News-Watch for Window Cleaning Professionals

WFPs on WCR, epidodes 3 hosted by Micah Kommers of "We Wash Windows" from Greenville, South Carolina. This week Micah takes a look at pure water & what it means for the water fed pole user.

Paul McQuillan started a window cleaning business several years ago and discovered marketing. In the last year he has designed ads that have generated more than $250,000 in sales. He says he differs himself and products from everyone else by keeping it completely B.S. free. He works with many window cleaning companies and has helped over 50 directly over the past couple years. Discover Pauls onslaught marketing here.

Electrocuted by powerline: Southern Illinois news headlines - Terry N. Brooks, 29, Mt. Carmel, died Monday afternoon in what Wabash County Sheriff Joe Keeling described a "horrible accident." Keeling said Brooks and a co-worker were believed to be power-washing a building just north of this city when the victim sustained a fatal electrical shock. Emergency first responders were called about 1:56 p.m. to the location of Performance Plus Consulting on Illinois 1, the Mt. Carmel Daily Republican-Register reported, and found the victim unresponsive. He apparently had come in contact with a power line, the newspaper said, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Closing of dealerships to reverberate throughout region: The day after Chrysler notified Edward Burke that his Jeep Dodge dealership was no longer wanted, the window washer at the Lisle store that Burke has owned since 1987 stopped him. He wanted to know if he would still have a job after June 9, when the dealership is slated to close. It was one of those small moments that illustrates the reach of an automobile dealership in a local community -- which extends to the Little League team counting on sponsorship or the local waitress depending on tips from dealer employees' lunches.

Watt Plaza Becomes First Office Building in Los Angeles to Receive Prestigious Gold LEED® Certification in ‘Existing Buildings Operations and Maintenance’ Category. Watt Plaza, a twin 23-story office tower complex encompassing 900,000 square feet in the heart of Century City, has been awarded Gold LEED Existing Buildings Operations and Maintenance (EB O&M) certification by the U.S. Green Building Council, making it the first office building in Los Angeles to achieve this distinction in this category. Watt Plaza is one of five buildings in California and one of 12 buildings in the United States to be certified LEED EB O&M. LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the U.S. Green Building Council’s primary rating system for designing and constructing the world’s greenest, most energy efficient and high-performing buildings. Energy efficiency measures encompass the following: achievement of a high Energy Star rating (benchmark of energy performance relative to similar buildings in similar climates) each year since 2004; installation of 3M Prestige Window film application throughout building interior; and installation of 2,231 occupancy sensors. The 3M window film rejects up to 79% of the heat that would otherwise come through the window; this can translate into a savings of about one ton of air conditioning for every 100 square feet of glass exposed to sunlight. In the colder winter months, the window film also works to reflect manmade heat back into the building, reducing heat loss by up to 30 percent.

A UK company that provides help to building projects has defied the economic downturn by moving to bigger premises. Marpal, which was set up in Derby in 1998, offers advice to building schemes to ensure they comply with specific regulations set out by the Health and Safety Executive. Company founder and director Paul Littlewood said he decided to make the move to allow for future expansion. Marpal is currently working on major projects in Derby, including Derby College's Roundhouse Development. The company also works with Derby City Council, Rolls-Royce, Twycross Zoo and JCB, as well as national organisations such as BUPA and the Ministry of Defence. Its staff work with companies to ensure they meet health and safety regulations and advise on all aspects of construction and design. This includes considering the safety of a building once it is completed – for example, whether it will be safe to carry out window cleaning and if the fire exits are easy to reach.

Energy efficient Low E glass is produced for the first time in Australia using the CVD coating process following the completion of a major upgrade at Viridian 's glass making plant at Dandenong in Victoria. The commencement of the Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) coater is the final stage of the upgrade, following the successful commencement of glassmaking in October 2008. The Dandenong plant has produced a range of Low E coated products including Viridian EnergyTech, SolTech, EVantage and Renew self cleaning glass. According to Steve Choat, General Manager, Viridian, the specialist Pilkington coatings engineers who have commissioned the coater are satisfied with the quality and performance of the product. A rigorous process of product performance testing has occurred in Australia and by Pilkington at its dedicated technology laboratories in the UK.
The upgraded plant is now one of the most advanced and sustainable glass making plants in the world and received the support of the Victorian Government. The CVD coater uses globally proven and accepted Pilkington technology. The plant will provide Viridian's customers with a range of well known and accepted energy efficient glass products, including Viridian ComfortPlus and Viridian EVantage, as well as providing skilled employment and potential for export and import replacement.
Viridian's energy efficient coated glass allows building designers to incorporate large expanses of glass while achieving energy efficient design requirements. Window fabricators will also benefit from local supply of coated glass that helps them to meet growing customer demand for energy efficient glass and insulated glass units (IGUs) for the new and retrofit market.
Hard coated glass manufactured by Viridian at Dandenong is durable because the special coatings are applied while the glass is still semi molten. The CVD coating process occurs while the glass is being manufactured, with precisely controlled coatings molecularly bonded to the surface. By changing the chemistry of the coatings, Viridian can achieve different performance properties to produce a range of energy efficiency low emissivity (Low E) glass.
The durability of the coatings allows the glass to be easily handled, processed and stored and when installed offers resilient and dependable performance for the life of the window. The Dandenong upgrade also included rebuilding the glass furnace, increasing capacity and equipping the float line with the latest technology, including new online cutting and a modernised raw materials batch plant.
The CVD coater is a leading edge glass manufacturing technology that puts Viridian on track to deliver a range of locally made energy efficient coated glass products for reducing the energy consumption and improving the comfort of commercial and residential buildings.
The CVD coater produces a range of low emissivity (Low E) glass products that let in abundant natural light, but reduce the passage of heat to keep a building warmer in winter and cooler in summer, lessening the need for artificial heating or cooling. These types of products are well recognised in Europe and North America as an important way of reducing a building’s energy consumption and improving occupant comfort. Now builders, designers, architects, and home owners can take full advantage of high-performance energy efficient glass from Viridian.

And finally Peter Leith....the singing window cleaner.