Quad-Lock Logo

Issue 13

June 2008  

Greetings!

Introducing the R-ETRO System...

Quad-Lock Building Systems is pleased to announce the launch of a new insulation system aimed at the renovation market. The R-ETRO System is a fast, flexible, non-invasive form of insulation that will add an R-value of R-18 to existing wall surfaces. The system easily adapts to the shape of an existing building and around protrusions and openings. It can be attached to any wall structure: wood, concrete, steel, brick or masonry block.

As energy costs continue to rise, owners are considering the benefits of adding insulation to their buildings as a way to comply with new code regulations, or simply to lower their heating and/or cooling costs. When done in conjunction with other scheduled maintenance or rehabilitation, insulation is a cost-effective way to improve the building envelope performance in terms of conductive heat loss or gain and air infiltration or exfiltration. In the case of un-insulated basements, the addition of insulation makes basement space more useable and comfortable.

To get more information on the R-ETRO System visit www.r-etro.com:
View the full press release and download the R-ETRO System Brochure and Product Manual.


  Our Commitment to Sustainability

For Quad-Lock, sustainability means embracing our responsibility to act as a good corporate citizen, continually working to reduce energy consumption and carbon output, ensuring that our employees and business partners are treated fairly in all dealings, and striving to be a good neighbor in every community in which we operate.

Corporate Citizenship
Quad-Lock strives to provide a leadership role in the business community by accepting and working on our responsibility for the earth's environment and to society as a whole.

Education
Quad-Lock strives to raise employee awareness of environmental issues in order to reduce our environmental and carbon footprint as a company and as individuals.

Business Planning
The Quad-Lock approach is to give full consideration to environmental issues for all current business activities and especially future endeavors in order to reduce environmental impact.

Compliance with Regulations
Quad-Lock aims at exceeding requirements of applicable environmental regulations in all aspects of its business activities.


E3 Building Sciences

ICF Walls in Residential Construction in Hot & Humid Climates

The housing market has slowed to its lowest level in more than 20 years and the surviving builders are working to differentiate themselves by incorporating "new" ideas into their projects. As energy costs continue to rise, there has been renewed interest in high performance energy efficient building envelopes that cost less to own, operate and maintain. E3 Building Sciences has tested more than 1600 residential homes with a variety of wall systems.

Read the "Perspective" on ICF Walls. (reprinted with permission)


  Looking for Some Island Time?

One of our Dealers located in the Caribbean is looking for an experienced Site Supervisor as well as Electricians and Coatings Applicators to work on a project for two to six months.

If you're interested, please contact us for information.


New CAD Details

Quad-Lock has developed new CAD details for our wall, floor and roof systems, specifically for typhoon areas.

Review the CAD Details in our Technical Library.


  2009 ICFA Annual Conference & EXPO Forming Our Future

Portland Oregon will host this year's ICFA Conference. This 3-day event has premiere speakers and educational content. To register or find more information, go to the ICFA Website.


Quick Links

Quad-Lock Website

Photo Gallery

Join Mailing List

A Message From the CEO...

Quad-Lock's primary market, the United States, is currently going through hard times. Residential building permits have shrunk by 50% over the past three years and mortgage default rates have increased significantly. There is a lot of talk about a recession, but I think that when people talk about being in a recession in most cases, it is already over.

Despite this, Quad-Lock is achieving double-digit growth again this year. What are the reasons?

  • In the US, Quad-Lock products are mostly sold into the mid- to high-end of the market, an area which is not affected as much by the above circumstances. Consequently, we have not seen a significant drop in US sales.
  • Construction in Western Canada is still going strong. We continue to achieve good growth in our "home" market.
  • International markets are growing strongly for us, especially the Caribbean, Mexico and Europe.

As you know, a crisis can bring new opportunities with it. In my mind, the two largest opportunities for us to add sales are both based on rising energy costs.

The first opportunity is the R-ETRO System, which we are now launching (please see other articles and announcements in this newsletter). This system opens up a whole new market for us, adding insulation to existing or new buildings to decrease energy consumption. I am very excited about this system. I don't think we realized when we were first designing the R-ETRO System (based on recent energy pricing forecasts anyways), what the potential could be. There is almost no competition for this system and initial feedback from the do-it-yourself market is extremely positive.

