Details about these and the many other products and services of the show exhibitors are now available online. During the trade show, NAHB launched the International Builders' Show Network (IBSN), "designed to ensure that your tradeshow investment will last throughout the year."

IBSN includes links to the exhibitors' Web sites, video broadcasts of educational seminars, news about product launches, and exhibitor interviews.

The New American House

For a less virtual look at such products in February, show participants toured the NAHB-sponsored New American Home. This 5500-square-foot (500-square-meter) house in Atlanta was inspired by the early Arts and Crafts houses of 19th-century England.

To "revive the realm of the craftsman and marry it to the technology of the 21st century," builder Pam Sessions of Hedgewood Properties collaborated with Lew Oliver of Arc Design and interior designer Susan Orlie.

The "luxurious but environmentally sensitive" house features four bedrooms, a detached garage with studio above, an enclosed courtyard with herb garden, and, in the basement, a wine cellar, exercise room, home theater and steam bath. The house is well insulated and includes energy-efficient, water-conserving appliances.

The Education Track

In order to benefit from 21st century technologies, builders must pay their dues by continually educating themselves about the innovations and how to take advantage of them. Computer software in the builder's office and exotic hardware embedded in the houses they build all cry out for attention.

Seminars at the trade show offered plenty of opportunity for builders to broaden their horizons. In the architecture & interior design track, for example, participants learned about copyright law and how to avoid infringement problems.

There were also sessions displaying recent award-winning residential designs from across the country and workshops offering input from architects on the builders' own designs.

In the commercial construction track, participants could choose between seminars on project specific Web sites, improving construction productivity, overcoming labor shortages, and trends in the commercial building business.

In the educational track focusing on finance and housing programs, builders learned about new trends in single family finance and business opportunities in under-served markets, particularly affordable housing.

In addition, EH Publishing, Inc., which focuses on the integrated home electronics industry, launched TecHome Builder, a new magazine dedicated to homebuilders.

As the official publication of the tecHOMExpo Home Technology Pavilion, within the International Builder Show, the publication include information and advice on how technology can help increase productivity, competitiveness, and profits and how to incorporate high-tech products and services effectively in new houses and remodeling work.

NAHB is a Washington, D.C.-based trade association representing more than 203,000 member firms and professionals involved in home building, remodeling, multifamily construction, property management, subcontracting, design, housing finance, building product manufacturing and other aspects of residential and light commercial construction.

The next International Builders' Show will be held February 8-11, 2002, in Atlanta.