Watch DIYNetwork’s Amy Matthews visit to Serious Materials’ Colorado window factory to find out why you lose so much energy from dual pane windows. You’ll get an inside look at how high R-value super-insulating windows are made in one of our plants. It was terrific to host Amy and the crew from their great new show This New House! You can still catch the entire episode on the DIYNetwork - check dates and times here.
The problem is building operations and materials consume (use) the most energy globally – of any other industry sector. The largest contributor to C02 generation is our buildings (52% vs. passenger cars of 9%).
We can re-invent and re-think how we build and re-build our buildings to save the most money, and save the most energy – beyond anything else. Going green has to be economical. It’s a tough challenge, but we’re doing it; building and homeowners are doing it; architects and developers are doing it.
Watch our CEO, Kevin Surace, speak to these points at the 2010 Sustainable Operations Summit by clicking here or the image above.
Governor Schwarzenegger learns about high R-value windows
We were honored to host Governor Schwarzenegger at our Sunnyvale, California offices today, on the eve of Earth Day 2010. Critical to enabling energy efficiency for financial benefit of California’s home and building owners, manufacturing growth, and job creation opportunities in California, the Governor announced that he signed SB 77 to establish the statewide PACE program. This program lowers financing costs for businesses and residences in California to make energy improvements through retrofits, like installing super-insulating energy efficient windows, on existing properties.
The Governor learned about high R-value windows, the importance of high acoustic performance in buildings, new manufacturing innovations, and the massive energy efficiency retrofit underway of the Empire State Building. We are proud to stand behind the Governor, and keep doing our part manufacturing advanced products that save money and energy.
See video coverage of the press event here and more photos on Flickr.
Governor Schwarzenegger Tours Serious Materials and Announces Signing of Legislation to Promote Energy Efficiency Retrofitting
Sunnyvale, CA — April 21, 2010 — Serious Materials, the leading energy-saving building materials company in the U.S., today welcomed Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California along with Senator Fran Pavley (D-Santa Monica) to its headquarter office and R&D facility in Sunnyvale, California. Governor Schwarzenegger announced he signed SB 77 by Senator Pavley to establish the California statewide Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Reserve Program that will lower financing costs for businesses and residences in California to make energy improvements through retrofits, like installing super-insulating energy efficient windows, on existing properties.
“Serious Materials is another company joining a long list of companies in California that are proving what I have always said: what is good for the environment is also good for the economy,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “We want to keep these companies and these jobs here in California. That is why I signed SB 77 to help build our green economy, create thousands of jobs and create a cleaner environment by making energy efficient investments easier to make.”
“Governor Schwarzenegger is a great friend of the environment,” said Kevin Surace, CEO of Serious Materials. “He also knows energy efficiency is a triple-win for everyone, which is why he signed SB 77. Retrofitting our homes and buildings with super-insulating high R-value windows saves money for homeowners and businesses, creates jobs, and recharges the Californian and American economy. ”
Governor Schwarzenegger feels the difference of super-insulating glass
To see photos from the event, visit Serious Materials’ Flickr page and see video coverage here and on the Serious Materials blog.
SB 77 creates another financing option for commercial and residential property owners to make energy improvements, such as replacing single and dual pane windows with high R-value windows, using bonds and/or loans that can be repaid through assessments added to their property tax bill. The legislation establishes a state-financed reserve, through the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority, of up to $30 million from the Renewable Resources Trust Fund to implement the PACE Reserve Program.
Serious Materials manufactures super-insulating high R-value windows for residential and commercial markets that can save up to 40% of heating and cooling costs. As a leading example of the financial benefits of energy efficiency retrofits, the Empire State Building is undergoing a major retrofit that is expected to reduce energy use by 38 percent, save $4.4 million per year in energy costs, and save 105,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide over the next 15 years. Selected by Johnson Controls, Serious Materials is upgrading all 6,514 dual pane windows of the Empire State Building that will directly reduce energy costs by more than $400,000 per year. In a first-of-its-kind process, Serious Materials is reusing all existing glass and create super-insulating glass units (IGUs) in a dedicated processing space located in the Empire State Building. The new IGUs then will be re-installed and will increase the thermal performance of the windows by up to four times their current thermal performance, improving the R-value of the older dual pane IGUs from R2 to R-values ranging from R-5 to R-8. The super-insulating new windows will also reduce solar heat gain by more than 50% compared to the older windows.
About Serious Materials
Serious Materials develops and manufactures sustainable green building materials that save energy, save money, improve comfort, and help address climate change. Serious Materials’ products are manufactured in the company’s 5 factories across North America. For more information, visit http://www.SeriousMaterials.com.
