Universal Consumer Products, makers of Latitudes Composite Decking, unveils its next generation of co-extruded composite decking under the Latitudes Capricorn® brand name. The new composite decking will be available in the spring of 2012 and was showcased during the 2012 LBM Expo at Foxwoods in Connecticut and it will also be shown at the International Builders’ Show in Orlando, beginning February 8, 2012.

The next generation of Latitudes which is exclusively distributed  by Boston Cedar in the northeast, features an innovative cap stock for a richer look and outstanding performance. The new synthetic cap stock deck boards feature an improved scratch-resistant surface that is also extremely resilient to stains and fading. Backed by an all-new 25-year stain and fade warranty, it offers a more natural-looking surface, realistic grain pattern and is available in two Capricorn variegated colors, Koa and Arabica, and three solid hues in Cedar, Gray or Walnut. Fortified with the same proven Strandex^® technology, new Latitudes co-extruded composite decking is the perfect balance of beauty, strength and ultra-low maintenance performance.

New Capricorn features:
• 12′, 16′ and 20′ slotted board lengths and 16’ solid boards for stairs and trim boards.

• Slotted edges encapsulated on one side with a stain, fade and scratch resistant cap stock.

• Solid edge boards capped on three sides with an advanced co-extrusion technology for ultra-low   maintenance.

• Durable, stain-and fade-resistant exterior finish.

“New Latitudes co-extruded deck boards are more durable and better looking than composite decking of the past and the rugged cap stock we’ve employed is highly durable and proven in many exterior applications. Architects, Builders and homeowners will appreciate its great looks and exceptional time-tested performance,” said Geoffrey Meyer, sales manager for Universal Consumer Products.

What makes Latitudes composite decking and railing special is the Strandex^® technology it employs on the interior of the product. Strandex technology is much like individual strands that make a rope stronger; it offers superior protection against UV degradation and water absorption because every “strand” of wood fiber is encased in high-density polyethylene. You can be assured you’re getting the highest quality and strongest composite product available.

Decorative Fascia Corners
Latitudes® Composite Decking also bolsters its deck accessory lineup with decorative, metal fascia corners.

Latitudes decorative fascia corners are a stylish way to dress up deck skirting and cover unsightly corner joints. Each corner is sold individually and installs easily with eight color-matched screws (provided). Made of stainless steel and powder-coated black, fascia corners are available in Leaf and Ridge designs and are offered in 7,” 9” and 11” heights to fit virtually any size fascia boards.

The 2012 Starting Line-up

During September of 2011 AZEK Building Products, a manufacturer of PVC-based molding, trim and decking, entered into a strategic alliance with VAST Enterprises, a maker of composite masonry products. Under the agreement, AZEK Building Products purchased an interest in VAST and will make the VAST brand available to AZEK’s distribution network which includes Boston Cedar. AZEK, VAST and Boston Cedar will collaborate on sales and marketing initiatives to drive brand awareness among architects, retailers, contractors and homeowners.

In the ever changing and consistently growing segment of  outdoor living space options, the addition of products produced by Minneapolis, MN based VAST Enterprises is perhaps one of the more exciting products to come along in years.

So what are VAST Composite Pavers?
VAST is an innovative material made from up to 95% recycled materials such as scrap tires and plastic. VAST provides the strength, beauty and versatility of traditional concrete pavers while offering unique qualities only made available by a highly engineered composite material. VAST is the smartest, most socially responsible paver alternative in the industry. VAST Composite Pavers help projects earn LEED certification easier than any other pavement. VAST can outperform other pavements, such as pavers with fly ash, by more than ten-times.

VAST Products Install Three-times Faster Than Traditional Concrete Pavers
VAST’s patented grid system enables contractors to work more efficiently, saving time and reducing the amount of labor required for paver installation. Installers insert VAST pavers into the grid—in any designed pattern, and the pavers are automatically aligned for excellent results. Contractors routinely reduce paver installation time by over 65 percent with VAST.

One-Third the Weight of Concrete
VAST Composite Permeable Pavers weigh 8.2 pounds per square foot, versus 30 or more pounds per square foot for concrete permeable pavers. This weight advantage makes VAST pavers less energy-intensive and less costly to transport, easier to work with on job sites, and great for use in flat and green roof applications.

