Construction Informer

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From the 19th and well into Friday, the International Builders’ Show is drawing strong crowds. Billed as the “housing industry’s largest annual trade show and exhibition,” the event is sponsored by the National Association of Homebuilders and is being held in Las Vegas. Last year’s show attracted more than 60,000 people. Of course the product line up is a bit mind boggling. Some of the products being showcased include:

• Lennox Industries (Booth C3130), a leading provider of customized home heating, cooling and indoor air quality systems will unveil a new, revolutionary heating and cooling system powered by renewable energy. The state-of-the-art system, which will hit the market this summer, will help homeowners significantly reduce their energy consumption.
• U.S. Timberworks (Booth N1276) releases its new product line of timber-frame architectural components, including decorative brackets, corbels, gable trusses and hearth mantles. These offerings will make it easy and affordable to add the timeless beauty of timber framing and increase perceived value of your next project in today’s competitive and demanding marketplace.
• Tiger Claw Inc. (Booth N3103) will debut the Tiger Claw Semi-Automatic Hidden Deck Fastener Installation Gun for Trex. It will also showcase the new Tiger Jaw tool designed to eliminate the need for a sledge hammer and muscle power when installing hidden deck fasteners and surface boards.
• Salient Software Inc. (Booth C949) offers builder intelligence software that comprises state-of-the-art dashboards and scorecards built with IBM Cognos software specifically for home builders for faster, informed, coordinated decisions. This web-based software lets the decision makers receive instant up-to-the-minute information anywhere, anytime in areas like sales, field operations, finance and purchasing.

John Kirchner, public relations manager for Marvin Windows and Doors spoke with me on the phone from the show floor and confirmed that even though economic times are still challenging there is a lot of positive energy around homebuilding and the products being shown. He also mentioned his picks for a couple of the coolest products he’s seen, and then told me about one huge sliding glass door that Marvin is exhibiting on the floor. Listen in to the podcast below.