The Big Story at the Homebuilders Show is ….Curtainwall.

That's right, curtainwall. The massive International Builders Show being held this week in Orlando, generally offers the usual fare for the glass industry. Though the combination window-TV screen glass did cause a huge session two years ago, the glass industry has seen most products by the time they make it to the residential market.

But the biggest story for the glass and metal industry this year, isn't glass, it's curtainwall. Almost a dozen companies,are showing curtainwall systems designed for residential use. These companies include some Chinese ones as well as companies that traditionally don't sell into the commercial glass and metal market at all. The use of curtainwall is a growing trend among very high-end custom home design and builders are being introduced to it en masse here.

"It's a high-end product with a limited design appeal, so I don't think you'll see it used in a widespread or mass-produced way, but there are some niche companies that will develop curtainwall just for residential usage," said one builder preferring not to be identified. "It's just not going to end up in suburbia."

The gargantuan show, which displays any and every product one could want in and around the home, continues through tomorrow at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando.