Alan Naditz

The Evolving Role of Associations: National Wood Flooring Association

Aug 6, 2018 11:59:28 AM

This group helps showcase wood flooring’s green nature—from virtual university classrooms to the world’s rainforests.

Founded in 1985, the National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) is a not-for-profit trade association representing all segments of the hardwood flooring industry, including manufacturers, distributors, retailers, installers, importers/exporters, inspectors and consultants. NWFA is also dedicated to educating consumers, architects, designers, specifiers and builders in the uses and benefits of wood flooring. Membership now includes companies from 52 countries around the world.

The Evolving Role of Associations: International Window Film Association

Posted by Alan Naditz

Aug 6, 2018 11:36:57 AM

A one-for-all focus brings a lot to the table for the window film industry.

The International Window Film Association (IWFA) is a unified industry body of window film dealers, distributors and manufacturers that facilitates growth of the window film industry though education, research, advocacy and consumer awareness. The organization builds alliances with trade associations, utilities and government agencies to advance dealers’ and distributors’ businesses, and provide value to their customers.

The Evolving Role of Assocations: Portland Cement Association

Posted by Alan Naditz

Jul 30, 2018 11:54:21 AM

Cement plays a more important role in construction than realized— and PCA wants everyone to know about it.

Number of members: N/A
Member breakdown: Regular Member Companies (firms engaged in the manufacture or sale of Portland cement in the United States); Affiliate Member Companies (any local, area, state or regional organization with cement and concrete interests); Associate Member Companies (firms and consultants that provide equipment, products and services to the cement industry); Individual Members (any person employed in a management, leadership or professional role by a regular member company, an affiliate or an associate member)
Headquarters: Skokie, Ill.
Website: www.cement.org
Number of active sites: 2 (Skokie, Ill., headquarters and Washington, D.C., office)
Key Services offered: Advocacy for cement use; Market Intelligence; cement and concrete technical expertise and education; cement and concrete applications
Mission statement: To improve and extend the uses of Portland cement and concrete. here

The Evolving Role of Associations: Painting and Decorating Contractors of America

Posted by Alan Naditz

Jul 30, 2018 10:59:23 AM

Thanks to the internet, this venerable group has kept up with the times.

Number of members: 1,287
Member breakdown: Residential and commercial painting contractors
Headquarters: St. Louis
Website: http://pdca.org
Number of active sites: Local chapters: 44; councils 21; forums: 3
Key Services offered: Access to education programs; webinars; training videos; the Ask-a-Peer Network; Contractor’s Roundtable; Safety Chat; PaintED Podcast; accreditation offerings; local networking meetings; and use of PDCA Industry Standards.
Mission statement: The Painting and Decorating Contractors of America is dedicated to the success of painting and decorating contractors through ethics, education and excellence.

Grand Entrance

Posted by Alan Naditz

Jul 30, 2018 10:05:34 AM

Today’s doors and windows are greener, longer lasting and ever-so-classy.

Doors and windows are two of the easiest and least expensive ways to emphasize environmental friendliness. But they’re two of the less obvious. Roofs or solar arrays, which seem to broadcast their green status, get a general “wow!” from homebuyers. But not every homebuyer cracks a mile-wide smile when they hear about the type of vinyl their living room windows are made of.

The Evolving Role of Associations: Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition

Posted by Alan Naditz

Jul 26, 2018 10:44:52 AM

Where’s the fire? With HFSC, not anywhere near you or your customers.

Headquarters: Quincy, Mass.
Website: https://homefiresprinkler.org
Number of active sites: 1
Key Services offered: Educational material about installed home fire sprinkler systems, how they work and why they provide affordable protection; free resources to support the installation of home fire sprinklers in single-family home new construction.
Mission statement: To inform the public about the life-saving value of home fire sprinkler protection.ext here

The Evolving Role of Associations: Metal Roofing Alliance

Posted by Alan Naditz

Jul 25, 2018 11:15:33 AM

A sustainable message rolls into the start of a third decade.

Number of members: 410
Member breakdown: Contractors (311); non-contractors (30); distributors (69). Of the non-contractors: manufacturers (17); trade groups (2); ancillary (3); accessory (2); suppliers (6).
Headquarters: Longview, Wash.
Website: www.metalroofing.com
Key Services offered: Lead generation; education support; marketing support; market research; industry advocacy and representation; coalition building.
Mission statement: Grow the market share of high-performance, quality metal roofing in the residential market through education and promotion to homeowners, coupled with recruitment, training and support of metal roofing contractors and distributors.

The Evolving Role of Associations: International Code Council

Posted by Alan Naditz

Jul 20, 2018 5:20:55 PM

If it’s a building code, there’s a good chance this council is behind it.

Number of members: 64,000-plus
Member breakdown: ICC’s membership consists of code officials, plan reviewers, fire officials, inspectors, architects, engineers, contractors, other building industry professionals and students.
Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
Website: www.iccsafe.org
Number of active sites: 6 locations (Birmingham, Ala.; Brea, Calif.; Country Club Hills, Ill.; Lenexa, Kan.; Rochester, N.Y.; Washington, D.C.)
Key Services offered: Technical, educational and informational products and services, including evaluation services, accreditation services, codification and content management services, code application assistance, education programs, certification programs, technical handbooks and workbooks, plan review services, digital products, online magazines and newsletters, and building safety career assistance.
Mission statement: To provide the highest-quality codes, standards, products and services for all concerned with the safety and performance of the built environment.

The International Code Council (ICC) is a member-focused association with more than 64,000 members. It is dedicated to developing model codes and standards used in the design, build and compliance process to construct safe, sustainable, affordable and resilient structures.

ICC was established in 1994 as a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing a single set of comprehensive and coordinated national model building codes. The founders of ICC are the Building Officials and Code Administrators International, Inc. (BOCA), the International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO) and the Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc. (SBCCI). Prior to the Code Council, these nonprofit organizations developed three separate sets of model codes used throughout the U.S. The three model code groups came together to create the International Code Council to develop codes without regional limitations—the International Codes (I-Codes), now the most widely used and adopted set of building safety codes in the world.

The Code Council created the Sustainability Membership Council to advocate for concerns and issues related to sustainability. Builders, design professionals, industry, policymakers, regulators and other professionals assist ICC in increasing participation in the code development process and to advise on programs and policies, legislative matters, code adoption issues and other related issues.
ICC also has a Sustainability, Energy, and High Performance Code Action Committee (SEHPCAC), which is a forum to deal with complex technical issues ahead of the code development process, to identify emerging issues, and to draft proposed code changes of importance to the ICC membership.

The Evolving Role of Associations: NFPA

Posted by Alan Naditz

Jul 18, 2018 5:39:01 PM

Number of members: 50,000
Member breakdown: Architectural, engineering, consulting, design, contracting (30 percent); utilities (28 percent); government agencies (15 percent); institutional, including health care, educational, correctional, religious, transportation services (air, rail, marine, motor) (14 percent); commercial
(including office, retail, restaurant, data processing, financial, telecommunications) (7 percent); other (6 percent)
Headquarters: Quincy, Mass.
Website: www.nfpa.org
Number of active sites: Government Affairs (Washington, D.C.); Wildfire Division (Denver); regional field staff offices (nationwide)
Key Services offered: 1-on-1 technical standards help; customer support; online training; customized onsite programs; certification programs; classroom and hands-on classroom training; seminars; codes and standards, and related resources; data and research webinars
Mission statement: NFPA is the leading global advocate for the elimination of death, injury, property and economic loss due to fire, electrical and related hazards. Its mission is to help save lives and reduce loss with information, knowledge and passion.

The Evolving Role of Associations: The IAPMO Group

Posted by Alan Naditz

Jul 11, 2018 2:33:30 PM

Number of members: 6,000-plus
Member breakdown: Plumbing, mechanical and building officials (38 percent); manufacturers (28 percent); contractors (19 percent); residential and commercial builders (7 percent); engineers (7 percent); life members (1 percent).
Headquarters: Ontario, Calif.
Website: www.iapmo.org
Number of active sites: 10 offices globally; 70 member chapters
Key Services offered: ANSI Accredited Model Code Agency; ANSI Accredited Standards Development Organization (this includes the writing of the WE-Standard); ISO/IEC 17025 product testing laboratory; ISO/IEC Guide 17065, ANSI, SCC, ema, and CONAGUA accredited; able to provide WaterMark, Energy Star, NSF/ANSI 61 plus many more codes and standards product certifications.
Mission statement: The International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials shall be recognized by the building industry and the general public, at home and abroad, as the worldwide leader in the plumbing and mechanical industry for protecting health and safety, supporting sustainability and emerging technology, and delivering code education, working in concert with government and industry for safe, sanitary plumbing and mechanical systems.

The Evolving Role of Associations: SIPA

Posted by Alan Naditz

Jul 10, 2018 6:00:27 PM

Number of members: 233
Member breakdown: SIP manufacturing companies (18); builders (76); dealer/distributors (47); design professionals (32); suppliers (24); associate members (29); other (7).
Headquarters: Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Website: www.sips.org
Key Services offered: Online and face-to-face AIA CEU courses with GBCI credit on Residential and Commercial SIPs; free one-hour video classes for Builder Education with SIPs Training (BEST) online and YouTube, which offer both a Registered and Master Builder credential; SIP Code Report for industry-wide acceptance for SIPs; annual Industry SIP Production Survey Report/Census of market size; annual SIP Building Excellence Awards Program; extensive technical research, structural and test reports, and design guides and publications; online “find a supplier, builder or designer” tool with maps and project description/lead generation services.
Mission statement: SIPA will provide an industry forum to increase the acceptance and use of SIPs, which will be the preferred building system.

“As an association, we are consistently working with educational and construction code bodies to advance the minimum building codes to approach and surpass net-zero-ready construction. SIPA feels the approach with engineered wood solves the labor shortage issues and on-site construction waste and inefficiencies.” —Jack Armstrong, Executive Director, SIPA

The Evolving Role of Associations: RESNET

Posted by Alan Naditz

Jul 10, 2018 4:05:43 PM

This standards maker has created the standard in energy efficiency ratings systems.

In April 1995, the National Association of State Energy Officials and Energy Rated Homes of America founded the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) to develop a national market for home energy rating systems.

The Green Gap

Posted by Alan Naditz

Aug 25, 2017 2:35:29 PM

Pressure from investors and stockholders may force companies to act on Climate Change.

Is it worthwhile for a company to invest in sustainability? A growing number of larger U.S. businesses think so. Those that don’t may severely impede their companies’ success, according to a new market report.