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The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) announced that the eighth annual Design & Construction Week featuring NAHB’s International Builders’ Show® (IBS) and NKBA’s Kitchen & Bath Industry Show® (KBIS) will be an all-virtual event in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new all-virtual Design & Construction Week will take place the week of Feb. 8, 2021 with extended programming.
“Out of an abundance of caution and concern for the safety of our exhibitors, attendees and the thousands of onsite workers who support the premier event of the residential construction industry, we feel the only prudent course is to make this year’s show a virtual event,” says NAHB Chairman Chuck Fowke, a custom home builder from Tampa, Florida. “We have plenty of great virtual educational programs, innovative products, services and workshops on tap, and we are very excited about the 2021 show. It’s an opportunity to set a precedent for the industry by producing a dynamic virtual trade show, and we look forward to a very successful Design & Construction Week.”
“This difficult decision comes following months of lengthy conversations with NAHB and Emerald,” says Bill Darcy, CEO of the NKBA. “An all-virtual Design & Construction Week will be a different experience, but with it comes new opportunities to reach an even larger audience that would not have been able to participate on-site, for any number of reasons, including on-going travel restrictions. We pledge to transform KBIS into an exceptional show experience for everyone.”
Registration for the virtual DCW event is free for all NKBA and NAHB members. Attendees will have access to KBIS and IBS exhibitors and programming, just as they would at the in-person shows. The new virtual format will allow participants to see product launches, housing and design innovations and hear from industry leaders from wherever they are in the world.
Design & Construction Week will return to Orlando as an in-person event Feb. 8-10, 2022.
