Green, green, it’s green they say…

A columnist from a sister publication reminded us of the lyrics from a 1960s folk song. Touting the color green isn’t anything new, but the whole “green” movement has taken on a life of its own. Complete with urban myths — not the least of which is the idea that there are magical “green” products coming to save the planet.

There are, of course, products that are more environmentally-friendly than others, and contractors should be looking for them and you should be stocking them — more and more designers are specifying them in building and remodeling plans.

But, even without a whole new endcap of “green” products, you can help your customers demonstrate their commitment to the “green” movement.

As columnist, remodeler Mike Weiss pointed out in a recent issue of Qualified Remodeler, a lot of contractors have been “greener than they think” for a long time. And you can help promote what they’ve discovered.

Consider:

•Anyone with a highly trained field staff that understands the importance of reducing jobsite waste is “green.”
•Estimating and ordering properly is “green.”
•Companies that place attention on details like back-priming exterior wood to reduce the need for caulk is “green.”
•Sound practices of all kinds designed to promote efficiency and be cost-effective are very “green.”
•By using existing products correctly or in more creative ways, a contractor can be more “green” than possible even with some of the new buzzword “green” products.

There will be building customers that say, “I don’t care about the cost, I want the most environmentally-friendly, green building I can get.” That’s fine, but contractors will still be asked to demonstrate a cost vs. benefit of the new techniques. Meaning, you’ll be asked to demonstrate the same thing. There will be situations where something will look good in an ad, but when it comes to the test of time, it won’t stand up, won’t work in the local environment or just isn’t practical. If it takes 20 years of savings to make up the difference in original cost, is it really worth it? Those kinds of things should be the obligation of a contractor to review with a customer — and many are looking to you for the details they need to make the case.

You can help your customers decide where they want to be in the world of “green.” As Weiss says, “they need to decide how much of their own ‘green’ they are willing to invest to become concerned green, enthusiastically green, fanatically tree-hugging green or polar bear petting, cost is no object green.”

Green, green it’s green they say on the far side of the hill…and I’m going away to where the grass is greener still!

A. D. “Butch” Horn
Editor
Construction Distribution magazine
920.568.8336 or 800.547.7377 ext. 1336
FAX 866.459.4547
butch.horn@cygnusb2b.com

Didn’t you really want to smack that kid when you were back in school? Hopefully, you’ve all gotten past that… ’cause I know something you don’t know!

In the last few weeks we’ve been privy to a host of forward-thinking product introductions from some of the biggest, most recognizable names in the industry. There are new products about to enter the pipeline that will find welcomed spots on your shelves and on the job sites of your customers.

We’ve been sworn to secrecy and, with a lot of arm twisting (OK, not so much), promised not to reveal who’s coming out with what until their time is right. All we can say for sure is that it won’t be long and we think you’re going to like what you see.

Care to guess who’s introducing new tools? Do you think you’ve got an inside track? Give us your best guess… send an email titled WE KNOW TOO to butch.horn@cygnusb2b.com with your best guess as to which company (or companies) are coming out with major product introductions and what you think the new lineup will include. We’d love to see how many “leaks” there might be, and how good your intelligence gathering is.

We’ll be sharing in the next issue or two, so look for your coming issues of CONSTRUCTION DISTRIBUTION and check back online, too.

A. D. “Butch” Horn
Editor
Construction Distribution magazine
920.568.8336 or 800.547.7377 ext. 1336
FAX 866.459.4547
butch.horn@cygnusb2b.com

It is amazing how important the game of golf is inside the world of business. Any business.

Golf outings for customers are no longer novelties. They’re almost expected. And, in most companies there is at least one, probably several people ready to take on the project - ’cause they’d rather golf than work anyway. I know a VP of marketing for an international company that never tries to hide the fact that he only works to fund his golf game.

These events welcome golfers of all kinds, serious to comedic. I played in one once where just before the start a player declared she would “shoot 65 today.” And she did! After the eighth hole she headed for the clubhouse, having carded her 65th shot. She greeted everyone as they finished their traditional 18-hole round. You don’t have to be good to have a great time.

Invariably, before play you’re asked what your handicap is. If you don’t play much they’ll usually make one up for you. I usually tell ‘em, “I’m a lefthanded golfer, why do I need another handicap?”

