Interview with Brian Crooks,
Cardinal Glass Industries
Brian Crooks is a Design Engineer for Cardinal Glass Industries, specializing in energy and technical services engineering for window customers. He’s been with Cardinal for the past 13 years, and has been an active participant in NFRC for nearly as long. He is a former Chair of the Annual Energy Performance Subcommittee, where he served for many years.
NFRC appreciates the time spent and hard work Brian has conducted for NFRC over the years. Despite the physical challenges facing Brian, he has dedicated a considerable amount of time and effort to NFRC. Update talked with Brian to see how he got his start in the fenestration industry and what he believes is most important about the work NFRC does.
Q. You mentioned you studied solar engineering at Colorado Tech, how did you become interested in that as a career?
I was interested in both residential building construction and downhill skiing. So after taking several career tests from a college career counselor, he mentioned a degree in ‘Solar Engineering Technology’ from Colorado Technical College. I thought it sounded perfect - mainly because of skiing. The rest is now history.
Q. How long have you been with Cardinal? What is your primary role there?
I have been with Cardinal Glass Industries for nearly 13 years as a Design Engineer. Primarily, I work on energy engineering and technical services engineering for window customers. I am very grateful for being with such a wonderful company since they place a very high emphasis on their employees as well as the end user – consumers.
An organization like NFRC is a huge benefit to society as a whole because it provides consumers with a good comparative measuring stick.
Q. How did you get started working with NFRC?
When I first began at Cardinal, Jim Larsen gave me the responsibility of performing sensitivity studies to determine how different windows perform in different houses in various climates. This sounded really good to me and it was also something in which I was very interested in. After performing these sensitivity studies, I was selected to be Chair of the Annual Energy Performance (AEP) Subcommittee.
Q. You’ve certainly contributed significantly to NFRC as a dedicated participant of the AEP Subcommittee over the years. How would you characterize the work that the subcommittee has done over the last decade?
In the last 10 years, the AEP Subcommittee has continued to discuss many of the same topics – at each meeting – even when I was still Chair. I’d like to see some steps forward on how an AEP rating gets displayed to a consumer.
Q. What are the main issues facing the AEP right now?
The main issue seems to be how AEP information is actually related to the consumer. This has been the ongoing challenge for many years.
Q. With the rise of gas and electric prices over the past few years, many consumers seem to be more aware of the importance of energy-efficient appliances and products in their homes. Do you see any trends in the residential fenestration marketplace in years to come?
Yes - It seems as though consumers should better understand the long term benefit of paying a higher cost for better windows up front. This will then lead to more money saved on energy costs down the road.
Q. At NFRC, we’re extremely grateful for the time and hard work you’ve put in over the years, despite the physical challenges you face. To call you an inspiration in this industry would be somewhat of an understatement. What would be your words of wisdom to other NFRC members?
By keeping focused on the end-user/consumer NFRC will be more successful. An organization like NFRC is a huge benefit to society as a whole because it provides consumers with a good comparative measuring stick. Prior to this, and even now in some instances, this is not the case. For example, just recently a window manufacturer wanted some performance numbers with 100% Krypton because their competitors were using 100% gas fill. I mentioned that NFRC does not allow 100% gas fill for any windows. If they had an NFRC label on their windows it would give them a big advantage to the window purchaser.
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NFRC Update | December 2006