January 1st marked a new chapter in our journey here at Alpen High Performance Products, as we proudly introduce Andrew Zech, our new Chief Executive Officer. In this heartfelt letter, Andrew shares insights into his vision, values, and the future he envisions for our company.
“I am honored to take the helm of Alpen and to continue the company’s proud tradition of innovation, quality and thought leadership in the window and glass industry. For over forty years, Alpen has pursued a quest to radically transform the built environment in the United States, and there has never been greater urgency to succeed. My goal as the company’s leader is to help Alpen bring advanced window technology into the US mainstream, and to be known as the leading advanced window manufacturer in North America.
I am joining Alpen after spending a decade launching and scaling Greenworks Lending/Nuveen Green Capital, a clean energy finance business that focuses on decarbonizing buildings. That experience showed me how critical windows are to reducing building emissions. I’m excited to continue that work at Alpen because I believe that scaling the advanced window industry is a critical piece of solving three core sustainability imperatives:
- Reducing heating and cooling emissions from buildings
- Reducing the carbon intensity of traditional building materials, and
- Achieving these goals in a market-driven, cost-competitive way
While serving as a Director on Alpen’s board over the past two years, I fell in love with the company because they prove every day that these goals are achievable with existing technology. The toolkit needed to unlock a 20-30% reduction in heating expenses – thin-glass triple and quad glazing in every new and existing building in America – is already here and it’s already cost competitive. Every day Alpen manufactures some of the highest performing windows and doors in North America.
2024 is a big year for Alpen. With the help of the Department of Energy and our dedicated investor base, we are investing $16M to revolutionize our business with a primary focus on:
- Ensuring an A+ customer experience every time. Bulletproof quality, A+ customer service, tools and processes that make it easier for our partners to design and order Alpen windows, plus tools that make it easier for our partners to sell, install and service Alpen windows. We have always prided ourselves on A+ quality, but we need to be relentless in our pursuit of excellence
- Business process and production automation. Alpen has long been constrained by our factory’s capacity to produce and deliver windows. Our investments in factory and software automation will allow us to scale production and to sell our advanced insulated glass units – using thin glass technology – to other window manufacturers, further accelerating the deployment and impact of advanced windows
- Continued innovation. Alpen was the first manufacturer of suspended coated film windows, the first to market thin-glass windows, and 3-time Building Green Award winner. At the same time, we do not innovate “science projects.” All of our technologies are cost competitive and ready for production today.
- Market awareness. Despite radically improved performance at only a small price premium – market adoption of advanced windows is still in the low single digits. 2050’s buildings are being constructed today, and we need to press the gas pedal on deployment.
In response to the world’s need for better windows and glazing, we will continue to lead the market and invest in delivering tomorrow’s windows, today.
We can’t make that journey alone. We are grateful for your support, trust, and partnership. I’d love to hear from you and see how Alpen can support your home or business’s advanced window journey. Please email me at azech@thinkalpen.com at any time.”
– Andrew Zech, CEO
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