Go to Google™ and type in the word “innovation.” You’ll soon end up at Wikipedia, which says, “The term innovation may refer to both radical and incremental changes in thinking, in things, in processes or in services (Mckeown, 2008).” The description goes on to say, “The goal of innovation is positive change, to make someone or something better. Innovation leading to increased productivity is the fundamental source of increasing wealth in an economy.”

Well, what’s got me thinking about innovation? Reading the news these last few months, monitoring the pulse of our industry, and watching the economy slip into recession makes me think about what is needed to jump-start things. After all, if we can get things jump- started, it could change everything.

Innovation is the key. We need radical changes in technology to enable this country to adjust our energy demand curve so that it is no longer outpacing our supply curve. Everyone is crying out for answers as to why energy costs are rising so rapidly. The answer lies in basic economics: demand must be in line with supply.

If “necessity is the mother of invention” then perhaps innovation is the father. This is the time for the engineers, scientists and business community to step up to bring new technologies to the forefront which will enable us to radically increase the efficiency factor of everyday energy consumption.

The proposed changes to ENERGY STAR® are one example of the type of radical changes that the DOE is looking for in our industry in order to help reduce our country’s demand curve for energy consumption significantly. The proposed future ENERGY STAR requirements will be difficult to meet without radical improvements in existing technology and materials. It is clear that the DOE is challenging our industry to innovate.

One of the reasons that natural gas prices this fall are going up is not only due to increased consumer usage, but also because the electric utility companies are using more natural gas as an alternative to coal. Because natural gas is cleaner burning, many utility companies have been constructed to operate on natural gas because it is friendlier on the environment. This constant balancing act that has been going on between saving the environment vs. producing more energy can be partially alleviated if we learn to look at energy saving technologies as energy sources.

Think of new energy efficient windows for the home as an energy source, one that does not have a negative impact upon the environment. Instead, by helping to reduce the nations energy demand, installation of energy-saving windows not only lowers one’s fuel bills, but also helps to save the environment by helping to permanently reduce the amount of fossil fuels required to heat and cool our homes, while also helping to reduce the amount of oil and gas exploration required to sustain the supply curve.

Indeed, while conducting a window sales training session this week, I talked to window sales people who were really pumped about the opportunity to sell more windows this fall by promoting the energy savings advantages of their vinyl framed windows made with low-E, argon and super efficient spacer systems. Before I left, they all asked, “What will the future bring in window technology?”

“I don’t know exactly how we’ll get there,” I answered. “But I know we have some very innovative people in the industry working on it!”