The International Builders’ Show (IBS) wraps up today in Las Vegas, capping off a week in which manufacturers looked to set the trends in home construction. This year, the event served as more than just a showcase for the latest products—it became a proving ground, as manufacturers across the industry unveiled products designed to complement and coordinate with other building materials, marking a growing emphasis on integration and aesthetic harmony. From breakthrough door and window technologies to expanded product offerings in finishes, films, and adhesives, this year’s show set the stage for a more connected future in home design.
New Ideas and New Markets
With more than 1,800 exhibitors, the event drew its fair share of first-time participants this year, looking to test the waters among a builder audience. After walking the show last year, officials for Renolit (a longtime exhibitor at door and window related events) set up in the Central Hall, which served as the primary spot for door and window companies. Avery Dennison, which has offered products for the fenestration market for years, was another first-time exhibitor looking to draw attention for a new line of flashing and other tape-based adhesive products.
“We really need to get our name out there,” said Monica Hammer, Avery Dennison’s director of marketing, performance tapes North America.
“For door and window manufacturers, our value proposition is in the fact that we’re experts in adhesives,” said Jim Brazytis, senior marketing communications manager for Avery Dennison Performance Tapes.
For manufacturers, the event is not only a testing ground for weighing interest for products, but a place to listen—gathering ideas for what builders want.
“When you start to look at what builders need, there are a lot of synergies and a lot of ways to work together,” Hammer said.
As door and window companies explore other product channels and recent mergers and acquisitions place fenestration companies under the same umbrella as other products, booths have become larger and more diverse. In some cases, products are also offered through sister companies and brands. Waudena, for instance, had a separate booth for Diamond Kote, a brand of engineered wood siding.
The show illuminates which manufacturers cross over into other product segments.
One trend that’s emerged from these cross overs is a focus on matching materials and finishes across both exterior and interior products. Film companies have latched onto this trend, seizing the opportunity to promote their products for everything from doors and windows to decking, trim and siding.
At this year’s event, Continental displayed an outdoor living area, replete with siding, slat-style facades, decking and windows—including matching films and finishes. After creating a decking product in 2012 for one of its clients, the company shelved the idea, only to bring it back to life at this year’s IBS for a “soft launch,” said Marco Patermann, a company representative.
“Anything you can think of or find from around the building can be laminated to be matched and coordinated with other products and materials,” Patermann said. “A lot of builders and building products manufacturers love this concept. It used to be that each product type was kind of on its own island. Now they’re saying, ‘Hey … what if we coordinate all of these things with our windows.”
At glass-related trade shows, “It’s all about doors and windows,” said Patermann. “Here it’s a little bit different.”
David Harris, product manager, exterior films, for Renolit, said his company will leave the event with plenty of new ideas.
“We’ve had a lot of good leads, and we’ve actually found some quality stuff that’s going to work out for us in other directions,” Harris said. “Because, when you normally think about Renolit, you think about the [glass-related] shows, where we’re about doors and windows. We’re fenestration. But, we’re also façade. We’re also decking. We’re fencing.”
Around 80% of Renolit’s business remains dedicated to the door and window market, Harris said, adding, “But the non-fenestration-related materials have been kind of unexplored, so that’s why we’re here doing this.”
At IBS, the company’s booth features a floor made of decking that’s wrapped in its Renolit Geofol FH film.
Door and window companies at this year’s show have continued the longstanding trend of monster-sized entryways and an expansive glass. But new technologies have also come into the fold.
Kolbe, for instance, displayed a 20-foot-long sliding door configuration that instead of numerous panels includes just two 10-foot by 10-foot panels. The design is eye catching in that it demonstrates how two large panels, and fewer framing materials, impact views.
Kolbe also followed up on last year’s trend for integrated dog doors, by teaming up with Pawport. In the coming year, the company plans to offer Pawport, automated and powered pet doors on all of its products—including those made of glass.
Kolbe also displayed several new glass technologies, such as vacuum insulating glass (VIG) from LuxWall, which it expects to introduce mid-2025. While Kolbe’s window units containing LuxWall’s VIG are still in testing, current results show they achieve around R-19 to R-20 performance. The company is also hoping to join in what officials see as a coming trend for bird-friendly glass, which it’s now bringing to the residential market. In residential formats, the product is designed to be less obtrusive, with more subtle, bird-friendly markings for improved aesthetics.
“It’s partly an educational thing,” said Liz Reynolds, Kolbe’s director of marketing. “We want to bring it to people’s attention, because most don’t realize there are options like this available.”
When it comes to formats developed for us in commercial buildings, “That’s not as attractive when you’re building a multimillion-dollar home in the mountain scape,” Reynolds said. “They don’t want to ruin the view they’ve paid so much to have.”
What About Tariffs?
Trends aside, one subject that was sure to make its way to the event includes impending tariffs currently set to take effect for products imported from Canada, China and Mexico. Most door and window manufacturers say they’re unsure of how new tariffs might impact their businesses. Manufacturers who work with aluminum and steel say they’ve already been affected, though the long-term impacts remain unclear.
Micah Browning, territory manager for Waudena said with his company’s materials being U.S.-made and sourced, they aren’t as concerned. Others said that even though they source materials and sell to U.S. buyers, there are other reasons to be watchful. Even if they do not source materials from foreign providers that are now subject to import tariffs, the move by other companies to find and pin down domestic sources could increase competition.
The show ends Thursday.