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

April 17, 2008

INDUSTRY ACCESS*

ADT Security Expands With Integration Acquisition

ADT Security Services, a unit of Tyco Int’l, announced it would buy commercial security systems integrator FirstService Security, a division of publicly traded FirstService Corp., for about $187 million, reported Security Sales & Integration. 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

DHI-Sponsored Insurance Program — Protects, Educates, and Saves You Time & Money!

The Door and Hardware Institute has endorsed Telcom Insurance Services Corporation (TISC) to administer an insurance program for the members of the Association. TISC is a national leader in developing association specific programs and has worked closely with the leaders and select members of DHI to become an authority on providing protection to the architectural door openings industry. TISC’s President and CEO, Peter Elliott, has personally taken the lead in crafting a program that will deliver first class coverage and service to the DHI members. Read More (PDF file)

Architecture 2030 released a seminal study showing how a small investment of only $21.6 billion in the Building Sector would produce 216,000 permanent jobs and save 86.7 Million Metric Tons (MMT) of CO2 in a single year. This same amount invested each year for five years would net over one million permanent jobs and save 433.5 MMT, reported Environmental News Network. Full Story

Two recently released studies, one by the New Buildings Institute (NBI) and one by CoStar Group, have validated what the green building community has known all along: third-party-certified buildings outperform their conventional counterparts across a wide variety of metrics, including energy savings, occupancy rates, sale price and rental rates. In the NBI study, the results indicate that new buildings certified under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification system are, on average, performing 25%-30% better than non-LEED certified buildings in terms of energy use, reported Environmental Design & Construction. Full Story

The March Producer Price Index for Wood Doors (flush & panel, interior & exterior) was down 2.6% from 2007 and the Other Wood Doors (Incl. garage, screen, storm, etc.) PPI was up 2.3% compared to a year earlier. Compared to February the unadjusted March PPI was unchanged for Wood Doors and the PPI for Other Wood Doors was up 0.2%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The PPI for Metal Doors, Sash & Trim was unchanged from February and up 2.3% from 2007. Click here to view the full March Producer Price Index report. (PDF file - Wood Door information is on page 12 and Metal Door data is on page 17)

Canadian building permits fell for a fourth straight month in February, as concerns over the floundering U.S. economy cut into business spending and expansion plans in Ontario, reported The Toronto Star. Full Story

CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN

Preservationists are preaching against the evils of teardowns, reported The Chicago Tribune. They suggest that if even if 40% of materials in a new building are recycled, it takes about 65 years for a green, energy-efficient new office building to recover the energy lost in demolishing an existing building. Full Story

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE) honored 11 educational and cultural facilities with this year’s CAE Educational Facility Design Awards. The purpose of the design awards program is to identify trends and emerging ideas, honor excellence in planning and design, and disseminate knowledge about best practices in educational and community facilities. Full Story

SECURITY & SAFETY

Three Topeka, KS area school districts are spending time and money to get a better handle on who's coming and going at their schools. The projects include renovating the buildings to funnel traffic through front staff offices, reported The Topeka Capital-Journal. Full Story

Nearly nine out of 10 respondents to a recent survey indicated that their college or university had conducted a comprehensive review of campus safety and security in the wake of the mass shootings at Virginia Tech in April of last year, and a similar proportion indicated that changes had been made to policies, procedures or security systems as a result of the tragedy, according to the Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC), reported Access Control & Security Systems. Full Story

Selling single sign-on systems, which provide access to buildings and networks with a single credential or biometric, means selling the ROI associated with those systems. The convergence of physical and logical security has been a favorite topic in the security industry for several years, but its implementation in sign-on systems that use a single card or biometric to access a building and a computer network has been more of a goal than an installation to date, reported Security Distributing & Marketing. Full Story

GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

A statewide building and energy code enacted by the Legislature this week could add cost to new homes and burden some Maine towns, but local officials and contractors say the uniform building code is long overdue. The legislation will require communities with populations greater than 2,000 to enforce uniform building standards. Towns that currently enforce a building code must adopt the statewide code by 2010. Those that have no building code in place must get onboard with the statewide code by 2012, reported The Ellsworth American. Full Story

SMALL BUSINESS NEWS

Health Care Insurance - New Chapter

Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), and Norm Coleman (R-MN) have introduced the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) bill, S. 2795. It is a very complicated bill.

