It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again: Energy Star 7.0 Is More Than Just a Big Change. It’s an Ongoing Saga.
By Drew Vass
When it comes to creating a cover for our Annual Buyers Guide, I always like to refer back to previous years. I typically have a visual in my head and an idea for headlines, but it’s good to compare and avoid anything that’s too similar to what we’ve done in the past. I wish I could say that my memory was better, but imagine how miffed I was to come across the cover from October 2021, only to find that it was the exact same design and nearly the exact same headline I’d sketched out for this year, including “Energy Star 7.0” and “Industry Reaction.”
That’s how long we’ve been covering Energy Star 7.0 (even longer, in fact) and waiting for it to come to fruition. The surprising thing is, we’re still looking for and weighing industry reaction—only now through products and marketing.
For [DWM]’s September–October edition, I did my best to research, interview, and pry my way into manufacturers’ plans ahead of the official list of certified products. Would they be ready? Or would they procrastinate, waiting to see how consumers react? As it turns out, few—if any—were willing to show their hands. Meanwhile, we had a good idea for what was going to happen, but we had to wait just like everyone else. There I was, the morning of October, refreshing my browser to see the latest stats from Energy Star’s database. Nothing happened that day, but after consulting with program officials, I was told to check back the next day. As it turns out, what happened wasn’t what officials and industry experts predicted: the number of qualified products rose, albeit ever so slightly. Days later, the system “came to its senses,” and the number of qualified products dropped by nearly a fifth.
But let’s not forget the main purpose of this edition: the Annual Buyers Guide. And I would argue that there could be no better pairing or time. Think of it—just as manufacturers finally get their final plans together and need products and materials, once again we deliver a comprehensive list of suppliers. As door and window dealers hunt for products that meet the criteria, we’re giving them a list to consult throughout the year.
Our guide might just be the most comprehensive “Yellow Pages” around for the door and window industry, and what better time to keep it on your desk?
Rest assured that we’ll be covering plenty of new, Energy Star–rated products and materials in the months ahead, as they become available. Each time you spot one of those products, in addition to the URL provided with the write-up, just reach for this guide to quickly obtain contact information. Each time we publish our guide, that’s the real cover image I envision in my head.
Drew Vass is the executive editor for [DWM] magazine.
dvass@glass.com
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