Engineered to Last
Manufactured with VAST’s patented composite masonry technology, VAST Composite Pavers fulfill the most demanding requirements for hardscape beauty, design versatility, durability, and installation efficiency. VAST’s composite material imparts deep colors, excellent slip resistance and unbeatable strength.

Typical Uses
VAST Pavers are an ideal solution for high use commercial applications such as parking lots, sidewalks, flat roof applications, entryways and public meeting areas. Some of the many residential uses include driveways, patios, walkways and deck resurfacing projects.

Some Frequently Asked Questions can be answered by clicking on the following link:

http://vastpavers.com/products/composite_deck_paver/faq.php

Unlike commonly found man-made building materials such as metal, cement, stucco and plastic that must be mined or manufactured from non-renewable resources, Coastal Western Red Cedar from British Columbia is harvested and reforested in a sustainable manner. As well, the environmental impacts of responsibly producing Western Red Cedar products are significantly less than those of manufactured building products.

As a leading producer of Coastal Western Red Cedar, Western Forest Products Inc. is a logging and lumber manufacturing company which includes eight sawmills, two remanufacturing plants and harvesting operations spanning Vancouver Island and the coast of British Columbia, Canada.  Western Red Cedar, like many of Western Forest Products offerings has one of the lowest carbon footprints of all commercial building materials. Not only is Western Red Cedar beautiful and functional, it’s also the ideal choice for the environment. Western Red Cedar is a renewable resource and WFP’s operations include extensive reforestation projects throughout its timberlands.

With a rich history which stretches back more than one hundred years, Western Forest Products, manages vast crown timberlands which are more than just a resource – they are the heritage and future of the company. Responsible forest stewardship is essential to the survival and success of the company and WFP is committed to sustainable development of forest lands.

One of the five species that WFP harvests and manufactures is Western Red Cedar, and one of the hundreds of finished goods that are manufactured on an annual basis by WFP is exceptional Prestige 5/4 x 6 Kiln Dried STK Decking.

Due to the unique temperate climate on coastal British Columbia, it provides for ideal growing conditions and is well known for producing slower growing tight grain heavy to heart wood Western Red Cedar. Regions that provide the world’s best vertical grain Western Red Cedar also provide incredible tight grain, tight knot cedar.  This type of WRC is highly coveted due to its longevity and stability which yields little to no splitting or checking once milled and installed. The outstanding qualities of coastal Western Red Cedar prove to be more decay resistant and stable compared to cedar that have much faster growing properties.

After nature has provided the optimum cedar fibre, Western Forest Products takes the best tight knot raw material and manufactures through its state-of-the-art dry kilns and planer process a decking product that is unsurpassed in a “Real Cedar” decking. Once the manufacturing processes are completed, “Prestige” Western Red Cedar decking is expertly packaged and shipped by railcar directly to Boston Cedar for exclusive distribution rights in the Northeast United States.

When you are ready to purchase western red cedar, look for a quality manufacturer like Western Forest Products who is a proud member of the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association. Real Cedar is an attractive choice for people who desire a real wood deck yet are often surprised when they find the real western red cedar price is lower than many other woods or man-made imitations.

A clean load of Prestige Decking as it arrives to Boston Cedar directly from Western Forest Products.

There are very few trees that grow in large stands, produce very serviceable lumber that can be used in hundreds of applications and at the same time exhibit the warmth and beauty that quality wood products are known for. Douglas Fir is one of those exceptions.

Douglas Fir (a.k.a. Doug Fir)  trees grow in a very large native range starting in British Columbia, Canada south along the U.S. Pacific Coast Ranges and to the Rocky Mountains. Because of the vast supply and amazing versatility of Doug Fir, it is probably used more frequently than any other individual species grown in North America. Douglas Fir lumber is straight grained and considered to be one the strongest of the softwoods. Common uses for Douglas Fir lumber include fir flooring, fir timbers, fir beams, fir boards and dimension lumber, fir door and window frames as well as for  a variety of heavy construction and industrial uses.

