Metalcon Wraps Up in Tampa
September 4, 2009

The 19th Annual Conference and Exhibition for the Metal Construction Industry, Metalcon, took place last week at the Tampa Convention Center. The show kicked off with a special ribbon-cutting ceremony. U.S. Army SSG Paul Russell "Russ" Marek of Melbourne, Fla., opened the ceremony. In 2006, Marek was presented materials for a new home and more than $25,000 in financial contributions from Metalcon. At that event, he had just been released from the hospital after a year of treatment for wounds suffered in Iraq. The materials for Marek's home were provided by contributions and donations from the steel-framed structure built inside the 2006 Metalcon exhibit hall.

This year's Metalcon featured its first ever Solar Bay, providing an educational area on the show floor featuring full-scale mock-ups and educational sessions on a variety of solar technologies that can be integrated with metal into the building envelope. Several products were featured within this area, including Firestone's Una-Clip. Designed to slash labor costs, the Una-Clip is used for factory engineered and pre-punched plate panel systems with pre-engineered slot locations.

Venture Tapes presented its VentureClad jacketing sheets for exterior weatherproofing. According to company representative, John Nigro, VentureClad jacketing installs quickly and easily on pipe or duct board with no special tools required, resulting in time, labor and cost savings.

Russ Livermore of Sika found the show to be a little lighter than years past. "When the market is down, a lot of companies are not sending people to the shows," he commented. However, the company seemed to enjoy a fairly steady stream of visitors interested in its line of pre-extruded butyl and co-polymer sealant tapes, available in a wide variety of sizes and formulations.

Scott Moffatt of PPG agreed, stating during the show that traffic was "Eighty percent of what it has been in the past. However, there seems to be a lot of activity." PPG showcased its Ultra-Cool roofing and wall systems, which feature an IR-reflective, PVDF coating that helps keep buildings cool. Working with the Environmental Protection Agency to help develop its ENERGY STAR® cool metal roofing program, the technology for PPG's Ultra-cool system can provide registration on 3-year testing for tax credits and LEED points.

Also exhibiting was Petersen Aluminum, featuring its prefinished metal roofing and perimeter edge systems, Valspar's paint coatings for prepainted coil markets and Akzo Nobel's CERAM-A-STAR 1050 (70 percent PVDF coating), TRINAR (available in COOL CHEMISTRY versions which comply with ENERGY STAR guidelines and can contribute to LEED points.

Next year's conference and exhibition is scheduled for October 20-22 in Las Vegas.

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