The 2025 International Builders’ Show (IBS) ran from February 25 to 27 in Las Vegas. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), which put on the show, this year’s event was the best attended in 17 years, with more than 81,000 attendees and 1,800 exhibitors. The show was spread out over three halls—Central, South, and most of the West Hall—plus an outdoor exhibits area. In addition, the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (KBIS) is held concurrent with IBS. This show features an additional 43,000 registered attendees plus 670 exhibitors, which were located in the North, South lower level, and a portion of the West halls. As was recently reported in Fine Homebuilding, there’s been a positive trend in trade shows, conferences, and building education opportunities in recent years.

Walking the show floor and checking out the manufacturers’ exhibits is how most attendees approach the show (it’s not uncommon to put in more than 25,000 steps in a day). In addition to the exhibits, there are also many opportunities for education, both in a classroom setting and with live demonstrations on the show floor. Many of the exhibitors have live demonstrations in their booths, but my favorite places to catch education are at the Construction Performance Zone and Craft Techniques Zone, both of which were located among exhibitors in the South and West Halls. The zones are sponsored by several manufacturers, who help by supplying products and providing financial support. Companies like DuPont, MiTek, Huber, Andersen, Rockwool, Siga, Bosch, Zehnder, Truewerk, Stego, and SBCA all contributed to the Construction Performance Zone. The Craft Techniques Zone’s sponsors were Henry, Johns Mansville, Georgia Pacific, and Bosch Tools. Some of the educators featured on the sites were Walt Tomala, Ben Bogie, Travis Brungardt, Joe Cook, Kali Sudbrook, Aaron Butt, Aron Jones, Matt Blomquist, Ross Trethewey, Casey Knips, Jordan Smith, and Connor Malloy.

Construction Performance Zone

The Construction Performance Zone primarily teaches framing techniques, energy-efficiency, mechanical, and durability details that matter; a lot of what is discussed here on GBA was covered in this zone. The four control layers (water, air, thermal, and vapor) were all discussed in detail. Individual topics included insulating foundations, air barrier details, best practices (and newer methods) for installing windows, and several discussions on air-source heat pumps. There was even a session titled “Built for Speed: A Framing Race” where two pro builders who happened to be brothers raced each other in the construction of a wall, one with a precut and laid-out framing package, the other with standard dimensional lumber that needed to be cut, laid out, and assembled. As you can probably imagine, the race wasn’t close.

On a side note, an automated system that cuts and lays out lumber packages was on display at IBS this year: the Simpson Strong-Tie EasyFrame. More information on this cool process tool can be found at EasyFrame Automated Marking System | Simpson Strong-Tie.

In addition to the “Demo Stage,” the Construction Performance Zone also had a presentation stage where prepared presentations were given. Topics included framing safety, vapor control, heat pump technology, and indoor air quality. Also featured were live presentations of the BS & Beer show, with Patrick McCombe from Fine Homebuilding magazine as the moderator.

The Craft Techniques Zone

As the name implies, the Craft Techniques Zone was more about the craft of building. Both interior and exterior topics were covered, including roofs, decks, stair building; kitchen and bath finishing, including a demo on tiling; and even building a coffered ceiling. There was some building science and HVAC coverage in this zone as well, and a new insulation from Henry (Blueskin VPTech) was featured along with discussions on heat-pump space conditioning and water heating equipment.

Both the Construction Performance Zone and the Craft Techniques Zone were welcoming areas for attendees to sit for a bit and take in some free education. Many of the presentations were full, with a few of the more popular sessions having attendees standing at the back of the zones because there were not enough seats available. After the presentations concluded, presenters stuck around to answer questions from the audience, and often the questions continued for half an hour, when the next presentation began.

The Construction Performance Zone and Craft Techniques Zone have been a popular part of IBS for several years and look to be back for the 2026 IBS show, which will take place at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, February 17 to 19.  Registration for the 2026 show begins in the fall of 2025. Hope to see you there!

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GBA editor Randy Williams is a recovering general contractor who performs energy auditing and building investigations in Grand Rapids, Minn. He teaches and speaks about building science topics around the country. Photos by the author.