Interesting Insights from the International Builders’ Show

Posted January 23, 2013 By Angie Dye and has no comments yet.

The International Builders’ Show was once again a hotbed of building industry activity and thought-provoking discussion. Here are a few memorable tidbits and revelations to recap the day:

Weather-related events are driving heightened awareness of home performance. The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina and Super Storm Sandy continues to influence new building codes and product innovations. Case in point — there’s a new publication, Storm & Security Protection, dedicated specifically to these issues.

Convenience, functionality and performance are deeply intertwined. For example, centrally located laundry rooms might make household chores less tedious, but can generate extra noise — compromising the overall enjoyment and comfort in living spaces. As a result, products such as SilentFXTM noise-reducing gypsum board, which are commonly used in home theaters, are being installed in new areas of a home.

Certain building-related tools are facing extinction, maybe. Ok, this might be a stretch, however, the team at Professional Remodeler introduced us to a new iPad app that can calculate the dimensions of a room sans measuring tape.

 

 

 

Categories:
 IBS

“Overheard” at the International Builders’ Show

Posted January 22, 2013 By Angie Dye and has no comments yet.

Throughout the first day of the International Builders’ Show, there have been dozens of conversations that shed light on new and emerging trends in the building industry. From the vantage point of the CertainTeed exhibit as well as a quick visit to BuilderLIVE, there was a healthy amount of idea sharing and discussion. The dialogue on Twitter — especially via the #OverheadAtIBS hashtag — offered additional insight into activity at the show. Here are a few interesting tidbits that caught my attention.

The demand for contemporary interior design, which calls for clean, simple lines, is on the rise. Outstanding craftsmanship is a must to achieve this aesthetic. For example, interior trim and moulding, which are less prevalent in contemporary design, typically camouflages imperfections in interior finishes.

Energy efficiency remains a top priority. There are new building codes to tackle and it’s just plain common sense. Fortunately, there are an increasing number of products and solutions — such as hybrid insulation — to optimize the energy efficiency of a home.

Building science is a great way to sell a house. Having this foundational knowledge not only strengthens a builder’s competitive edge, it means healthy, comfortable homes and satisfied customers.

New technology continues to intrigue us. Home lighting and automation systems are evolving to new levels of sophistication. New garage concepts, such as power lifts that stack multiple vehicles in a single space, are slowly emerging in the custom home market.

So, what’s captured your attention thus far?

A Powerful Green Building Partnership

Posted November 16, 2012 By Angie Dye and has no comments yet.

Saint-Gobain, CertainTeed and the Youthbuild Philadelphia Charter School took center stage at Greenbuild 2012 to share their experience in preparing young adults for a career in the building industry, while transforming a long vacant structure into a sustainable home. This public-private partnership provides a useful framework that can easily be leveraged by other communities, offering a win, win, win scenario.

First of all, the partnership provides young adults with valuable hands-on training that will prepare them for a career in the construction industry.  According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there is a growing demand for construction-related skilled workers, which means these students are especially well positioned for future success.

The CertainTeed building scientists who provided on-site training walked away with new ideas on how to design and install products — which was fueled by the fresh insight the students brought to the project.

From the community’s perspective, the project is helping to expand the availability of affordable, green housing.

Categories:
 GreenBuild

GREEN BUILDING GURU: Drew Brandt, CertainTeed Insulation

Posted November 15, 2012 By Angie Dye and has no comments yet.

Greenbuild 2012 is the perfect venue to capture interesting perspectives on sustainability. We’re highlighting a few noteworthy individuals through our “Green Building Guru” column.

What do you think is the most critical factor in ensuring a healthy, sustainable built environment?

Companies that are developing and manufacturing products for green construction need to fully embrace environmental transparency and provide quality, accurate information to end users. This is the foundation for continuous improvement and innovation in product design that will help us collectively protect and preserve the environment.

What is your business doing to support this goal?

Most recently, we created the “Recycled Truth” website in reaction to the U.S. Green Building Council’s ruling that calls for more stringent parameters for calculating the recycled content of products. In essence, the ruling requires manufacturers to report recycled content on a by product, by plant basis versus a combined national average. At CertainTeed, we’ve always embraced plant-specific analyses and developed the site to help share our experience with other manufacturers, architects, builders, etc.

 

 

Categories:
 GreenBuild, Insulation

Greenbuild 60-Second Stop By: Sky Factory

Posted November 14, 2012 By Angie Dye and has no comments yet.

With over 1,000 exhibits, the Greenbuild 2012 Expo hall can be a navigational challenge — there are so many interesting things to see and experience. Through the “60-second “stopby” segment, we’re sharing a few things that caught our attention.

