Change, the only Real Constant!

All around us there is change, in our personal lives, in our business ventures, in the environment around us and yes, in this column as well.  You may have seen elsewhere on this website that I have taken on a new role within the Tremco organization recently, that of Executive Director for Sustainability in the Roofing and Building Maintenance Division.  With this role change, it means that I will need to hand over this column to someone else, someone who can focus on vegetative roofs and other sustainable product solutions.  I have asked two of my protégés, Mark Anderson and Mary Ann Uhlmann to take up that challenge.

Mark has been working with me for several years and has been active in helping me shape our company vegetative roof program.  Mark is an architect by degree and has deep knowledge not only in vegetative roofs but in many other sustainable building science solutions.  He will write a more technical approach in his articles for this column.

Mary Ann is a horticulturist by degree and was my first hire within our internal group, shaping things right from the beginning of our group.  She helped me understand the living components of our solutions even more than I had previously.  She will write on vegetative roofs from her perspective of our “living friends” that are the work engines of these engineered solutions.  I think you will find these two not only informative, but absolutely delightful as you get to know them through their writings.  I leave this column in good hands.

As for my new role, I will be responsible for all our company's sustainable activities, from products/systems to operations, manufacturing and in all the countries where our division operates. The idea is to drive the sustainable concepts of people, plants and prosperity deep into our culture and in partnership with our suppliers and customers.  I’m excited about this new role but it will be a daunting challenge as well.

Publisher's Note: You'll be sorely missed, Ralph! The Greenroofs.com Editors and us in 2007: Left to right, top row: Kelly Luckett, Ralph Velasquez, Aramis Velazquez, Linda Velazquez, Trish Luckett. Bottom row: Patrick Carey, Christine Thuring, Ed Snodgrass and Dr. Bill Retzlaff (not shown: Haven Kiers; George Irwin (came on board in 2008, and Chris Wark, 2010).

When I told Linda about this, she of course, worked her magical ways of persuasion, as she does with us all and got me to commit to a guest column.  Aramis, buddy, as her husband, you don’t stand a chance!  We agreed to call it “Perspectives from the Green Boardroom.”  Loosely, the idea is for me to write about things I might see or experience from this broader involvement with sustainability.  Since it is a guest column, it will by design, be infrequent, something that Linda was getting used to from me in more recent months anyway.  Not sure of the frequency for this column, we’ll just have to see how it goes.

Now, most importantly, I want to thank the readers of my column for your wonderful support and kind remarks over the years.  Hopefully along the way you found something that helped you in your daily lives, whether from a business or personal perspective.  I want to thank Linda and Aramis, who have been kind to me over the years to let me have broad leeway in my ramblings to their audience. Thanks guys, you are the best!

Finally, I want to thank my wife of 34 years, who has been a great source of ideas and a sounding board for these columns.  She is my truest fan and staunchest supporter but if the truth be known, I’m a bigger fan of who she is and what she has done over the years.  Lea, the only thing that won’t change is my love for you and my eternal wonderment, why you chose me all those years ago.  Just glad you did!  Now that’s real sustainability!

Ciao, everyone.

Ralph Velasquez
Executive Director of Sustainability
Tremco, Inc.

Contact Ralph at: phone (VM) 877.510.2681 or rvelasquez@tremcoinc.com.

Past Sustainable Roofing Technologies Articles

Past ASTM Task Force Updates

The opinions expressed by our Guest Feature writers and editors may not necessarily reflect the beliefs of Greenroofs.com, and are offered to our readers to simply present individual views and experiences and open a dialogue of further discussion, debate and research.  Enjoy, and if you have a particular comment, please contact the author or send us an email to:  comments@greenroofs.com.

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