Press Contact:
Valerie Jenkins
Serious Materials
vjenkins@seriousmaterials.com
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Serious Materials CEO Kevin Surace will have the opportunity to speak to the House Democratic Caucus tomorrow morning, discussing the critical role energy efficiency can play in re-energizing the U.S. economy. Members of the U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Caucus will convene at Democratic Caucus Job Summit to focus on job creation and innovation. Kevin will outline how energy efficiency innovations, manufacturing, and building retrofits can aid the recovery of our nation, create millions of jobs, and fuel America’s long-term prosperity and energy independence. In Kevin’s view, we are in the midst of the next industrial revolution – the revolution that America must and can lead.
We will be posting Kevin’s speech on our blog tomorrow. Follow @housedemocrats for updates throughout the day and watch the Democratic Caucus Job Summit page for coverage as well.
VantagePoint Venture Partners invests in company
Serious Materials, a leading energy-saving building materials company in the U.S., today announced that William McDonough has joined the company’s Board of Directors. Mr. McDonough is one of the leading architects in sustainable construction and the co-author of Cradle to Cradle. In conjunction with the appointment, VantagePoint Venture Partners, where Mr. McDonough serves as a Venture Partner, has invested in the company.
“Reinvention within the built environment represents a critical opportunity we have for creating a future world that is economically viable, resource effective, clean, and comfortable”, said William McDonough, VantagePoint Venture Partner and Senior Advisor. “Serious Materials’ focus on the reinvention of the materials is critical to today’s new industrial revolution, and represents one of the few pure-play companies to embrace this vision. I am honored and excited to lend my experience to this already fast growing company.” William McDonough is also founding principal of William McDonough + Partners, an internationally recognized design firm, co-founder of McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, and co-author of “Cradle-to-Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things”.
“Adding William McDonough to our board is a pleasure and an honor. His insight into creating clean materials is second to none, and will help us grow in ways we could only imagine a few short years ago,” said Kevin Surace, CEO, Serious Materials. “In addition, we are honored to have VantagePoint Venture Partners as an investor in the company and look forward to working closely with one of the top teams in cleantech today.”
About VantagePoint Venture Partners
VantagePoint Venture Partners is a leader in investing in 21st century technologies and partners with entrepreneurs in the CleanTech, Healthcare and Information Technology sectors. With an extensive industry-leading investment team of experts, a broad network of important Strategic Partners and Senior Advisors, and more than $4.5 billion in committed capital, the Firm has the depth of resources to help build transformative companies that are clear leaders in their fields. The Firm, headquartered in Silicon Valley with important offices in Hong Kong and Beijing, has investments in more than 70 companies, including notable CleanTech companies Better Place, Bridgelux, BrightSource Energy, Chemrec, MiaSolé, Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies, Premium Power, Solazyme, SuperBulbs, Tesla Motors and Tendril Networks. For more information, visit www.vpvp.com.
About Serious Materials
Serious Materials develops and manufactures sustainable green building materials that save energy, save money, improve comfort, and aggressively address climate change. Super-insulating high R-value SeriousWindows™ reduce heating and cooling energy costs by up to 40%. SeriousGlass™ super-insulating commercial glass has been installed in thousands of projects and offers the highest energy savings in the industry. QuietRock® soundproof drywall reduces material use, enhances livability, and supports dense urban construction. EcoRock™ is the only true green alternative to gypsum drywall. Serious Materials products are manufactured in the company’s five facilities across North America. SeriousWindows and SeriousGlass support energy efficiency funding programs as outlined under the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) including Weatherization (WAP), Green Federal Buildings, State Energy Program (SEP), Energy Efficiency – Conservation Block Grants, Energy Tax Credit for Consumers, and Tax Deductions for Commercial Buildings. The company was commended by both President Obama and Vice President Biden for its advanced energy-saving materials and the work it is doing to re-create American green manufacturing jobs. For more information, visit www.SeriousMaterials.com.
Mesirow Financial joins Serious Materials’ blue chip investors
Sunnyvale, Calif. - September 22, 2009 - Serious Materials, the leading energy-saving building materials company in the U.S., today announced that the company has closed $60 million in Series C financing. The round was led by Mesirow Financial, a diversified financial services firm in Chicago. Additional new investors included Enertech Capital, Cheyenne Partners, and Saints Capital. Previous investors including New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Foundation Capital, Rustic Canyon Partners, Navitas Capital, and Staenberg also participated in this funding round, bringing Serious Materials’ total raised capital to more than $120 million. The funds will be used to accelerate the rapid growth of the company and complete development of next generation, energy-saving building products.
“With a strong management team, vision, and industry-changing technology, Serious Materials is uniquely positioned to drive substantial growth and have a meaningful and positive impact on the environment,” said Tom Galuhn, Senior Managing Director for Mesirow Financial Private Equity. “We’re pleased to be in a position to help fuel the next stage of Serious Materials’ growth.”
Concurrent with the Series C financing, Tom Galuhn of Mesirow Financial has joined the Serious Materials Board of Directors.
