The window of the future?
BELFAST - This week Scott Hawthorne, president of the Belfast-based window manufacturer Mathews Brothers, gave a hint of something really big in the works. The city was weighing whether to apply for a $250,000 grant on behalf of the business. Hawthorne said the money would be used to expand production facilities in order to take advantage of a unique opportunity that he wouldn't say very much about.
Hawthorne said his company was recently chosen as one of four in the United States to make a new kind of window. There was mention of a billion dollar glass company, "groundbreaking technology" and a few other intriguing nibbles Hawthorne said he would love to dicuss in more detail but couldn't just yet.
But it was his claim that the new product "will change the way you think about windows" that grabbed our attention.
We've come to expect hyperbole from TV commercials — a fifth or sixth blade on a razor promises to "change the way you think about shaving;" a shampoo says it will "redefine shine" — but delivered by a local businessman in the fluorescent-lit, soundtrack-free chambers of a municipal building, the statement seemed like it might actually have to live up to the hype.
Mathews Bros. already makes windows acclaimed for their energy efficiency, so it's hard to imagine a higher R-value or another of the other historically-incremental improvements in the window industry, like glare reduction, changing the way we think about windows. It would have to be something totally out of the box, right?
Until we hear more, we figured we'd have some fun with it and invite you to give it a shot.
What would it take to change the way you think about windows?
Below are a few iPhone doodles by Ethan Andrews to get the ball rolling. Send your own pictures to news@penbaypilot.com and we'll post them here.