The eye-catching, somewhat mesmerizing, imagery is what initially drew me in to the Sky Factory exhibit at Greenbuild. Based on the concept of biophilic engagement, the company manufacturers skylights and windows that bring the realistic illusion of nature into interior spaces. Used primarily in healthcare settings, Sky Factory’s products align closely with evidence-based design, which continues to garner significant attention from the green building industry.

Categories:
 GreenBuild

Maximize Your Mobile at Greenbuild

By Angie Dye and has no comments yet.

If you haven’t already, I highly recommend downloading the Greenbuild Mobile App, which offers a few new bells and whistles that will enhance your experience at the conference. As with many event-related mobile apps, it provides a full listing of educational sessions and exhibitors to help you navigate the conference. However, it also has additional features that piqued our interest:

From the exhibitor directory, you can create a customized list of companies and organizations you’d like to visit. The list can serve as a checklist and help you make the most of your time at the conference.

Attendees can easily engage in online conversations through integrated Twitter and Facebook feeds that are specific to Greenbuild.

The “Green Your Greenbuild” section offers tips on how to reduce the environmental impact of your visit. For example, it helped us easily connect to San Francisco’s rail system to get from the airport to the conference — which saved 20 pounds of emissions from entering the atmosphere.

Also, a new “Attendee to Attendee” section allows you to connect with others who have downloaded the app. From the online directory, you can easily search a list of attendees and send messages.

Of course, the best part of the app is that is eliminates the need for a printed directory. To learn more about the app, visit www.greenbuildexpo.org.

Greenbuild and San Francisco: Sustainable Superheroes

Posted November 12, 2012 By Angie Dye and has no comments yet.

The LEED-certified San Francisco International Airport

What do you get when you combine the world’s largest green building conference with one of the most sustainable cities in the U.S.? Well, we’re about to find out as we pack our bags for the Greenbuild 2012 International Conference and Expo.

Ever since the City of San Francisco made the bold move to ban plastic shopping bags five years ago, there’s been somewhat of a spotlight on the city and its environmental initiatives. Fast forward to 2012 and you’ll find that their commitment to a healthy, sustainable community continues to thrive.

Last month, San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee announced that the city is diverting 80 percent of waste from landfill disposal — the highest rate in the country. In addition, a new city ordinance will require commercial buildings to publicly share information on energy performance.

According to the Northern California Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, the area boasts an impressive 384 LEED-certified buildings, which includes the Moscone Center — the first convention center on the West Coast to achieve LEED Gold certification and Greenbuild 2012 venue.

On a lighter note, environmental issues appear to be deeply engrained in the city’s culture. There’s a robust lineup of sustainability-related “meet ups” on an ongoing basis. Many restaurants feature menus with locally grown ingredients. They even host an organic beer and wine pavilion at the annual San Francisco Green Festival.

All in all, we’re eager to land at the San Francisco International Airport — also LEED certified, of course!

Social Media Mavens at the 2012 AIA Convention & Design Exposition

Posted May 21, 2012 By Angie Dye and has no comments yet.

Twitter activity was most definitely a flutter last week at the 2012 AIA Convention & Design Exposition in Washington D.C. Using the social media-monitoring tool, UberVU, we extrapolated some interesting insight from the Twitter activity at the show. For example, a report on activity using the #AIA2012 hash tag showed that:

  • There were 5,528 tweets from May 10-21 — just prior and one day after the show.
  • 36 percent of mentions were re-tweets.
  • Nearly half of all tweets occurred on the first day of the show, May 18.
  • New York-based architect Vanesa Alicea posted the most frequently, with 141 tweets.
  • Of all of the Twitter accounts active during the show, Architectural Record magazine has the largest following, with a whopping 323,335 followers.

All in all, we enjoyed following and participating in the Twitter stream to keep a pulse on the show, however, we were most fortunate to have in-person conversations that spanned well beyond 140 characters!

New Product Snapshot from 2012 AIA Expo

Posted May 18, 2012 By Angie Dye and has no comments yet.

For the past several years, Snap magazine has organized a “Say it in a Snap” session at the AIA Expo, offering building product manufacturers a chance to talk about their newest product innovations. Products showcased this year demonstrated a broad array of form and function:

  • Sherwin Williams announced the expansion of their environmentally conscious paint products — Emerald TM zero-VOC interior paint.
  • BluWorld of Water shared a new white paper that dispels some of the microbial concerns around water features in health care settings.
  • Construction Specialties launched two new louver products that offered very distinct design aesthetics.

Architectural Record Makes Photo-sharing Easy

By Angie Dye and has 1 comment.

Whether it’s Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter, photo-sharing is most definitely in vogue. While all of these networks create a sense of community and connectedness in their own special way, Architectural Record magazine has launched a photo-sharing mobile app designed specifically for architects and designers. At the 2012 AIA Convention and Design Exposition, the Architectural Record editorial team touted the new tool, which is available, free-of-charge via iTunes.

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