As a Douglas fir tree ages and competes in the forest for natural resources and growing room, they become very narrow and cone shaped at the top after loosing their lower branches. Douglas firs mature at 40 to 80 feet tall and 12 to 20 feet wide, but can tower between 130 and 200 feet in height in a very crowded forest.

Many woods have unique coloring and smell characteristics when freshly cut and Douglas Fir is one of those woods. Douglas Fir can exude a sweet smelling resin on the ends and sides, and there are sometimes even streaks of resin or pitch pockets in the grain of the wood. In volume, this resin, which is used commercially to make turpentine and varnish, is a source of the identifying odor of cut Douglas Fir. The unique smell will usually fade away in time and exposure to ultra-violet rays. At the same time, Douglas Fir will start to become a beautiful rosy red or reddish yellow color.

In the Northeast United States Douglas Fir is often used for interior and exterior flooring options. The high quality straight vertical grain of Douglas Fir wood offers high wear resistance as well as a low degree of shrinking and warping. Vertical grain Douglas Fir flooring does not expand or contract nearly as much as other species and it is also ideal for damp or moist conditions. When specifically cut from Douglas Fir logs, flooring products are usually graded as “C & BTR”. This grade while highly useful allows for more admissible natural characteristics (defects) than “B & BTR Select”. “B & BTR Select” is a more desirable choice when buying Douglas Fir Flooring as the low initial cost premium usually is off-set by more years of service than commonly used “C & BTR”.

Depending on the given need, Douglas Fir can be used for structural applications, interior millwork items like cabinets or wainscoting when natural beauty and warm hues are desired. Douglas Fir also machines well and can generally hold most  types of stains and finishes well. With the ability to be used both indoors and out, Douglas Fir is the one of the most versatile and dependable materials for nearly any building project.

For the 2012 season, AZEK Building Products introduces new outdoor lighting options to its impressive AZEK^® Rail product offering. Experiencing after hour’s relaxation and entertaining doesn’t have to end when the sun goes down any longer. The new AZEK Rail Lighting products include two eclectic styles of Lighted Post Caps and one Under Top Rail Lighting addition. And, for an even more dramatic effect, the AZEK Under Rail Lighting kit can be used in conjunction with the existing roster of caps or the new AZEK Lighted Post Caps.

AZEK Lighted Post Caps include the Villa^™ Cap, available in White and Black, and the Island Cap, available in White, Black, Brownstone and Kona^®. Both cap styles include multiple LEDs to provide ambient lighting, fit all AZEK 5X5 Rail Post sleeves, and complement existing post cap styles. The Villa Cap even includes frosted glass on all sides to provide greater visual aesthetics.

AZEK Under Top Rail Lighting provides a sleek lighting option that tucks neatly under the top rail which is designed to work with either AZEK Premier or AZEK Trademark Railings. The patent pending lighting system does not require extra fasteners and is virtually hidden from view.  The LED lighting strips, which can be cut to fit any length of railing, fit into a complementary semi-rigid extrusion and then press easily between the top rail retainer and top rail.  Available in six and eight foot rail sections, AZEK Under Top Rail Lighting provides continuous soft-tone downward lighting without visually bright spots.  This unique design was developed after careful research to determine the proper hue, amount, and direction of lighting to create the best atmosphere after dark.

The AZEK Under Top Rail Lighting kit and Lighted Post Caps are powered by 12 Volt DC power.  AZEK Power Packs, with either a 35Watt or 200Watt transformer, are sold separately and contain all the components needed to easily install the AZEK Rail Lighting products.

With more than 25 years of cellular PVC manufacturing experience, AZEK Building Products makes and markets premium, low maintenance exterior building products solutions under the AZEK Brand name. Since 2003, Boston Cedar has been the premier Northeast AZEK distributor serving the independent LBM dealer.

By: John D. Wagner

Walking past a remodeling job recently, I looked at the structure, which was covered in housewrap with some siding already installed and said to myself: “There’s no seam tape and no window flashing. The housewrap has been ‘X’ cut and peeled back around rough openings. The application is substantially useless. When the mold hits, any warranty will likely be void.”

