February 8, 2007

INDUSTRY ACCESS*

ASSA ABLOY Acquires Producer of Door Components

ASSA ABLOY has acquired Pemko Manufacturing Company, a leading North American producer of door components. Pemko Manufacturing Company designs and manufactures door components for sealing doors. Pemko is a family owned business established in 1952 and headquartered in Ventura, California. The company has approximately 330 employees.

"The acquisition of Pemko brings into ASSA ABLOY a well recognized and highly respected producer of door components. The Pemko product line is complementary to our existing product offerings and distribution channels," says Thanasis Molokotos, Head of Americas division.

For additional information, please visit www.assaabloy.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 nonresidential construction market is expected to increase by almost 7% in 2007 in inflation adjusted terms, following the growth of near 6% in 2006. With balanced growth in the commercial/industrial and institution sectors, strong construction activity is projected in office buildings, hotels and health care facilities, according to The American Institute of Architects (AIA) semi-annual Consensus Construction Forecast. If this projection is accurate, 2006-2007 would be the best two-year period for the industry since the late 1990’s. Full Story

For 2006 as a whole, nonresidential building advanced 14% to $203.8 billion, a faster rate of growth than what took place in 2005 (up 9%) and 2004 (up 5%). The commercial structure types provided much of the upward push. Hotel construction in 2006 soared 89%, boosted by groundbreaking for a number of very large hotel/casino projects in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and other locales around the nation. Office construction climbed 37%, regaining upward momentum after stalling in 2005. The top five markets for office construction in 2006, ranked by the dollar amount of new construction starts, were: New York, Washington DC, Phoenix, Chicago, and Dallas-Ft. Worth, according to McGraw-Hill Construction. Full Story

Development and construction executives based in the Southeast have no complaints about the current hotel-construction pipeline, reported Hotel & Motel Management. In fact, the south Atlantic region in particular boasts the largest construction and planning pipeline in the country. Full Story

A firm delivery date from distributors isn't enough anymore. Today's customers also want their orders delivered at a specified time. DC Velocity offers 10 tips for meeting their demands without breaking the bank. Full Story

CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN

The education sector is the fastest-growing market for green building, good news for the industry, given that education construction is the largest construction sector, by value, at $53 billion for 2007, according to McGraw-Hill Construction's Education Green Building SmartMarket Report . MHC focused on the education sector because of the specific sensitivities children have to indoor air pollutants and environments, as well as the amount of time students (at the K-12 and university levels) spend in these buildings. Full Story

The National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities offered several school construction spending summaries for Arizona, Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee and Virginia. Full Story

A $14 billion blueprint for rebuilding New Orleans relies heavily on financial incentives to get people to elevate their houses or to otherwise build more safely, reported The Houston Chronicle. And it recommends focusing initial investment in areas that have come back more quickly from Hurricane Katrina. "The financing follows the people," said Darren Diamond, a consultant on the planning team. "This is a people-driven plan." The Unified New Orleans Plan, the latest in a string of recovery plans and intended to be the last of them, was given to city planning officials for what's expected to be a months-long approval process. Full Story

Wen-I Chang, founder and president of Atman Hospitality Group, Inc., is focusing on building a chain of green hotels. His first environmental inn-the 133-room Gaia Napa Valley in American Canyon, CA -opened in October. Chang also is developing the 133-room Atman Hotel in Anderson, CA, a 141-room Merced Center Hotel in Merced, CA, and a property in Mt. Shasta, CA. Each of Atman Hospitality Group's properties will pursue Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Chang expects his Gaia Napa Valley hotel to be certified either Gold or Silver in the next few months, reported Hotel News Resource. Full Story

The Washington, DC-based U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Life Cycle Assessment working group has developed initial recommendations for incorporating Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of building materials as part of the continuous improvement of LEED Green Building Rating System. The recommendations include short- and long-term implementation strategies as well as technical details regarding LCA methodology. LCA is a scientific methodology that holistically evaluates the environmental impact of a product throughout its life-cycle: from the extraction or harvesting of raw materials through processing, manufacture, installation, use, and ultimate disposal or recycling. In buildings, it can be used to compare the environmental benefits or detriments of options available to the design team, reported Buildings.com. Full Story

