Construction costs and efficiency: As the fabrication of building components occurs more often in a controlled factory environment, new use cases arise for A&S materials that cannot be applied in an external environment where weather is a factor.
A&S Product Development: Manufacturers are moving toward products with a wider range of end uses and that are easier to apply and clean in the field without compromising performance.
Demographics: Increased urbanization is encouraging more multi-family building construction, creating more opportunities for exterior building application within A&S.
Regulatory Climate: With increased levels of green building adoption occurring in both nonresidential and residential buildings, manufacturers will continue to improve new products that replace varying quantities of solvents with water in their product formulations.
Opportunities
We see clear opportunities for significant A&S market growth within several sub-segments of the building and construction industry. For example, there is opportunity to replace traditional fasteners via water-resistive barriers (WRBs), which are fluid-applied wall barriers (spraying, troweling, rolling, or brushing). These WRBs avoid the need for fasteners like screws that can often cause membrane distortion and water leakage. The A&S market is also positioned to take advantage of the growing trend in indoor pre-fabrication activities, which allows for indoor spraying processes and renders foul weather conditions less of an obstacle. This opportunity for the A&S market also exists for indoor window glazing. Although challenges still exist in using A&S on roofing systems compared to traditional fastening systems, like longer curing times, installation speeds, and narrower temperature application windows, there is ample opportunity for market growth in this segment because A&S can help produce a more watertight, higher quality, quieter, and lasting roof. Together, this will contribute to energy savings in buildings and provide longer product service life.
DuckerFrontier’s Building & Construction team is at the forefront of key trends impacting the industry. How can we help you deliver better outcomes for your business in 2020? Contact us to connect with an industry expert.