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Interesting Innovations

  • Street Heat:
    Ever burn your foot walking on hot asphalt in the summer? That’s because black absorbs heat—while white reflects it. Well, in case you haven’t noticed, modern cities are covered in the black stuff. Dutch construction firm Ooms is now heading its headquarters by running water pipes under the street. Some of them collect heat in the summer and run deep into the ground where they heat water via a heat exchanger. That heated water is stored for winter—a sort of battery, if you will. In fact to take it a step further, the water is returned to the ground after heating the building, by passing under the street again. The residual heat in the water, now only a few degrees above freezing, melts any snow or ice on the road surface. The water is then stored—used cold to cool the building—before being run under the asphalt again to prepare for winter. Brilliant!

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Biography

David Silverstein is the founder and President of Breakthrough Management Group. He founded BMG in 1999 and has since grown the company to an international powerhouse specializing in all aspects of performance excellence.

As CEO, Mr. Silverstein drives BMG’s strategic direction with a focus on continuously improving existing performance excellence models while constantly searching for the next generation of business excellence.

As a highly regarded pubic speaker and author, Mr. Silverstein shares his vision around the globe where he has shared the stage with notable figures such as Jack Welch, Larry Bossidy, Jim McNerney and Steven Covey.

More recently, he has turned his attention to innovation and business strategy and the identification of cutting edge technology solutions. In his book, INSourcing Innovation, he talks about how companies need to focus on developing new skills and core competencies, with innovation being at the top of the list. More importantly, INSourcing Innovation talks about how to drive innovation.

As a Six Sigma Master Black Belt and Six Sigma deployment leader, Mr. Silverstein’s experience includes executive coaching and mentoring as well as hand-on training, working directly with Six Sigma Black Belts and Champions to lead companies through the implementation of global Lean and Six Sigma initiatives.