The part that is tough to follow is the concept of purchasing pools. Basically, the bill allows the formation of state purchasing pools. For small businesses and the self employed in states that choose not to do so, there will be one big national purchasing pool run by the federal government. Benefit requirements will follow state laws, except that nationwide plans will initially be required to meet minimum benefit standards developed primarily by the Institute of Medicine based on what is clinically appropriate, affordable, and common in today’s small group market. To prevent adverse selection, SHOP will follow state rating rules in the early years of the program. Rating based on health status will be prohibited nationwide starting in 2011. In 2013, SHOP will transition to a long-term set of rating rules based on recommendations from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

The proponents are offering annual tax credits to the self-employed and small employers that acquire coverage through the program. A targeted tax credit will be offered to self-employed persons and small businesses (with up to 50 employees) if the employer pays at least 60 percent of the premiums. Employers with 10 or fewer employees will receive $1,000 for each covered employee ($2,000 for family coverage), and the credit will be phased down as the size of the employer increases. Those who pay more than 60 percent of the premiums will receive a bonus.

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

Foundation President Martin Walsh Meets with Congressman Thomas Latham (R-IA), Attends Congressional Fire Services Institute Dinner

Martin Walsh, Foundation President met with Congressman Thomas Latham (R-IA) at the congressman’s Washington D.C. office on April 3rd. The meeting took place in coordination with the Congressional Fire Services Institute dinner that tool place later that day.

Rep. Latham, who represents Iowa's 4th Congressional District, listened as President Walsh discussed the Foundation’s role in creating awareness for the fire door inspection program and our role in providing security guidelines for K-12 and college campuses. The congressman was very interested in President Walsh describing some of the security upgrades that are being performed at some of the local Iowa universities.

Later that evening, President Walsh attended the Congressional Fire Services dinner which honors our nation's firefighters. With over 2,000 people in attendance, they where able to hear from congressional leaders including Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speak out in support of all the good work associated with those that serve as firefighters.

All those that spoke are members the Congressional Fire Services Caucus, which is the largest caucus in Congress with over 320 members.

Foundation Participates in Total Fire Protection Symposium

Fire and building code officials attended the 'Total Fire Protection Symposium' event that took place in San Jose, CA on April 10th.

The ICC East Bay, Monterey Bay, and Peninsula Chapters, Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and the Firestop Contractors International Association (FCIA) hosted this comprehensive and informative symposium for architects, specifiers and regulatory authorities.

This Symposium provided education to the design, specification and enforcement professional about the value of utilizing effective fire safety technologies in building design today. Topics included the Foundation’s presentation of NFPA 80’s fire door inspection requirements; code requirements for each fire protection approach, the building applications where each fire protection element may be used, new standards developed for quality installation and inspection, and new technologies and improvements in all these fire protection elements.

A special thank you to the following companies (whose name appeared on the inside cover) for making the distribution of over 100 AHJ’s Guide: Swinging Fire Doors with Builders Hardware available to the attendees: ASSA ABLOY North America, Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies, Seeley Brothers, VT Industries, Inc., and Walters & Wolf Interiors.

Keep up-to-date with the latest Foundation news and programs, please visit www.lifesafetysecurity.org

DHI NEWS

Don’t Miss Upcoming DHI National Education!
May MEGA School
May 11 – 18, 2008 in Lansdowne, VA

MAKE SURE YOU SECURE YOUR SPOT –
Your next opportunity for National education WON’T BE UNTIL NOVEMBER 2008 IN BOSTON!

This upcoming education session features 28 of our 31 National classes! With its extensive course offerings and logical structure, this event is designed to maximize your time and effort to attend National Education.

PLUS! NEW THIS YEAR! To help maximize your education experience, DHI has planned several great after-class activities and networking opportunities for all students and Instructors, including a BBQ Dinner, Volleyball Match, President's Reception, Jeopardy Challenge: Students vs. Instructors, Karaoke Night, Talent Show and Movie Night.

Come EXPAND your knowledge, HONE your skills and NETWORK with your peers!

Go online to www.dhi.org/education for the complete course listings and to register online! Questions? Not sure which courses to take? Contact our Member Services team directly at 703-222-2010 and we can help you select the best courses for you!