I can’t count how often I see housewrap installed improperly. Some contractors simply staple it up, overlap the seams 6 inches and start siding—which is wrong. Housewrap, also known as weather-resistant barrier, is designed to work as a system comprising the housewrap, seam tape and flashing so it performs well in four key areas: 1) moisture resistance, also called water holdout), 2) moisture vapor transmission, 3) surfactant resistance and 4) strength or tear resistance.

Housewrap resists weather, but the weather doesn’t know to avoid seams or rough openings. Weather assaults the entire wall, and the housewrap must be installed so it can balance resistance to air infiltration (wind) and water (mostly liquid that gets behind the siding). It must also allow diffused water vapor to escape from inside the structure. Why the need for high performance and such attention to detail during installation? The average house produces 3 to 6 gallons of water vapor each day, or 2,190 gallons per year. The moisture is often water vapor, diffused or driven through the walls by temperature differentials between the conditioned space and the outside air. But there’s water coming from the outside, too. Moisture in the form of humidity or liquid water as rain inevitably gets behind the siding.

If your contractor customers aren’t installing housewrap properly, it will admit and trap water as a liquid or vapor inside the wall, and the water creates ideal conditions for rot and mold. By not sealing the seams or flashing rough openings, water from outside will likely get into the wall. For your customers’ sake, you must underscore the importance of buying a housewrap system (tape, flashing and the rolls of wrap) and warn contractors that they risk system failure if they aren’t using all of the system’s components. You can’t expect standard sheathing underneath the housewrap to magically stop moisture, unless it’s a sheathing system specially engineered to act as a weather barrier. The sheathing will have an effect but, according to the Air Barrier Association of America, a typical 2,500 sq. ft. home has more than 1.5 miles of cracks and crevices, and water or moisture will find its way into those openings.

It’s about Balance
The best housewrap balances its ability to hold water out and allow the escape of water vapor from within. If the housewrap has low water holdout characteristics and results in high vapor permeability (vapor permeability is measured in “perm”), it will likely admit too much water. On the other hand, if the housewrap does not allow enough water vapor to leave from the inside of the wall (low perm), that trapped water vapor may condense within the wall, potentially leading to rot and mold. A housewrap with an exaggerated capability for water holdout achieves that performance at the expense of its ability to allow diffuse water vapor and vice versa. When evaluating what housewrap you offer on your shelves, keep these things in mind:

Moisture resistance and moisture vapor transmission: Most building science research states that a well-balanced housewrap should have a perm rating between 10 and 20.

Surfactant resistance: A surfactant is a compound that lowers a liquid’s surface tension and degrades the water holdout capabilities. Your housewrap should have superior resistance to them.

Strength: The strength of a housewrap is determined by its resistance to tearing. With building cycle times running more than 120 days, remember that a housewrap functions as temporary siding subjected to the weather, especially wind and sun. Look for a housewrap that is engineered for tear-resistance.

In addition, look for a manufacturer’s statement about UV resistance. Finally, ask your rep how the housewrap enhances the thermal envelope. Independent studies by DOE and Energy Star show that housewrap, when properly installed, flashed and sealed as a system, can lower energy bills between 25-40%—all the more reason to take the manufacturer’s installation recommendations seriously.

The direct ocean front condo building shown is just ten years old. Had the correct housewrap, tapes and flashing been properly installed during construction, this expensive repair would not be needed.

By Garry Prevedini

Recently, I had the good fortune of being the guest of Terminal Forest Products (TFP) of Vancouver, British Columbia Canada. TFP is a leading North America producer of high quality coastal Western Red Cedar and renown for clear all heart vertical grain cedar products. During my visit I was able to tour several impressive TFP milling facilities as well as an active logging operation which was formerly owned by the company. At a time when articles are written by environmentalists that frequently portray the lumber industry in a negative light, it was clear from my experience that nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, what was abundantly evident was the strong commitment to environmental stewardship that Terminal Forest Products adhered to in its forest operations. That tradition of excellence has been continued by the new property owner, A & A Log Trading. Perhaps the statement from Terminal’s annual report says it best. “We take our responsibility as environmental stewards very seriously. Terminal is a leader in an industry whose activities rely on natural resources. Our manufacturing facilities are constantly upgraded with the latest technologies to reduce emissions and pollutants into the air and water. Many of the environmental initiatives Terminal has taken over the years are regarded as benchmarks in our industry.”

