Big Take-Aways from the JLC 2025 Conference
A1DesignBuild is a designer and builder of homes in Bellingham and Whatcom County, Washington. We specialize in everything from home remodels to complete high performance home builds, and our over 70 years of providing excellent service to the community assures that your home project gets done right - each and every time.
This last week, the team at A1DesignBuild ventured back east to Rhode Island and the Journal of Light Construction Show to learn about new design and building innovations. The conference included informative Building Clinics, numerous educational sessions, and an exhibit hall full of the latest and greatest in the construction industry. Overall, it was a beautiful thing.
In today’s esteemed post, Lead Designer Maggie Bates shares her takeaways from the event.
Maggie:
JLC used to have a conference on our side of the country down in Portland, and we've been to a couple of those. It started out being just a training for the construction folks because it seemed like it was more building centric, but over time it also had design classes and some overall sales and marketing sessions. This West Coast show went away after Covid, so now we’re all jumping on a plane and heading to Providence, Rhode Island. But no complaints, it’s beautiful there.
The event itself was informative, and confirmed that we're on the right track with both our approach to building and our approach to getting the word out. The sessions I took focused on high performance buildings, and a lot of what I heard are things we already utilize in our designs.
But one thing we did find fascinating was the concept of ‘Monopoly Framing’. Basically, if you play Monopoly, you know how the hotel pieces are perfect boxes with no overhangs on the roofs. And so that's monopoly framing. When you want to do a really good air barrier, thermal barrier and vapor layer, you don't want interruptions to it. And a roof overhang can interrupt that. So you monopoly frame the whole thing. You put in all of your critical layers to your building, and then you add the overhangs on afterwards. A really cool concept that was really interesting to think about in a new way.
JLC 2024 Recap Video
The amount of turnout was impressive. Every single class was full, all the instructors were top-notch and really knew their stuff. So you came away from every class with at least one or two major take-aways to take back to your company and say ‘we should try this’.
It was really comforting to understand that the way we're building and the way we're trying to communicate to people, we're doing all the right stuff. But one thing it’s always good to remember: Care more about your customer than you care about yourself - and the rest will take care of itself.
How Rose, Bud and Thorn Applies to Construction
At the conference my coworker Thad introduced our group to the concept of Rose, Bud, and Thorn. Your ‘rose’ is something that is super awesome. Our ‘bud’ is something that is a growth area, and something we need to work on. And our thorn is a problem that needs immediate focus and the attention of people in the company. It’s a great way of framing things.
We got quite a few roses on this trip, a lot of buds, and even recognized a few thorns we know we need to address.
One of the more intangible, but really important, takeaways was just plain old fashioned team building. Every night with the group was fun. Every meal was fun. We bought $80 worth of cookies while we were there and just sat there and ate them and talked. We went to the Rhode Island Museum of Art History. It was fabulous.
And maybe the best part of whole trip? I beat Patrick in a game of pool. (laughter)
I also learned that we might want to start thinking about a ‘Tool Tip Tuesday’ and ‘Free Advice Friday’ on Facebook, for people who follow us. That’s a cool idea. So look for that in a future post.
More than anything, I really found the event to be inspirational. The people from our company inspire me everyday. The people we met at the event, the classes and the exhibits, it was all amazing just spending time in this head space, thinking about what’s next.
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