Canadian Contractor - July-August 2015

More documents

Recommendations

Info

COMPANY NEWS Good Works Building-products giant Saint-Gobain celebrates 350 years in business with a pledge to make builders out of disadvantaged youth By John Caulfield Saint-Gobain, the international buildingproducts manufacturer, is marking its 350th anniversary by strategically partnering with YouthBuild USA through a three-year $600,000 grant and a commitment to launch a trade school in South Africa. Since 2010, France-based Saint- Gobain – which is perhaps best known in Canada for the RSI and acoustical products it markets under the CertainTeed brand – has provided financial and building materials support to the Bostonbased YouthBuild USA, a nonprofit organization that provides education, counselling, and jobskills training to unemployed young American adults, generally highschool dropouts. That support has focused on the organization’s Green Initiative Program, a sustainable building and job-training program for disadvantaged youth; and specifically on YouthBuild programs in four communities where Saint-Gobain has business concentrations: Philadelphia, Penn., Worcester, Mass., Schenectady, N.Y., and Canton, Ohio. Saint Gobain, well-known in Canada for the CertainTeed brand, opened a series of public pavilions in Philadelphia recently. The LOOK pavilion is comprised of numerous mirrors inlaid with LEDs. By day, its exterior reflects the surrounding environment; by night it becomes a perpetually shifting cube of light. Saint-Gobain started as a mirror company in France in 1665. 30 July/August 2015 www.canadiancontractor.ca
COMPANY NEWS Through this partnership in the U.S., former out-of-school youth have been given the opportunity to build energyefficient homes in their neighborhoods while earning a high school diploma or its equivalent. Since its inception in 2010, the program has impacted more than 1,050 YouthBuild students nationwide. And Saint-Gobain and YouthBuild USA have completed three U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) LEED-certified homes. Its latest pledge brings Saint Gobain’s total funding of YouthBuild USA to $1.3 million over the course of seven years (2010-17). The extended partnership will make possible the following activities over the next three years: • YouthBuild Philadelphia Charter School will complete two projects already underway at Wingohocking Street in Philadelphia, launch a renovation of the school’s Community Celebration Room, and identify a third project. • YouthBuild Schenectady (operated by Social Enterprise and Training Center) will identify and complete a second project. • YouthBuild Worcester (operated by Training Resources of America, Inc.) will identify and complete a third project. • YouthBuild Canton (operated by Project REBUILD) will identify and complete its first project. • YouthBuild and Saint-Gobain will continue implementation of the “Scientists in the Classroom” program that leverages Saint-Gobain scientists and engineers to expose students to curriculum and careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Showing love to the City of Brotherly Love Aside from announcing its expanded relationship with YouthBuild USA, Saint- Gobain has also pledged to reinforce its commitment to North America, where over the past five years alone it has invested more than $3 billion and where it currently employs 15,000 workers; as well as its connection with Philadelphia, which dates back to 1948. CertainTeed has long been based in the suburb of Valley Forge, Pa. The company is in the process of building a 43,000-square-foot Innovation Center and new headquarters on 65 acres in the suburb of Malvern, Pa. Last October, CertainTeed opened an R&D Lab on that campus. Saint-Gobain’s funding efforts have helped more than 1,050 YouthBuild students nationwide. Philadelphia is one of only four cities worldwide – the others being Shanghai, Paris, and São Paulo – where Saint-Gobain this year will exhibit Future Sensations, a series of pavilions that showcase the company’s businesses and products in energy, aerospace, transportation, commercial and residential construction, medical and life sciences, and high tech. For example, the LOOK pavillion is comprised of numerous mirrors inlaid with LEDs. By day, its exterior reflects the surrounding environment; by night it becomes a perpetually shifting cube of light. The DISCOVER pavillion, which is exclusive to the Philadelphia exhibit, is a 70-foot dome that informs visitors about how the company’s products have impacted the lives of Americans. Perhaps the coolest pavilion is LISTEN, a padded cube that uses “spatialization” technology to ricochet different sounds throughout the booth. 15 generations and counting To mark its 350th anniversary, Saint- Gobain has posted an online exhibition – www.saint-gobain350years.com – whose 700 documents include a timeline of 22 important dates in the company’s history, a 3D reconstruction of its glassworks as it would have been in operation in 1785, a gallery of innovations that showcases Saint-Gobain’s contributions to architecture and housing, and a scrapbook of its leaders, inventors, and other important employees. Nostalgia is nice, but Saint-Gobain also knows it’s in a “what have you done for me lately” world. Pierre-André de Chalendar, Saint-Gobain’s chairman and CEO, who flew in for the Philadelphia press conference, acknowledged that the company’s growth would continue to hinge on innovation. Saint-Gobain, he said, is “more focused on the future than the past,” and is on the lookout for “solutions” that can be expanded to other parts of the globe. Saint-Gobain currently has 182,000 employees in 64 countries, including South Africa, where YouthBuild has operated for a decade, and where Saint-Gobain runs an accredited training program that prepares disadvantaged youth to work in the construction industry. Saint-Gobain and YouthBuild International plan to open a YouthBuild school in Samrand, South Africa, about 20 minutes from Johannesburg. Saint-Gobain will provide a training facility, trainers, and building materials. Initially, the program will serve 50 disadvantaged youth. cc www.canadiancontractor.ca July/August 2015 31
Page 1 and 2: Smart Tech Kitchens Designers Talk
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS 18 Cover Story Take Our fe
Page 5 and 6: Introducing Fiberon Symmetry Railin
Page 7 and 8: Rob Hauser Hauser Home Hardware Bui
Page 9 and 10: EDITORIAL IN PRAISE OF NO-NAMES By
Page 11 and 12: corotechcoatings.ca ©2014 Benjamin
Page 14: VOICES spot. Second, teach your sta
Page 17 and 18: POWERFULLY CORDLESS. Festool cordle
Page 19 and 20: FINANCIALS Let’s take a moment to
Page 21 and 22: FINANCIALS Hopefully that number is
Page 23 and 24: KITCHENS Kitchens, dollar for dolla
Page 26 and 27: KITCHENS is right within reach,”
Page 28 and 29: KITCHENS Colour Like the striated l
Page 32: COMPANY NEWS CertainTeed targets Ca
Page 36 and 37: CREATIVE EYE Shore House, North Sho
Page 42 and 43: PROFILE Jon and Dave Bryant 42 July
Page 44 and 45: PROFILE and we’ve exceeded many o
Page 46 and 47: PROFILE Above: Dave Bryant takes pa
Page 48 and 49: PROFILE Nuggets of Wisdom From Jon
Page 50 and 51: ↑ 14 ft. ↑ and/or ←140 ft.→
Page 52 and 53: MAXWELL’S Stuff We Like HONE RUN
Page 54 and 55: MAXWELL’S Stuff We Like The first
Page 56 and 57: MAXWELL PRODUCTS MAXWELL’S PICK E
Page 58 and 59: WHAT WOULD YOU DO? Off The Book The
Page 60: WORRY ABOUT THE JOB AHEAD NOT THE T

Canadian Contractor - July-August 2015

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?