Evidence-based design is transforming the healthcare environment by providing a record of proven architectural methods that will aid in improving patient outcomes, safety, and satisfaction, as well as boost staff retention and service efficiency now and into the future, reported Buildings.com. Full Story

SECURITY & SAFETY

State and local governments may now purchase security products, before events occur, "to support recovery from major disasters and acts of terrorism" from the Federal Supply Schedules of the General Services Administration, the GSA announced Feb. 1. Prior to Feb. 1, the contracts were available only to federal agencies, or to local and state governments after a major disaster or act of terrorism event actually happened, reported Security Systems News. Full Story

Biometric products provide improved security over traditional electronic access control methods such as RFID tags, electronic keypads and some mechanical locks, reported Security Park (UK). They ensure that the authorized user is present in order for access to take place. The user’s authorized card or password pin cannot be stolen or lost to gain access. Full Story

GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

The California Building Standards Commission voted unanimously to adopt the 2006 IBC with Alliance for Fire and Smoke Containment and Control (AFSCC) amendments. This will become the new 2007 California Building Code (CBC). In September 2007, California legislature begins the annual rule making process, but no further changes can be made to the 2007 CBC. The new code will become effective in the summer of 2008. Full Story

SMALL BUSINESS NEWS

Employee Free Choice Act

It is expected that Chairman Miller will reintroduce his legislation today, known as the Employee Free Choice Act in the past several Congresses, that will make it easier for unions to get authorization to form a union at a business.

Under current law, individuals interested in organizing a union must file a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). This petition must demonstrate that 30% of potential union members want to have union organizing election. Generally, the potential union members sign an authorization card indicating their desire to join a union. Importantly, within 45 days of receiving the petition, the NLRB will then conduct a secret ballot election to let employees decide whether they want to join the union. This allows employees to freely choose whether or not they wish to join the union, without coercion.

Instead of petition for an election, if an organizing campaign can collect authorization cards from more than 50% of the employees (this is often referred to as the "50 plus one" rule as the cards must collected from 50% of the employees plus one more employee), they can request the employer to recognize voluntarily the union. Chairman Miller's proposal would REQUIRE an employer to recognize the union if it collects authorization cards from more than 50% of the employees. There would be no secret ballot election in such a case.

Fair Minimum Wage Act

As expected, the Senate overwhelmingly approved H.R. 2, the Fair Minimum Wage Act, by a vote of 94-3. The bill included the small business tax package that will help ease the burden of an increased minimum wage. Following this bill's passage, the President released a statement in support of the bill. Should the House decide to pass the Senate's bill unaltered, the bill will be signed by the President in short order.

FOUNDATION NEWS

Foundation Applies for Department of Homeland Security Grant

The Foundation has applied for a Fire Prevention and Safety Grant (FP&S), offered through the Department of Homeland Security.

In response to the Department of Homeland Security's request for proposals for the Fire Prevention and Safety Grant (FP&S) program, the Foundation for the Advancement of Life Safety and Security has applied for slightly more than $254,000 from DHS for a Fire Prevention and Safety grant. The grant money would be used to train fire officials to support the efforts of those who will be doing fire-rated door inspections. After the training, officials would have a better understanding of what constitutes a safe, fire-rated door, a door that would comply with the NFPA 80 standard. The Foundation's objective is to reach high-risk target groups, with the support of the fire service, and mitigate incidences of deaths and injuries caused by fire and fire-related hazards.

A few statistics that support our position:

Almost 2 million children under the age of five attend 113,000 licensed day care centers, and about 33.4 million children attend elementary schools.1
The number of teachers in the United States is 6.2 million. 3.5 million of these professionals teach young children (ages 3-14).2
Of those elementary school-aged children, about 20% attend day care before and after school.3

1) (Critical Facts about Young Children and Early Childhood Programs in the United State. National Association for the Education of Young Children. 2002. http://www.naeyc.org/ece/critical/facts2.asp).
2) (Teacher Appreciation Week. United States Census Bureau. April 2004. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/001737.html)
3) (Critical Facts about Young Children and Early Childhood Programs in the United State. National Association for the Education of Young Children. 2002. http://www.naeyc.org/ece/critical/facts2.asp).

DHI NEWS

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