Under today’s stringent forestry practices, professional foresters have to be experts in a variety of environmental disciplines in order to ensure the longevity of forests while meeting the demands of the marketplace. Great care is taken with everything from biodiversity values, maintaining water quality, protection of wildlife habitat and fisheries habitat as well as conserving forest soils. Many logging operations use low impact equipment such as low ground pressure skidders and excavators to minimize or eliminate the impact to soils on the site.  Tree branches are left on the ground during the logging process so the forest floor isn’t overly compacted which can hinder growth of newly planted seedlings. Selected mature trees are purposely not harvested on the site so they can continue to serve as natural habitat for birds of prey such as eagles and hawks.  Once the logging operation is completed, branches and debris are collected and burned to create ideal spots for the tree planters that arrive when log harvesting is completed.

As a common practice for forest companies on the coast of British Columbia, for every tree harvested, approximately three seedlings are planted.  Many times the precious seedlings are protected by plastic collars to ensure that they aren’t eaten by local deer and elk allowing them to get off to a good start. The rich growing climate of coastal British Columbia boasts annual rainfall amounts that can range from 100 to a staggering 300 inches and when combined with moderate year round temperatures, 125 -150 foot tall tree growth in 50 to 60 years is not unusual.

Studies have shown that worldwide there is 30% more forest land today than one hundred years ago.  Modern forestry practices also add value by replanting more valuable species such as Douglas Fir and Western Red Cedar in place of less desirable Hemlock or Pine.  Most forest companies also practice certified and sustainable forest management initiatives such as SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative) and FSC (Forestry Stewardship Counsel).  All told, the next time someone brings up the over harvesting of our forest lands, understand that we’re in better shape today than any time in our recent history.

After months of design and construction of its state-of-the-art office space in Mansfield, MA, Boston Cedar employees joined in celebration of a company milestone ceremony at the start of business on Monday, October 31st, 2011.

“Since our humble beginnings during the winter of 1985 in an old construction trailer in Holbrook, MA, it has been a dream of mine and my amazing partners, Bob Vasquezi and Tony Morgan to create a top-notch distribution facility. That day has finally arrived and had it not been for the support of our many loyal customers, suppliers and remarkable employees, this long-awaited dedication ceremony of our new home could have never happened. For that we are grateful beyond words” stated Rob Ankner, Chairman of Boston Cedar.

Boston Cedar is by no means resting on its laurels with the opening of its new office; it has ambitions beyond what’s on the ground today in Mansfield, MA.

“We successfully met the demands of business relocation during the first half of 2011 and created a technologically advanced sales and distribution operation during the third quarter. “All the while our loyal customer base claims that we maintained a very high level of service” said Joe Cusack, President of Boston Cedar. “Sometime during 2012 we plan to move from the ‘drawing board’ to the building phase an education and workshop setting for customer presentations which will be directly integrated into our new office space,” stated Paul Colliton, Boston Cedar’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

“The new home of Boston Cedar is emerging to be a very efficient operation that is a pleasure to work at,” added Marketing Manager Scott Babbitt. “We encourage you to schedule a time to take a tour and see what we are creating. It’s starting to look quite impressive and will be better and better as time moves on.”

More so today than ever before, green building is a wide-open selling opportunity for lumber and building materials dealers.

By John D. Wagner
A version of this article first appears on LBM Journal.

http://mydigimag.rrd.com/publication/frame.php?i=81261&p=32&pn=&ver=flex

The green building movement, started years ago as a “pick-up game” of energy nerds, techie types, and inventors. The rules were made on the fly and anyone could come and play, but now it’s gotten really serious; it’s big money, and for a while now “teams” have been showing up at the old ball field with corporate backing. Professionals are now calling the balls and strikes and the 2010 -11 building environment has seen a dramatic acceleration of the codes, regulations, and professional demands of the movement. The Feds stepped in on product labeling. IECC moved up efficiency by 30% over 2006 standards.  ENERGY STAR notched up requirements as well. Adoption of the LEED program gained even more steam, and NAHB collaborated on the new International Green Construction Code (IgCC).  So, to keep you updated on the fast-moving developments and the great opportunities that they present for dealers, here’s a review of what’s recently happened.

