The past few years have been excruciating for the National Association of Home Builders’ International Builders’ Show. However, the falling attendance and exhibitor space that has plagued recent shows has stabilized, and the overall mood of the trade show has improved dramatically as remodelers and builders have garnered more business recently.
IBS 2013 saw 50,000 attendees visit more than 900 exhibitors over the course of the three-day event. Even though many remodelers were in attendance, even more were unable to take time away from the office to visit the show. As such, I want to provide a few highlights of IBS 2013.
The biggest news out of IBS was the announcement that the National Kitchen & Bath Association agreed to co-locate their Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS) with IBS beginning in 2014. The two events, IBS and KBIS, will remain separate shows held concurrently at the Las Vegas Convention Center though 2016. The combined shows are being billed as Design & Construction Week, and will include the SURFACES | StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas events starting in 2015. To learn more, see my interview with 2013 NKBA President John K. Morgan in this issue.
David Crowe, chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders, Washington, D.C., reported during the Housing & Economic Outlook press conference that residential remodeling has “returned to previously normal levels” and that remodeling activity is “expected to post a 2.4 percent increase in 2013 over last year and another 1.7 percent in 2014.” The association also said that many of their remodeler members are reporting increased calls for bids and appointments for proposals. The question remains as to how quickly the bids and proposals can evolve into actual remodeling work.
The National Association of Home Builders Remodelers (NAHBR) announced that Bill Shaw will serve as chairman of the group in 2013. Shaw reported to Professional Remodeler during the NAHBR Winter Meeting that his main goal is to continue to strengthen the relationship between remodelers and their local councils.
I would like to extend my gratitude for the invitation to attend the Winter Meeting, and I look forward to working with everyone involved in the NAHBR for the foreseeable future.
The Vinyl Siding Institute released its green paper “Today’s Vinyl Siding: Verifiably Green.” According to Jery Y. Huntley, president and CEO of the Vinyl Siding Institute, Washington, D.C., the green paper compares vinyl siding’s environmental performance compared with a host of other siding materials.
Our sister publication Professional Builder once again offered Show Village at IBS. Thousands of attendees made their way through three modular homes that included the latest products from over 30 manufacturers. The theme of this year’s Show Village was “design innovation and attainable sustainability” in order to showcase the relationship between modular hosing design and ultra-green construction.
Finally, dozens of new products were introduced during IBS, which we will profile in the April issue of Professional Remodeler and on our website www.housingzone.com. PR