Taipei B, C & Dex Show Partly Built on Stout Local Realty Market

Since its inception in 1987, the Taipei International Building, Construction and Decoration Exhibition (Taipei B, C & Dex) has been recognized as the most specialized trade fair of its kind in Taiwan for buyers and suppliers in construction, architecture, and interior design sectors. This event is even livelier now, buoyed by the booming real estate market on the island in 2010, during which record sums were paid for both residential and commercial properties. The New Year looks set for another brisk time for real estate, hence its downstream sectors, in Taiwan, driven by stronger-than-expected economic recovery, signing of the ECFA (Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement) between Taiwan and China and lingering depreciation of the greenback, which will continue to divert speculative capital into real properties and material markets in Asia.

The latest report issued by Collier International, a leading residential and commercial brokerage, shows that over NT$222.4 billion of land and NT109.4 billion of commercial real properties in Taiwan were traded in 2010, respectively up 194% and 15% from 2009, with the total transaction value at NT$332 billion to set an all-time high, consequently creating ample business for the local construction and building material industries.

Reflecting the vigor in Taiwan's real estate market, the Taipei B, C & Dex, jointly organized by the National Association of Architect, R.O.C. and Supperline International Enterprise Co. Ltd., saw its 22nd annual staging December 15-19, 2010 in the Taipei World Trade Center, Exhibition Halls 1 and 3, spread across nearly 35,000 square meters.

Record Turnout

With more than 1,800 booths occupied by 512 exhibitors, 185 of which from 18 foreign countries as Japan, Canada, the U.S., South Korea, Germany, Italy, Britain, Sweden, Malaysia and so on, the five-day show attracted 61,970 visitors for a record high, as well as 1,200 foreign buyers. Upbeat with the outcome, the organizers indicated that the visitor number has doubled to over 60,000 in both 2009 and 2010 from less than 30,000 in 2003, as their efforts to add depth and width to the show for enhanced global significance have paid off, stressing that the figures were based on the questionnaires but excluded repetitions, incomplete information for credibility, which is unparalleled for a building material organization in Taiwan.

Better Organization
Systematically organized, the venue was divided into 10 thematic areas: Thematic District, Lighting & Lamps, Kitchenware and Equipment, Decoration Materials, Stone Materials, Miscellaneous Building Materials, Smart Green Architecture and Ecological Building Techniques, Electric & Mechanic Equipment, Furniture & Furnishings, and China Hall.

The product range showcased covered literally everything needed for contractors and interior decorators to build and furnish just about any structure, including masonry, waterproofing materials, fireproof building materials, furniture, household hardware, construction machinery, commercial and residential lighting, doors, windows, locks, chemicals, interior materials and decorations, kitchenware, bathroom fittings and landscaping products.

To enhance exhibition exposure and efficiency, the organizers adopted “Route Reversal” by setting up the registration counter in the lobby of the TWTC Exhibition Hall 3 to avoid visitor congestion and speed up registration. In doing so, the exhibitors had better exposure to visitors than before, with less chance of visitors and buyers missing targeted products.

Notable Products
A leading tile maker in Taiwan, Champion Building Materials Group, demonstrated its hot-selling Umbria series tiles, highlighted by the tactile-friendly, wood-grained surface that are specially processed to minimize water seepage more effectively than competing models. The firm's sales representative said that the tiles, available in Chinese cypress, oak, and fir grains, can enhance the feel of nature in concrete buildings, making the masonry ideal to meet increasing desire of consumers for a touch of outdoor in residential and commercial structures.

As Taiwan's first tile maker with the green building material certificate, Champion Building, with overseas footholds in many foreign countries, is noted for development of green building materials, and has launched a couple of recyclable and ultra-thin tiles, which were also displayed at the show.

The home spa and sauna equipment displayed by E Tai Enterprise Co., Ltd., the largest shower door maker in Taiwan, also stopped ample foot traffic. The far-infrared, low-temperature home sauna equipment, ITAI-Sauna, has micro-computerized digital control panels inside and outside the sauna to be safer and health-enhancing than traditional steam rooms, which is well-suited for elderly and infirm users. The firm also promoted Panasonic's water-saving, electronic toilet—A La Unos—and its newest aluminum shower door series.

The U.S.-based APA—the Engineered Wood Association—showcased a full line of glue-laminated timber, structural plywood, structural-oriented strand boards, wood I-joists etc., all of which are made from renewable and sustainably managed forests, and designed to meet the needs for structural integrity, stability, and durability. Available in a wide variety of common sizes and dimensions, the engineered wooden building materials can be used to create dramatic and environmentally-friendly buildings and other structures, the exhibitor noted.

Green Products
As usual, green building materials were one of the biggest hits with visitors at the show. Universal Cement Corporation (UCC), a large-sized veteran supplier of cement and building materials, showcased a plasterboard line-up, consisting of GB-R standard plasterboards for office buildings, hotels, hospitals, and residences; GB-S water-resistant plasterboards specifically for bathrooms, and kitchens; and GB-F reinforced, foil-backed gypsum boards for tubing and piping.

UCC's devotion to green building materials is reflected in its high-profile plasterboards. The company claims that all UCC-branded plasterboards are made without use of asbestos, formaldehyde and any health-hazardous VOCs (volatile organic compounds), and have passed tests by the American Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and the British Standards Institution (BS) as officially approved green building materials, with quality meeting Taiwan's CNS and U.S.'s ATSM standards.

Following years of manufacturing diversification, Nan Ya Plastic Corp., a PVC product manufacturer affiliated with the globally prestigious Formosa Plastic Group, displayed its Neuma series windows made of special composites, which are airtight, watertight, soundproof, corrosion-resistant and better thermally-insulated than traditional metal windows. The series are also labeled Green Building Material in Taiwan for being recyclable.

Complementing the eco-theme, LED lighting, seen as the next-generation, eco-friendly light source, also shunned a major presence at the event, with a number of suppliers displaying a variety of LED lamps and accessories, including Neotroni Lighting, Lixma, Richfield Home Products, Giantech Industrial, Sagatek, Focusled Enterprise etc.

The show organizers succeeded in playing up the eco-friendly theme by covering smart and green building technologies and materials that revolved around sustainability, ecology, humanity and livable space, which not only helped build a socially-conscious image for the show, but convince visitors that the event was a serious attempt at greening the construction, building and decoration sectors.

Supporting Events
Tapping the increasing cross-Strait business opportunities in the wake of the signing of the ECFA, the show organizers invited over 50 Chinese firms as exhibitors, as well as combining exhibits of art, architectural design, space layouts for the first time; while several reputable artists, architects and designers from China and Taiwan were invited to participate in the “Summit of Dialogue,” significantly enhancing the depth of the event to win extensive recognition.

The 7th Architecture Forum opened on December 18 and attracted over 1,500 industry professionals and insiders, which consisted of 13 sessions held on diverse topics as Taipei City's urban redevelopment strategies and prospects, passive housing standards, research on soundproof performance of lightweight partition materials, local materials and local concepts etc.

The keynote speeches and papers delivered at the forum brimmed with new knowledge, technologies, ideas and case studies, all of which are compiled into a thesis, making the event very authoritative and educational, said the show organizers.

The exhibition created an estimated US$200 million or more in business opportunities directly or indirectly, with a large part to be realized in after-show deals. The next Taipei B, C & Dex is scheduled for December 15-18, 2011.