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The Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS) wrapped it’s first in-person show in two years. The combined strengths of the NKBA and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), continuing their nine-year partnership to produce Design and Construction Week (DCW), brought forth the first and one of the largest in-person events since the beginning of the pandemic.

Each year, Supply House Times editors receive thousands of product releases from industry manufacturers. The 20 products highlighted here have earned the distinction of being PM’s Top Products of 2021 based on the number of page views on supplyht.com. Congratulations to those products on this year’s list.

More than 600 kitchen and bath exhibitors use KBIS/IBS to showcase the latest product technology and design trends to the tens of thousands of designers, dealers, architects, showrooms, builders and remodelers who attend the show. For the first time since 2018, DCW is returning to the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida this February 8-10.

Water heater manufacturer Rinnai America Corp. has been working for the last three years with a state department of corrections to upgrade the water heating systems in five prison facilities. This initiative, Jason Tuttle, Rinnai America’s commercial business manager for the North Central region, notes, had a goal to increase the facility’s overall efficiencies.

There’s a shift happening in showrooms, and experts say it’s not about competing with the internet, it’s about offering an experience that can’t be matched by online shopping.

The DPHA conference actually shuts down its exhibit hall during the speaker and roundtable meetings, allowing every attendee the ability to participate and network. The vendors know the conference schedule offers ample time for their customers to see their new products. They also understand that face-time away from others outside the exhibit hall is important in building stronger vendor-distributor relationships.

With the cultural shift in consumer needs moving from Boomers to Millennials and Gen Z, not only will there be a higher demand for a variety of options but there will also be an increase in wanting more knowledge around what's being installed.

The American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2021 U.S. infrastructure report card graded the United States wastewater system a D+, and the nation’s drinking water system received a C-. Additionally, according to the CDC, more than 500,000 kids in the U.S. have elevated levels of lead in their blood.