Regulating Green-Product Claims
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has finally stepped into the notoriously unregulated world of green product labeling. Soon, any manufacturer that makes an environmental claim will face tighter rules with the “Green Guides,” which were revised after 12 years ago.  Marketers have to qualify their claims on the product packaging and limit the claim(s) to specific benefit(s). The new FTC rules will also demand that companies disclose if their green certifications are from true third-parties, or were created in-house.  If a trade association certifies a product, and the company is a member of the trade association, that too must be disclosed. Claims of “renewable” have to be specific about material sources.  A new set of rules will govern claims of “nontoxic” or “free of.”  And a manufacturer cannot claim a process uses “renewable energy” if any part of the product was derived from fossil fuels.

New Energy Efficiency Mandates
If you feel as through that the list of government regulations is tightening on you with new labeling laws, take heart, because the new 2012 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) regulations will allow you to sell more building materials. In fact, your customers will be required to buy more to comply with the new code. Here’s a summary: The (proposed) International Code Council (ICC) International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) has an immediate goal of 30% incremental savings over the 2006 IECC.  The proposed changes in the IECC are very aggressive with new window specs and insulation (which will require beefier frames to accommodate). Above-grade wall insulation in Zone 3 (sample city, San Francisco) would move from R-13 to R-20.  Since an insulated 2×4 stud wall achieves around R-15, the builder will have to go to 2×6 framing or use XPS rigid foam over 2×4 walls to meet the new spec. Basement wall insulation in Zone 3 would move from no insulation to required R-5, and in Zones 5-8 (e.g. Chicago, Burlington VT, Duluth, and Fairbanks) from R-13 to R-19.   Floor insulation in Zones 7 and 8 would move from R-30 to R-38.  Ceiling insulation requirements would move from R-30 to R-38 in Zone 3, and from R-38 to R-49 in Zone 5.

For windows, the proposed IECC offer a broad opportunity for dealers to sell higher-quality windows. In Zone 1 (e.g. Miami), the required U-factor would move from U-1.2 to U-0.50.  For Zone 4 (e.g. Albuquerque), the U-factor would move from U-0.40 to 0.35.

For lighting, no one has to use CFLs, despite what you may hear on cable news. However, 50% of the lighting in a new home will have to be as efficient as CFLs.  For ducts, sealing leakage limits would be verified by required testing if the ducts pass through unconditioned space.

Remember, the purchase of extra materials to comply with the IECC won’t be a choice.  So, here’s a clear opportunity for dealers: Publicize the particulars about the new code to your pro customer base, and list the products you have to help achieve compliance. That will boost your brand…and save your customers a few red flags in the process.

Whole-House Green Rating Systems
There is no question that the acceptance of LEED in the commercial, federal, health care, and educational sectors has been a roaring success, which has been a win for dealers who sell the premium products to help contractors and architects earn LEED status. LEED has not had the same traction in the residential sector, in part because of cheaper alternatives like Energy Star Qualified Homes, the NAHB National Green Building Standard and the new codes coming into play with the IgCC.  That said, this is abundant evidence that certified green homes sell faster and for a premium over non-certified-green homes (mostly because green homes cost less to operate). So you will see continued growth in whole-house systems, especially Energy Star. In fact, the EPA implemented more rigorous guidelines in January 2011 for new homes that earn the Energy Star label. Compared to the 2009 Energy Star guidelines, the new requirements drive for a 20% incremental improvement.  Here too, dealers can play a role in pointing out products they help comply with these standards. According to the EPA, key elements of the new guidelines include the following, with items of interest to dealers in bold:

• Comprehensive air sealing, properly insulated assemblies and high-performance windows.
• High-efficiency heating and cooling systems engineered to deliver more comfort, moisture control, and quiet operation, and equipped with fresh-air ventilation to improve air quality.
• Because Energy Star homes offer a tightly-sealed and insulated building envelope, a comprehensive package of flashing, moisture barriers, and heavy-duty membrane details is critical to help keep water from roofs, walls, and foundations for improved durability and indoor air quality.
• Energy Star qualified lighting, appliances and fans will help reduce monthly utility bills and provide high-quality performance.

