Masonry Magazine June 1974 Page. 27
Exciting Time for Brick Industry
By KENNETH S. DASH
Director of Marketing Promotion
Brick Institute of America
It's time to get excited about the brick industry. Again.
The first quarter of 1974 may have caused some people to look toward the future with a defensive, rather than offensive, point of view. Now is not the time to be anything but optimistic about the future of our industry. These are just some of the reasons:
ENERGY: The greatest single opportunity for brick promotion to directly combat the competition in years. Simply, less energy, much less, is expended in the manufacture of our product than any other building material. In the wall, we stand head and shoulders over all materials in regard to the energy necessary to heat and cool interior spaces.
Finally, brick is the only building material which is recyclable in form. The energy punchline is that as America becomes more and more energy-conscious, designers must consider brick where they may not have before. And, as our energy story becomes known to these people, it will be increasingly difficult not to include brick in energy-sensitive design specifications.
PRODUCT AVAILABILITY: Brick is available. In 1973, the brick industry made and sold some nine billion units with a potential market greater than that. Inventories have now started to build and product specifiers are being told that the brick which may not have been available in 1973 is available at this time. Availability is one of the key problems facing all building products today.
PEOPLE, PREFERENCES AND PRICES: People prefer brick to other materials in nearly every instance. It's rare, indeed, when brick wasn't even considered for a particular job because the builder or designer just "...couldn't stand the idea of brick." The reasons why nearly all projects are not predominantly brick is 1) price (or the misconception that brick is more expensive), and 2) availability. We, in the business, have known for years that brick is often the least expensive material to use. Add in maintenance and energy-consciousness and brick will always be least costly. And now, for the time being, brick is available while some of the competitive materials are not.
Recent federal studies reveal that if America is to house herself adequately by 1980, she must average 2.5 million housing starts per year. Other studies note that by the year 2000, America will have to be rebuilt. That is, for every building standing today, another one will be constructed. It's difficult, indeed, not to be excited over the future of our industry in both the housing and design markets when considering prognostications like these.
The brick industry has years of superb technical expertise to its credit. It's now time to take the offensive and let the world know of the miracle new building product of 1974-brick!
New England Conference
The New England Concrete Masonry Association will hold its first annual summer conference in the Harrison Inn, Southbury, Conn., July 12-14. Bill Miner is serving as conference chairman.
When your mind goes blank, turn off the sound.
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