Global Innovation Award Winners Offer New Twists on Trusted Products
Each year at the International Builders’ Show (IBS), NAHB announces the Global Innovation Award (GIA) recipients during The Nationals awards ceremony. At IBS 2024 in Las Vegas, two GIA winners were focused on elevating existing products.
Refrigerators with HarvestFreshTM from Beko
Turkish appliance manufacturer Beko recently introduced a new feature for its refrigerator lineup: HarvestFresh. This proprietary technology uses three different colors of light in vegetable crispers to simulate the 24-hour sun cycle.
Beko says that this better preserves the vitamins and minerals in fresh fruits and vegetables.
The crisper uses blue light earlier in the morning, a green light to simulate the sun’s peak at midday, and then turns to red later in the evening toward sunset. The lights then go dark for 12 hours to simulate overnight.
Simulating a natural 24-hour sun cycle helps preserve Vitamins A and C in fruits and vegetables and helps the food stay fresh longer. The HarvestFresh system is available on most Beko refrigerator models, including its French door and bottom freezer versions in both regular and counter depth.
Masonite Performance Door System with Rot-Resistant Frame
Masonite’s Performance Door System is designed and made to prevent drafts and leaks. The exterior doors are constructed from premium fiberglass and feature a rot-resistant frame for easy installation.
Masonite says that its performance doors are 64% better at keeping out air and water than its leading competitor. A number of innovations make this possible, including a square edge door, self-adjusting sill, enhanced corner pads, and adaptive weatherstripping.
But the fiberglass construction takes most of the credit. Masonite, known for its innovations in engineered wood products, went with a fiberglass construction for the doors so they won’t rot, crack, or most importantly, warp.
Masonite’s doors come in a wide variety of styles.
See all the latest innovations at The Nationals, featuring the Global Innovation Awards, on Tuesday, Feb. 25, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
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President Trump on Oct. 22 signed an executive order to lower single-family and mortgage costs, and the Treasury Department released new institutional investor rules.
NAHB Chairman Bill Owens issued the following statement today regarding President Trump’s housing executive order.
Latest Economic News
The share of new homes with decks inched upward, from an all-time low of 17.4% in 2024 to 17.8% in 2025, according to NAHB tabulation of data from the HUD/Census Bureau Survey of Construction (SOC).
State-level employment data for September continued to show a mixed labor market, with job gains and losses split across the county. Although national nonfarm payroll employment increased modestly, year-over-year job growth varied considerably across states
Diversifying the construction labor force remains a key priority amid persistent skilled labor shortages. According to NAHB analysis of the 2024 American Community Survey, non-Hispanic White workers account for the majority of the construction industry at 55.8%. Hispanic workers now represent nearly one-third of the labor force at 32.8%, followed by non-Hispanic Black workers at 5% and non-Hispanic Asian workers at 1.8 %.