Acrylic tub, flashing tape win International Builders' Show awards

Las Vegas — Two plastic building products won their award categories at the International Builders' Show (IBS), which drew a bustling crowd of 124,000 to the Las Vegas Convention Center along with its partner event, the Kitchen and Bath International Show.

Judges selected an acrylic bathtub shaped like a hammock and clear acrylic flashing tape for window installers as the best kitchen and bath product and most innovative building material, respectively, for the Best of IBS awards program on Feb. 27.

Billed together as Design and Construction Week, the shows marked their highest attendance in 17 years.

Attendees could visit nearly 2,500 exhibitors who occupied more than 1.2 million square feet between indoor and outdoor venues.

IBS award judges visited exhibits, too, looking at products for innovation, functionality, design and builder/consumer friendliness.

The molded acrylic tub, which comes in different sizes and colors — matte white, black, gray and a colorful floral pattern — offers a deep soaking bath.

Called Haven, the tub is manufactured by The Hammock Bath Co., which is based in Frankston, Australia, near Melbourne, and has an office in Miami.

"We started with the idea that a bath can be more comfortable than your traditional designs and we're really proud of what we've created," Minette Lang, spokesperson for the company, said after accepting the award.

The clear flashing tape was developed by Typar, a brand of Magnera Corp., which was spun off from Berry Global Group Inc., in response to a request from a Florida customer.

Faced with stricter building codes, the customer was frustrated that building inspectors were feeling underneath and sometimes lifting flashing to check the nailing fin pattern for the right number of screws and proper spacing.

With the clear flashing tape, inspectors can visibly verify that the screw placement meets code, and the window is installed properly.

"At Typar we really believe that innovation belongs in every conversation. We believe this is a transformative product. It's market-backed innovation for us and we're really excited about it," Addison Seay, a Magnera brand manager, said after accepting the award.

She called the product a game changer for inspectors and a time saver for builders of housing, especially apartments, multi-family developments and projects with lots of windows.

"We started exploring with different adhesives and facers," Seay said. "We chose to do an acrylic adhesive, which is clear, so you have full visibility and low temperature performance. It can be installed down to 20°."

The clear flashing also was in the running for best window and door product, which went to Clopay's VertiStack garage door. The door also won the overall Best of IBS award.