Now that the golf outing isn’t new any more, what else can you do to bring customers together with your people to build a bond beyond the jobsite or the front counter? We’ve talked with distributors who host poker nights, fishing tournaments and sporting clays events. What else is going on? If you’ve found something that works, share the idea. Nobody will steal it - at least not totally, they’ll at least put their own spin on it.

And here’s an idea for your next golf outing. Sell mulligans. You know, those extra shots everybody wants when the first one is an “oops.” A local builders association has a very successful event every year and it designates a couple of staff members to circle the course in a golf cart selling mulligans. The proceeds go as donations to Habitat For Humanity and the players get a kick out of it (and many really need ‘em). They sell for something like $10 each or three for $25. I think they set a maximum number a player can buy, too. They host a big event (putting at least one foursome on each tee of a 36-hole course) and they’ve been known to make more than $1,000 selling their do-overs. Even the golfers who don’t need, or use them get in the spirit and buy a couple for a good cause.

The details are up to you, but it’s a neat way to raise a little cash for a charity and give the players something to talk about. The mulligan cart isn’t as popular as the beer wagon, but it gets noticed.

A. D. “Butch” Horn
Editor
Construction Distribution magazine
920.568.8336 or 800.547.7377 ext. 1336
FAX 866.459.4547
butch.horn@cygnusb2b.com

I will be so glad when the current bandwagon goes by; it’s giving me a headache. I mean the one with all the “green” folks on it demanding that we all ride bikes to work and eat free-range sprouts. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a strong supporter of the whole “green” construction movement, but there’s one law of physics that has to be applied to everything that’s going on… “for every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction.”

It would be very refreshing if these zealots would look beyond the horizon before they proclaim the next wonder of the world. There’s one thing they do prove… the domino theory. When they make a move here, there’s an opposite reaction somewhere.

Take the great push for ethanol made from corn to “reduce our dependence on foreign oil.” It could do that for our children’s children, but in our lifetime? It’s doubtful. But, while we rush, headlong, to build new ethanol plants we’ve managed to more than double the price of corn in less than two years. That’s great for some farmers, but it also means the price of everything from pot roast to Pepsi is going up, too. To take advantage of this windfall, farmers are draining more land and growing more corn - raising the prices of foods that aren’t corn-based because those other ingredients are now harder to get. According to a recent report in Fortune magazine, it takes about 450 pounds of corn to provide enough ethanol to fill the tank of a full-size pickup or an SUV. And, that same 450 pounds, when converted to food, can provide enough calories to feed a person for a whole year.

There are other dominos teetering, too. In an attempt to get in on the action, farmers in Asia and parts of South America have been clearing and burning huge tracts of rain forest (pumping vast quantities of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere in the process). Wasn’t there a bandwagon that went by not long ago with a big ol’ “Save The Rain Forest!” banner on it?

In the business that dominates your life, it isn’t logical to drive a cute little hybrid or a “smart” car. Try and pack a couple cases of nails, some threaded rod and half a dozen six-foot levels in one of those so you can deliver to a jobsite - or try to pop one of those over a curb, down a rock road or across a sodden field to get to the site trailer!

One from the “get real” file…

The latest in our area (making headlines on national news outlets like CNN, too) a member of the Madison, WI planning commission has decided it would be a good thing to ban drive-through windows at eating establishments. His reasoning: “All those cars idling while waiting in line are polluting the air… it’s another step toward saving the planet.”

Please, somebody save us from ourselves! And I do want fries with that.

Don’t let the facts get in the way of the story you want to tell… that seems to be the motto of today’s environmentalists. In this election year, maybe we need to “cloud” some of the politicians’ issues with facts. They can be taking more money right outta your pockets as the bandwagon rolls by.

How do you keep afloat and be “green” at the same time? Find more economical vehicles for deliveries and sales? Charge for deliveries to cover fuel costs? Increase prices across the board just to keep doing “business as usual?” Or? You tell us.

A. D. “Butch” Horn
Editor
Construction Distribution magazine
920.568.8336 or 800.547.7377 ext. 1336
FAX 866.459.4547
butch.horn@cygnusb2b.com

A while ago the local daily paper ran a report of a survey done by Associated Press (AP) and the online service AOL to take the blood pressure of those in the housing market. The text blared “60 percent said they definitely won’t buy a house in the next two years.” The conclusion was obvious: The housing industry is in deep, deep do-do.

