Marketing Home Products

CONSTRUCT: September 14-16, 2011
McCormick Center: Chicago, IL

CONSTRUCT, the commercial building event for architects, specifiers, engineers, facility managers, and building owners, was held this past week in Chicago. Although sparse with guests on opening day, CONSTRUCT highlighted some of the industry’s most unique and leading products, and our team was there to bring you unique findings.

Door Opening Solutions

The Good Design Studio from ASSA ABLOY was a highlight of the show: a beautiful display of door hardware from the ASSA ABLOY Group brands.

Product Calculator

Atlas Roofing most recently introduced its LTTR Calculator, allowing builders and contractors to choose the climate zone in which their project is located in order to properly calculate the needed R-value for the area. Based on consensus standards in both the U.S. and Canada, Long Term Thermal Resistance (LTTR) is a scientifically supported method to calculate the 15-year, time-weighted average R-value of roof insulation.

Fuzzy Flooring

Yes, you heard correctly. Forbo Flooring Systems exhibited its line of Flotex flooring, an alternative to textile flooring. Flotext provides the benefits of traditional textile flooring, including comfort underfoot and sound insulation, but with the addition of durability, long-term aesthetics, and low-cost maintenance.

Casual Market: September 12-15
Merchandise Mart- Chicago, IL

The International Casual Furniture & Accessories Market is a four-day tradeshow that provides retailers with a destination to find all things related to outdoor and casual living. With the increasing trend in outdoor rooms and living spaces, K&A was excited to see what new trends were apparent at the show. Our experience on the showroom floor consisted of a plethora of outdoor furniture manufacturers, several grill and smoker manufacturers, and a handful of outdoor bioethanol fireplace manufacturers.

With homeowners looking to extend their living space with complete, well-designed rooms, outdoor spaces require the same care and detailed design as their interior counterparts. As the trend is expected to continue to evolve over the next few years, attendees were looking for ways to capitalize on the outdoor theme to stand apart from others in the industry.

BioEthanol Fireplaces

Outdoor options for heat are becoming increasingly popular. A focal point of the exhibit booths at the Casual Market this week were BioEthanol Fireplaces. Bioethanol is completely composed of biological products. The combustion of bio ethanol results in a clean emission: heat, steam and carbon dioxide.

Most recently, EcoSmart released its outdoor fireplace line. Simple to use and easy to clean, EcoSmart Fire’s outdoor fireplaces eliminate the hassle of traditional outdoor fires. Versatile and portable bioethanol outdoor fireplaces create a unique ambience for any outdoor living space.

In addition to outdoor fireplaces, another similar bioethanol product we came across was Anywhere Fireplace, which carries a line of bioethanol tiki and table torches. The stainless steel contemporary designs of the torches will light up and add style, sophistication and ambiance to any outdoor space.

The theme of this year’s PCBC show was “The Beginning of Next,” designed to engage and educate building industry leaders on what’s next for the industry. Redesigning the event experience on the tradeshow floor, this year’s show included the Outdoor Living Showcase, offering design options and alternative ways to create functional, yet practical outdoor living spaces.

Throughout the show, the continual talk among exhibitors and attendees was focused on the outdoor “room.” As expected, there was still a strong focus on the environment and eco-friendly, green products. With the trend expected to continue to evolve over the next few years, many exhibitors are looking for ways to capitalize on the outdoor theme.

Outdoor Trends

Kleber and Associates’ own Danver Stainless Steel Cabinetry had a grand show and made headway with quality customers. As the leading manufacturer and distributor of outdoor kitchen and living amenities, Danver is known in the industry for its stainless steel cabinetry and specifically customizable finishes. The company offers a perfect option for builders and designers looking for durability and low-maintenance outdoor cabinets.

Outdoor options for decks are also becoming increasingly popular. Known in the industry for its PVC trim products, Kleer Lumber, manufacturer of extruded free foam cellular PVC building products, introduced Kleer Decking, a seven-color array of PVC decking that has the natural look of wood and features cap stock technology on every deck board within the line.

EcoStar provides numerous alternatives to traditional steep-slope roofing products, offering an eco-friendly and aesthetically appealing solution for virtually any steep-slope application. Showcasing its various options at PCBC, EcoStar continues to lead the market with recycled slate and shake roofing tiles. EcoStar roofing products are composed of up to 80 percent recycled post-industrial rubber and plastic. These post-industrial materials consist of waste that includes car bumpers and baby diaper production remnants.

Nichiha USA’s fiber cement siding and cladding is an industry best, introducing a new product at PCBC, NichiFrontier. NichiFrontier was designed to complement Nichiha’s Sierra Premium Shake product at a lower price point. The company also showcased its ever-popular Illumination Series cladding, an affordable, yet durable alternative to metal panels.

Unique Finds

New from Acuity Brands is the Acculamp S-Series, a comprehensive assortment of LED-based lamps. Acculamp provides an energy-efficient alternative to traditional light sources and is an ideal solution for projects where performance and efficiencies are the priority, including retail, hospitality, gallery and restaurants… all entirely different, yet demanding applications.

Ortal-USA introduced its modern fireplace designs and installations to the American marketplace for the first time. Showcasing a variety of heating options at PCBC, Ortal provides high-tech, energy-efficient, 21^st century designs for residential and commercial settings. Hand-crafted glass-to-glass fittings set a new industry standard for modern design.

K&A is also proud to represent Gerber Plumbing Fixtures, which displayed its High Efficiency Avalanche toilet, alongside a wide array of faucet fixtures. Gerber is a leading manufacturer of high performance plumbing fixtures, faucets and fittings sold exclusively through professional wholesalers.

Catching attention from far across the convention center, ACME Home Elevators showcased its line of custom residential elevators. ACME Home Elevator uniquely offers two types of hillside lifts; a cable lift and a track lift. These lifts are made to traverse steep hillsides. They provide home and beach access, cargo hauling, and handicapped access; a perfect addition to complete an outdoor space. Hillside lifts safely allow users to enjoy waterfront property without the inconvenience of climbing stairs, and generally increase overall property value.

Viance LLC is an industry leader in the development of advanced greener building material solutions that improve the performance and durability of wood and wood products. Showcased at PCBC, D-Blaze fire retardant treated wood is available for interior applications where fire retardant construction materials are specified or required by building codes. D-Blaze treated lumber and plywood is highly effective in controlling the spread of flame and smoke development caused by fire.