2007 International Builders' Show | February 7-10, Orlando, FL
2007 International Builder's Show February 7-10

The U.S. is currently in the midst of the largest home-rebuilding effort in recent history. According to the American Red Cross, 850,791 housing units were damaged, destroyed or left inaccessible in the wake of Hurricane Katrina -- the costliest, and one of the deadliest hurricanes in the history of this country.

So when the International Builders’ Show returns to Orlando, Fla., more than 105,000 homebuilding professionals will be looking for ways to ensure that the next generation of homes in this country is not only stronger, but greener, more efficient and technologically advanced. The 2007 NextGen Demonstration Home will allow visitors to be the "First to the Future" of homebuilding in America.

This is the fifth year a NextGen Demonstration Home will be featured at the show, but while this year’s version embraces the same goal – to provide a one-stop showcase of the industry’s best offerings and best practices – both the innovations and the entire package itself has changed.

The 2007 "First to the Future" home will be the first-ever two-story NextGen Demonstration Home. The first floor will be a finished home, complete with furnishings and décor, while a climb to the second floor will feature a less finished look with various cut outs that provide visitors with a comprehensive look into the home’s "hidden assets" ---items like insulation that typically aren’t visible in a finished home.

Built to the Institute for Business & Home Safety’s (IBHS) Fortified…for safer living® program, designed to raise national awareness of the need to build more disaster-resistant homes, and showcasing more than 15 of the latest technologies selected by PATH (Partnership for the Advancement of Technology in Housing), the "First to the Future" Home will include some of the following exciting features:

  • Life|ware software from Exceptional Innovation that lets visitors witness how all the technology in this home — from the television to the security system, sound system, lighting system, and even the revolutionary oven — can be easily controlled and programmed to work together from touch panels throughout the home or a PC or laptop anywhere in the world.
  • Multiple products from DuPont™, including the StormRoom™ residential in-home shelter and ThermaWrap™ and AtticWrap™ — both products that reduce energy bills while protecting a home from mold and mildew.
  • WinGuard Impact-Resistant Windows and doors from PGT Industries that meet the toughest wind-borne debris requirements in the nation and feature impact resistant glass tested to be an incredible nine times stronger than a car windshield.
  • The world’s only solid synthetic shutters with a co-extruded internal aluminum core — Polycore Shutters from Sunland Shutters — that successfully match unprecedented strength with an excellent insulation factor.

And there’s much, much more! Everything from the latest advances in coffeemakers to a hybrid HVAC system. Don’t just dream about the future, experience it for yourself at the 2007 NextGen "First to the Future" Home at the International Builders' Show, Parking Lot D#2.