Parting Shots

The theme for BCMC 2015 is Building Innovation, Framing Success. This year we are going to take a look back at the last 35 years of the BCMC show and highlight the ways it has enhanced the structural components industry’s ability to foster innovation throughout light-frame building construction. To do this right, we need your help. We’re asking our readership to dust off their old picture frames, find the oldest industry-related photos you have that underscore our industry’s early successes (whether they are of people, projects, production lines, or component designs) and send them our way. You can scan them and email them to editor@sbcmag.info, or mail them to us and we can scan and mail them back to you.

In 1996, two identical 2,600 sq. ft. homes were built side-by-side. One was conventionally framed, the other was built with engineered components. The project, called Framing the American Dream (FAD), gathered time, material and motion data to compare the differences between these two framing methods.

For the past two decades, the component industry has used the FAD data in a wide variety of marketing materials and presentations to encourage builders and framers to consider using componentized framing solutions. Given today’s rising cost of building materials and significant shortage of framing labor, now is the perfect time to take a fresh look at the FAD project and collect new comparison data.

In 2015, SBCA is working with Operation Finally Home to construct two identical, mortgage-free homes for wounded veterans in southeastern Wisconsin. One will be conventionally framed, the other will be built with engineered components, and both will go to deserving individuals. Contact SBCA staff if you are interested in getting involved or donating to this project.