Interview with Bruce Lang, Vice President of Marketing & Business Development at Southwall Technologies, Inc. (Palo Alto, California, USA)

Founded in response to the oil embargo of 1973, Southwall remains committed to its mission of dramatically improving the energy efficiency of architectural and automotive glass. Today, millions of barrels of oil and millions of kW-hrs of electricity are saved in the heating and cooling of buildings and cars as a result of Southwall’s energy products.  In addition, the company continues to explore potential new markets that can benefit from its 25 years of energy technology innovation, ranging from plasma displays to photovoltaics.

Bruce Lang holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and a MBA from Santa Clara University. He joined Southwall in June 2005 to energize the company’s new product development and marketing efforts. His strategic leadership and seventeen years experience in marketing advanced technology products (Altera Corporation and Glimmerglass Networks) has been instrumental in revitalizing the company’s positioning as an energy technology leader with renewed focus on delivering energy-saving films and glass products to the company's core markets.

Southwall has extended its high performance energy-saving films across multiple markets, starting with Heat Mirror suspended film in Commercial / Residential insulated glass, adding XIR laminated film for solar control in the same markets, extending XIR solar control into the Automotive market, and adding  functionality to XIR film to provide energy-saving applied window film solutions for the Residential/Commercial after market.  

2- Which of its goals have been met and what does the company propose to offer the heating and cooling markets in the near future?

3- What is Southwall's current position in the USA and international heating and cooling markets? What is its strategy (acquisitions, new product lines, etc.)?

Overall market share is relatively low as compared with the total market addressed by coated-glass solutions in general. However, our products offer the industry's highest level of performance, so we tend to dominate the high performance niches. With growing global concern about climatic change, our product performance is becoming increasingly relevant and more mainstream, which we feel will drive our future growth.

4- Who are its main clients and competitors? How have they influenced the evolution of the company?

Main competition is coated glass. Coated glass performance has improved considerable over the last 15 years, enabling it to capture a dominant market share. However, the technology used has reached fundamental limits, and will have difficulty meeting the new level of energy-efficiency that is demanded by recent green building initiatives. Our product performance begins where that of coated glass ends, providing a roadmap for the industry's most ambitious energy-saving goals.

5- Is there a specific application of Southwall products that shows how important the company's contribution is to this specific industry?

Increased energy efficient glass, along with highly insulated walls and roofs, allow users to maintain appropriate heating and cooling conditions often without the need to expand HVAC systems or operate them as often as otherwise would be the case. Southwall's XIR glass, and also its applied window film, in conjunction with moderate air conditioning operation, can moderate the negative impact on some building occupants from exposure to "conditioned air" 24/7. Advances in glass efficiency will enable HVAC vendors to offer their customers HVAC systems more precisely tailored to their needs. Advanced glass technology will position HVAC vendors as offering, along with efficient wall and roof systems, an integrated "systems" approach to providing end users with meaningful energy solutions.

6- How would you analyze the heating and cooling markets worlwide? In your opinion, what future trends can we expect?

Residential, and especially commercial end users, influenced by energy-savvy architects and designers, will seek greater convergence on the part of HVAC, window, and insulation vendors in presenting to decision makers integrated  solutions to a structure's total energy needs. In both new construction and renovation, the emergence of a team of vendors collaborating to solve end users' energy problems will replace the current piecemeal approach which often fails to take advantage of the kind of synergies inherent in systematic solutions.