Making it worse, it went on to report that 14 percent of the people are afraid they won’t be able to make their mortgage payments in the months ahead.

Wait a minute? Who are these people? Were you asked any of these questions? Me neither - and I can’t find anyone who was. So, I did a perfectly random and unscientific survey of my own.

Surveying friends, relatives and coworkers I found that 100 percent said they won’t buy a house in the next two years!

Man, oh man, does that reflect an even worse housing problem here? No. It just means that these people are happy and comfortable in their homes and have no plans to change. It has nothing to do with the market, mortgage rates or any of the other headline-making scenarios.

And, absolutely none of those we talked to are worried about making their monthly payments (at least no more than anyone might be). They have been doing it regularly and don’t foresee any reason that will change.

So, what’s the deal? Is this area totally isolated from the real world, or did that AP survey ask leading questions to a questionable population?

There’s an old saying… “figures lie and liars figure.”

We’d like to know your take on headlines and reports like these. Do they reflect what’s going on in your area? Are papers and electronic media in your area reporting what’s really happening, or just continuing to play CNN Says

Post a response.

Gottcha! I didn’t say CNN Says! But do it anyway.

A. D. “Butch” Horn
Editor
Construction Distribution magazine
920.568.8336 or 800.547.7377 ext. 1336
FAX 866.459.4547
butch.horn@cygnusb2b.com

Remember the old children’s game Simon Says? The leader, Simon, gave directions and the players followed them.

“Simon says, stand on one foot.”

Everyone stands on one foot.

“Simon says, sit in a chair.”

Everyone sits.

“Stand up!”

Anyone who rises is out of the game. Can’t do anything unless “Simon says.”

Ever get the feeling that we’re playing a new version? Something like CNN Says?

When CNN reports “the price of gasoline will go to $4 a gallon,” sure enough, a gallon costs 10 cents more within 24 hours. And, two weeks later, when it drops by 2 cents a gallon, we’re delighted that the cost has come down -even though the net is 8 cents out of our pockets. Don’t you wish you could price the products on your shelves that way?

For months CNN has been telling us about the building industry bubble bursting, the housing crisis and a half dozen related doom and gloom stories. Local newspapers and electronic media, taking their lead from the network gurus, pick up the stories and run them as the hot headline. Few check to see if the wire story coming from Los Angeles, Las Vegas or Atlanta actually reflects what’s happening in their community. Heck, if CNN said it’s so… it’s so!

As we travel around the country we get a somewhat different picture. Is there a serious loss of income on the residential side of this business? Absolutely.

Has the “bubble burst” in every community? Not so much.

We find high-end home builders who have cut back to 12 new jobs this year instead of the 15 they did a year or so ago. We find builders specializing in entry-level or step-up homes with plenty of would-be buyers, but their buyers are having trouble getting loans. And, we find bigger companies that normally put 250-300 houses on the ground each year are really hurting. And, of course, many who normally put 1,000 or more houses in play are in complete freefall.

So, we’re asking: “What’s really happening out there? Has a housing ‘crisis’ swept the land, or have some cities and some regions chosen not to participate? What about commercial construction? Is it, too, begun the plunge?

What’s going on in your territory? Did CNN get it right, or has the news giant slanted its coverage (would they do that)?

Share your thoughts here and we’ll pass your comments on to the audience of Construction Distribution.

“Yakity yak… don’t talk back!”

That’s the only line I can remember from an old, old rock song, but it triggered an idea for this venture into the blogosphere. This is a way for me and, from time to time, others on the magazine’s staff, to share thoughts, observations and opinions in an off-the-cuff forum. We’re going to “talk back.” And, we encourage (read that as beg!) you to do the same. We’re hoping to generate dialog between you and the others who read this and the blog entries to follow. I think most will agree that some of the best ideas and information can be gleaned while standing in line to get coffee between sessions at a convention, riding in an elevator with somebody in the same business, or sitting in an airport chatting up a fellow business traveler. Well, consider this an opportunity for all of the above without getting up (sorry, no coffee!).

A. D. “Butch” Horn
Editor
Construction Distribution magazine
920.568.8336 or 800.547.7377 ext. 1336
FAX 866.459.4547
butch.horn@cygnusb2b.com

Construction Distribution would like to welcome everyone to our new Blog. Stay Tuned for our first blog discussion.