homebuilding

Running into friends while enjoying the Vegas nightlife.

If last month’s attendance during the IBS/KBIS Show in Vegas is any sort of indicator for anything, in-person trade shows are still thriving. We’re hearing that this was the most attended show of the past 15 years. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), more than 76,000 builders, remodelers, developers and other home building professionals filled the halls, “the highest level since 2009, which reflects the bullish outlook of the residential construction industry.”

This year also marked the 11th anniversary of Design & Construction Week® (DCW), the co-location of IBS and the National Kitchen & Bath Association’s (NKBA’s) Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS). DCW drew over 117,000 attendees, and more than 2,400 exhibitors occupied over one million net square feet of indoor and outdoor exhibits.

Pfister Faucet’s Spencer Brown, the Hub’s John Mesenbrink, Tim Goff, Pfister Faucets, and Dominic Sims, ICC, talk about the importance, and popularity, of the American Plumber Stories series.

Anyone who has visited the Las Vegas convention center knows that there are basically four separate halls—North, Central, South and West. I am of the opinion that the Central Hall usually gets the influx of traffic initially—over the course of the three-day event—with crossover to the North Hall fairly fluid. The North Hall is generally reserved for big bathroom players, and Central and South are filled with construction/builder booths. The West Hall, honestly, is almost at a different location where, in order to get there most of the time, you are sent underground, blindfolded and whisked through a tunnel via a manned Tesla. Pretty cool experience, actually, but not necessarily ideal if you are exhibiting in West because that’s where the trickle or “if I have enough time” traffic goes. My opinion, of course.

Oh, I almost forgot. There are a number of exhibitors set up outside—our friends from the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC), for example—right in front of Central Hall. The blue sky, 70° temps didn’t hurt those outdoor experiences either.

Dominic Sims CEO, International Code Council (ICC), talks about the partnership with American Plumber Stories for upcoming season 5 of the wildly popular docuseries.

Just a note of interest here, getting the show is getting easier with access to the monorail, which makes stops to a number of hotel locations—if it looks full, just keep nudging, you’ll find space—and hotel bus routes, which can be found in front of the Central Hall and to the side of the South Hall. Depending on when you are entering or leaving the show, Uber and taxi at your own risk.

Now, if you’ve been to the IBS/KBIS trades shows in recent past, you’ll know that the setup is pretty formulaic, but it was brought to my attention that this year they pretty much simplified the approach with similar products located near each other so you don’t have to break your Fitbit traversing the LVCC universe trying to find something.

Everything from low-flow toilets, ADA & Living in Place to the latest in bidets, KBIS had it all. From the Bemis booth.

Invariably during every trade show I attend I get asked, “what was the most interesting thing you saw on the show floor?” Well, I gotta say it was the Genesis Systems WaterCube 100, which basically creates water out of the air. I was fairly shocked when I saw the size of this unit—large—to be installed on the exterior of the home. The company contends that the product sustainably generates more than 100 gallons of fresh water daily from the air around it—enough for a household of four, and it operates in humidity ranges of >40-100% and ideal climate temperatures of >59 degrees F.

Genesis Systems WaterCube 100

In the North Hall, we saw everything from the latest in bidets, low-flow toilets, high-end kitchen and bathroom fixtures to fancy multi-colored bathtubs—a kitchen and bath designer’s fantasy space, if you will.

Moen’s 3-in-1 Water Filtration Pulldown faucets dispense filtered cold water and hot and cold tap water, including a three-function pultdown wand. 3-in-1 Water Filtration Kitchen Pulldowns pair with any Moen filtration system and are available in many styles and finish options.

“2024 marks the 60-year anniversary of KBIS—a tremendous accomplishment and an opportunity to not only celebrate our growth but to set goals for how we want to continue to elevate the show and help drive the industry forward,” said Bill Darcy, Global President & CEO of NKBA|KBIS. “We’ve had great success collaborating with NAHB and IBS and are proud to announce our continued partnership as part of this milestone year. As the kitchen, bath, and wider residential building, architect, design, and remodeling sectors continue to grow it’s more important than ever to provide a central source for inspiration and innovation.”

NAHB and NKBA announced an agreement to extend the co-location of IBS and KBIS for four years through 2030.

Next year, DCW will return to Las Vegas, Feb. 25-27.

See you next year in Vegas!