

State regulators have approved a new cancer center and patient tower at Duke Hospital, and the medical center plans to begin construction soon on the projects, which carry a total price tag of almost $1 billion. Duke University Health System, which owns Duke Hospital, plans to open its new $250 million cancer center in 2012 and its nearly $700 million patient tower in 2013. The two facilities will add about 850,000 square feet to the sprawling medical center in Durham, reported The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area. Full Story

FMI Corp's Nonresidential Construction Index for the third quarter is 44.8 and essentially unchanged from the second quarter reading of 45.0. The company indicates that this suggests we are seeing the bottom of this long recession for nonresidential contractors. However, there isn't much this quarter indicating recessionary conditions, for nonresidential contractors at least, are going to end soon. Full Story

In the heart of the South Bay (CA), joint venture partners Gilbane Building Co. and SGI Construction Management are providing program and project management services for the Sweetwater Union High School District Prop O Bond Program. The first phase of the $644-million bond program has broken ground on eight campuses, with a ninth groundbreaking scheduled to take place later this month. Proposition O is funding the repairs and improvements needed to ensure that the 43,000 middle and high school students and 27,000 adult learners of the District are in a safe, healthy and quality learning environment. Through innovative design and planning, the joint venture is building the largest 100% LEED-Gold certified school construction program in California, reported San Diego Source. Full Story

Nine Jefferson Paris, LA public schools would be put on the market, two others demolished and several others rebuilt under a $200 million school construction and consolidation proposal released by schools Superintendent Diane Roussel, reported Nola.com. Full Story

SECURITY & SAFETY

A new hotel management research study from Cornell's Center for Hospitality Research states that safety and security equipment in U.S. hotels varies dramatically by size, location, and overall hotel class. The hotel security article and research study, "Safety and Security in U.S. Hotels," by Cornell Professor Cathy A. Enz, found that small hotels (under 50 rooms), budget-priced hotels, and relatively old hotels had gaps in their safety and security equipment. In contrast, luxury and upscale hotels, airport and urban hotels, large properties, and new hotels generally provided the key safety and security features, reported Hospitality.net. Full Story

Most fire codes require that the pathway to an emergency exit be kept wide open, but according to researchers in Japan, placing an obstruction next to an exit may actually help crowds of people to get out of a room more efficiently. Researchers found that when people bottleneck near an exit, they start to jostle each other for position. The jostling acts much like friction, slowing down the rate at which people can exit. Introducing a strategically-placed obstacle near the exit can reduce the number of people pushing for the exit, speeding up the rate at which people can pass through, reported Inside Science. Full Story

Manufacturing Monthly, an Australian publication, discusses the security and access needs of manufacturers. Full Story

GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis has spent her first few months in office focusing on handing out $46 billion in stimulus money. Now, her department is adding staff and signaling it will soon begin putting in practice the more assertive regulation of business she promised early in her tenure. Ms. Solis has begun hiring 670 new investigators to enforce labor regulations. There will be 150 investigators added in the Wage and Hour division to enforce wage rules and child-labor laws. Another 100 staff will be added to ensure contractors on stimulus projects are in compliance with applicable laws. The additions will boost the division's staff by more than one-third, reported The Wall Street Journal. Full Story

There are more than 141,000 employers enrolled in the E-verify program, reported the ClarionLedger.com. As of Aug. 8, more than 7 million queries have been run through the system this fiscal year, according to the Homeland Security website. Full Story

DHI NEWS

DON’T MISS the RELEASE of the MOST PERTINENT INDUSTRY ISSUES and TRENDS RESEARCH PROJECT!

2009 FORUM FOR THE FUTURE
Sponsored by the Door and Hardware Institute and the Door Security & Safety Foundation
Wednesday, September 16th and Thursday, September 17th, 2009
Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center
Osceola Ballroom

Included with your Conference registration, ALL ATTENDEES are hardily encouraged to attend. You don’t want to miss this momentous program!

2009 FORUM FOR THE FUTURE SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16TH
12:30 pm – 2:00 pm Forum Kick-off Luncheon and Making it through the Great Recession…The Future is your Decision presented by Alan Beaulieu of the Institute for Trend Research (ITR®)

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17th
9:00 am – 12:30 pm Avoiding the Mistakes of the Past presented by Dr. Albert Bates of the Profit Planning Group
Results from DHI-Sponsored Industry Research Project presented by J. Michael Marks of Indian River Consulting Group (IRCG)
12:30 pm – 2:00 pm Forum Wrap-up Luncheon and Best Practices Discussion facilitated by J. Michael Marks of Indian River Consulting Group (IRCG)

MAKE SURE YOU NOT ONLY UNDERSTAND HOW TO SURVIVE THIS RECESSION BUT YOU ARE ALSO
PREPARED TO PROSPER WHEN THE ECONOMY UPSWINGS!
Click here to register