Dealers who are aggressive marketers of their products should read the preceding list of rules and openly weep with joy. It’s a veritable buffet of opportunity, for up-selling everything from housewrap, flashing systems, insulation, and framing, to duct sealants, enhanced framing packages, and energy trusses.  You will note that many of the new green regulations ask builders to think of terms of building systems. Don’t sell customers single products such as housewrap, but housewrap systems that include flashing, tape, wrap, and maybe even companion roof underlayment. The same with ducts, which can be sold as a system, including seam sealant and the proper amount of insulation, if the ducts run through unconditioned spaces.  The list goes on and on. However, dealers should study the EPA site, decipher which brands you sell that help builders comply with the standard (or bring in a green expert to help do that for you), and offer your consultative sales services to the builder, who is no doubt welcome to hearing your expert advice.  He or she maybe lost in a sea of questions about what regulations apply to him, and when they kick in.

In summary, as much as some would like to see green building fade miss the plate like a wild pitch you can’t un-ring a bell, and the bell that announced the professionalism and regulation of the green building movement has been rung. The only alterative for today’s dealers is to figure out how to profit from it, because – more so today than ever before – green building is a wide-open selling opportunity for dealers. You will thrive if you are savvy enough to recognize what products the new codes and regulations call for, and you should be positioning yourself now as the go-to expert source for your customers.

The award-winning author of many books and article about construction, and a frequent contributor to the industry’s leading trade magazines, John D. Wagner can be contacted at www.JohnDWagner.com.

http://www.greenzone.com/general.php?section_url=12

The growth of commercial and residential decking and railing products over the past few years has been a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy building and remodeling environment. All indications are that this trend will continue, albeit modestly, for the foreseeable future. However, emerging technologies and color trends coupled with builders and homeowners mixing and matching decking and railing materials from different suppliers have impacted how raw material producers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, contractors and remodelers make decisions.

Just in the last decade, the industry has seen rapid growth of solid composites but now that popularity is slipping away to a variety of lower cost hollowed-back composite options, capped composites or synthetic options. Several synthetic deck products produced by a variety of companies look more and more like wood but they continue to escalate in price. Raw material and transportation costs are volatile and a great majority of manufacturers don’t have deep enough pockets to absorb those increases. This emerging trend may ultimately prove to be difficult to plan for at the retail purchasing level. Even the discriminating buyer with an above average income may bypass the trendiest of synthetic products and decide on a high-end genuine exotic hardwood species or move to a more traditional wood deck option such as western red cedar or douglas fir. According to Principia Partners a consulting firm, the wood deck segment which includes pressure treated decking materials still represents roughly 50% of all decking used in the Northeast United States.

Today’s deck and railing buyer demands long-term durability, lower-maintenance, fade resistance, good looks, and accessories to customize. Often times a consumer will mix one brand of decking with a different brand of railing, and then add accessories like lighting and hardscape elements such as deck stones or special solar post caps from yet another manufacturer. Some homeowners are also seeking “green” products in that they contain a high percentage of recycled materials or the Life Cycle Assessment of the given product is in line with their beliefs.  While the “green” attributes of a product usually do not become the sole factor in the purchasing decision, often times they can be the single reason that will sway the buyer over a specific brand or wood specie.  In many markets, it is also realistic to conclude that the professional deck contractor may exert his or her considerable experience and or brand preference to strongly influence the buyer.

With the rapidly changing landscape in the decking and railing category, it is very important to understand how the man-made product is manufactured because ingredients, speed in which products are produced and packaged will directly impact the end users satisfaction. In general, consumers have very high expectations that the decking, fastener, railing and or accessory purchased will perform as promoted (or better).

Whether it is decking and railing or patio hardscapes, the outdoor living space category is a growing market segment. It is important for all channels of the industry to partner with the companies and products that have consistently delivered proven results over an extended period of time. At Boston Cedar, the company has worked diligently since its inception to ensure that the products and programs offered are the best of the best.