I nearly posted this yesterday but thought I’d give myself a day to calm down. As you will see, I’m still in rant mode!
Yesterday I received an email from the venerable Green Building Store that gave me quite a shock and asking myself a curious question.
Green Building Store have been in business for 30 years and become many people’s go to place for green building supplies and advice. The clue is in the name. You want green building products? Or maybe products for your green building? Then the Green Building Store is the place to go.
Now they are changing their name to “21°”.
Ignoring that many devices don’t have a “°” on their keyboards, including mine, and therefore it isn’t normally possible to write their new name (I have set up a shortcut on my phone and tablet), what does that name tell you about them?
There is no unit to the ° in the company name. I assume that they aren’t referring to compass bearings, Fahrenheit or Roman, so they mean 21°C . Why not be clear about it and specify the units? At least those without the ability to write “21°C” would be able to write “21C” or “21oC” or maybe “21 C”. The last of those reminds me of a boys’ comic that I used to get when I was in late primary school.
If you encountered a company, new to you, that was called “21°” what would you think they did? After some pondering I decided on central heating installers.
For nearly 30 years, you’ve known us as Green Building Store; your trusted source for sustainable products and Passivhaus expertise. Now, we’re excited to embark on a new chapter with additional services and support to help ensure you create healthy, comfortable and energy-efficient homes.
While our people, products, and services remain the same, we’re sharpening our vision through our common purpose. This will help provide life changing homes through the right specification of core products that ensure optimum energy performance and sustainability.
Over the coming weeks, you’ll see Green Building Store transforming into 21°. Our website, branding, and communication will reflect this shift. Do not worry! You’ll continue to enjoy the same exceptional service and expertise you’ve always relied on.
Please do not hesitate to contact our team for any information about the rebrand or how 21° can help you achieve your dream high-performing home.
Join us on this exciting journey as we build a future of life changing homes. Welcome to 21°!
It does occur to me that 21°C is the default internal design temperature for most energy efficiency design systems.
Those are handy symbols but most users won’t know how to do that and if I remember correctly only PCs have an alt key. My phone doesn’t have one. I haven’t had access to a PC since I retired several years ago (yes, I’m an oldie!) and don’t see a need.
Hi Tim, I can’t see why GBS has to change name either. But from the iphone numbers keyboard hold down the 0 (zero key) this will give you an option for the °.