The second opportunity is the commercial market, where we have already achieved strong growth. A recent study by the CoStar Group, a company that provides information to the commercial real estate industry in the US and the UK, has identified the following trends for green buildings (LEED or Energy Star certified):

  • Green buildings achieve up to 60% higher sale prices per sqft
  • Green building achieve up to 50% higher rents
  • Green buildings achieve 4% higher occupancy rates on average
  • Green buildings lower operating costs by more than 10%

Non-green buildings are becoming obsolete. An aging population and a far more eco-minded generation have many people looking to "downsize" from their single family homes to condos or townhomes. These facts create an immense opportunity for us. Time and again, we have proven that the Quad-Lock system shines in the construction of condos or townhomes. So, let's spread the good news about commercial green trends and increase our share of the commercial (lease/rental) market.

I am ever more confident that we have the right products to help the world master the energy crisis and sustainable development. We still have a lot of education to do, but we are in this business at the right time.

Thank you for your support.

Hubert Max Kustermann
CEO

The Quad-Lock Community Continues to Grow...

Quad-Lock's distribution partner in the Baltic state of Estonia, who joined the Quad-Lock family in 2007, held a 2-day advanced training session in Tartu, Estonia in May 2008.

The advanced training covered the latest developments for using Quad-Lock, Quad-Deck and the newly developed R-ETRO System. Our goal was to share this information with as many Quad-Lock enthusiasts as possible. Quad-Lock Estonia OÜ invited Douglas Bennion, Senior Training Consultant, to come over and assist with the training. Experienced Estonian Quad-Lock installers and business partners as well as newcomers and distributors from five other European and Middle East countries were also in attendance.

The international audience originating from Estonia, Faroe Islands, Germany, Israel, Latvia and Slovenia experienced a very well-organized training during which all relevant issues were covered. All participants testified that this kind of meeting is the ideal platform to learn, to meet, to share experiences and to establish sustainable ways of communication across frontiers and language boundaries which guarantees to make the Quad-Lock network even stronger.

We are highly impressed by the enthusiasm and professionalism of our Estonian partners and hope that experiencing such an event will encourage other partners to follow.

Background: The Republic of Estonia, the northernmost and smallest of the three Baltic States is home to some 1.3 million people and covers an area of about 17,400 square miles. In 1991, Estonia, a former member state of the Soviet Union, regained its sovereignty by the so-called "singing revolution". Estonia became a member of the European Union in 2004 and is regarded as a "model student amongst the newer EU members. The Baltic States, in the style of the upcoming Asian countries, are becoming known as the "Baltic Tigers" for their strong economic development.

Thomas Willmen
Sales Manager, Europe

We Need Your Help...

 Proven Energy Efficiencies

As part of our on-going development of materials to assist in the sale of Quad-Lock, we want to create a library of statistics about structures built with Quad-Lock Insulating Concrete Forms. You can help us by submitting your energy bills, along with the bills from a comparable house in your neighborhood for us to add to our library. When you do this Quad-Lock will pay your highest month's energy bill for your troubles.

Contact us for more information.


Hope you enjoyed reading your Quad-Lock E-Connection. Remember that you need to tell us, if you'd like to receive future issues. It's as easy as entering your email below.

Do you have information on new projects or items of interest in your area? Share it with us and we'll follow-up and make sure it gets previewed in upcoming issues.

Join our Mailing List

Best regards,
Quad-Lock Building Systems

Newsletter Archive
2014 2013 '12 Q4 '12 Q3 '12 Q2 '12 Q1
2011: Dec Nov Aug July May Apr Mar Jan
2010: Dec Nov Sep Aug Jun Apr Jan
2009: Dec Oct Aug Jul Jun May Apr Mar Jan
2008: Dec Nov Oct Sep Aug July June May Apr Feb Jan
2007: Dec Nov Oct Sep Aug July June May
Contact Us