“We are on an important mission to help dramatically save energy, reduce CO2 emissions and stabilize the climate,” said Kevin Surace, CEO, Serious Materials. “Dramatic and disruptive innovation must happen now and on a broad scale. Windows offer the largest opportunity for improvement – fastest payback and highest energy savings. If all buildings in America were to use super-insulating full-frame high R-value windows of R-5.0 or more, versus standard single or dual pane windows, CO2 emissions would be reduced by some 200 million metric tons annually.”
About Serious Materials
Serious Materials develops and manufactures sustainable green building materials that save energy, save money, improve comfort, and aggressively address climate change. Super-insulating full-frame R-value SeriousWindows™ reduce heating and cooling energy costs by up to 50%. SeriousGlass™ super-insulating commercial glass have been installed in over 10,000 projects and offer the highest energy savings in the industry. QuietRock® soundproof drywall reduce material use, enhance livability, and support dense urban construction. EcoRock™, the only true green alternative to gypsum drywall and five times more environmentally friendly, uses 80% less energy in its core production and has the potential to save billions of pounds of CO2 annually. Serious Materials products are manufactured in the company’s five facilities across North America. SeriousWindows and SeriousGlass support energy efficiency funding programs as outlined under the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) including Weatherization (WAP), Green Federal Buildings, State Energy Program (SEP), Energy Efficiency – Conservation Block Grants, Energy Tax Credit for Consumers, and Tax Deductions for Commercial Buildings. The company was commended by both President Obama and Vice President Biden for its advanced energy-saving materials and the work it is doing to re-create American green manufacturing jobs. For more information, visit www.SeriousMaterials.com.
See full press release here. Today we announced the promotion of Mark Mitchell to Chief Operating Officer. Mitchell has been serving as Serious Materials’ Vice President of Business Development & General Counsel since 2007 and brings over 20 years of operating, finance, and business development experience in high-growth companies. In his new role, Mitchell is responsible for driving the company’s day to day operations, expansion and profitability.
“Mark has played a pivotal role in our exceptional growth, including our recent high-profile acquisitions in Chicago and Vandergrift,” said Kevin Surace, CEO of Serious Materials. “In his new role, Mark’s strategic leadership and operational track record brings additional breadth critical to Serious Materials as we continue to build our infrastructure and capacity for growth.”
Mitchell led the transactions that resulted in Serious Materials’ window and commercial glass manufacturing expansions including the acquisitions of Alpen, Kensington Windows, and Republic Windows & Doors.
“I look forward to continuing to build on the innovations and successes Serious Materials has already brought to the built environment,” said Mitchell. “We are entering a time of accelerating growth nationwide, and I couldn’t be more pleased to be taking on this new leadership role.”
Environmental Claims Validation launches with Serious Materials’ EcoRock new drywall product
UL Environment Inc. today announced it has validated environmental claims for Serious Materials’ new drywall product, EcoRock™. This represents the first validation of claims by UL Environment since its launch in January 2009, and the first product in the 115-year history of Underwriters Laboratories (UL) to receive an Environmental Claims Validation. UL Environment is a wholly-owned subsidiary of UL, a world leader in product safety testing services.
UL Environment validated Serious Materials’ environmental claims for EcoRock by performing assessments and laboratory tests. An audit was conducted for recycled content, environmental chamber tests were performed to determine volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence tests were performed to determine mercury content and microbial resistance tests were performed to determine the product’s resistance to mold. The UL Environment audit validates the following environmental claims for EcoRock: 80% recycled content, low VOC emissions (meets CA 01350), mercury free, and highly resistant to mold.
“As sustainable products become more available, third-party validation of claims by credible organizations like UL Environment will be crucial to eliminating exaggerated green marketing claims,” said Steve Wenc, President, UL Environment Inc. “UL Environment applies solid science and more than a century of testing expertise to protect consumers from vague, false or misleading environmental claims.”
Serious Materials, the leader in energy-saving building materials, completely reengineered the manufacturing and ingredients of drywall with the introduction of EcoRock, the only true green alternative to gypsum drywall and five times more environmentally friendly. EcoRock is used like standard gypsum drywall, but requires 80% less energy in its core production. Its manufacturing process eliminates heaters, dryers, calcining, and the burning of fossil fuels. Using EcoRock instead of gypsum drywall would eliminate up to 20 billion pounds of CO2 emissions per year in North America.
“Specifying UL rated and certified products has long been the industry standard requirement for our customers,” said Kevin Surace, CEO Serious Materials. “Green building mandates continue to be required by government policy and industry leading brands who understand the critical environmental and economic impact of the built environment. The launch of UL Environment Claims Validation is yet another indicator that energy-saving building products and green practices are increasingly becoming the norm, and not the alternative. EcoRock’s UL Environment Claims Validation is just as important to us as it is to our customers.”
UL Environment applies a rigorous, independent testing process to the testing of environmental claims and allows manufacturers that successfully pass the tests to apply the UL Environment service logo on product packaging and marketing materials. This not only protects consumers, institutions and businesses, it also reinforces the credibility of companies that produce products with validated environmental claims. Validation also helps companies differentiate themselves in the increasingly crowded “green” product space.
