Better Living Show
Better Living Show 2014
Please find discussion of this trade show presence in a blog post .
Better Living Show 2010
Excellent attic ladders, and simple weatherized doors are likely of interest in a Green Product trade show. In Portland, the best annual event is the Better Living Show at Portland's Expo Center, sponsored by Energy Trust of Oregon, the organization that manages rebates for energy-conservation measures, to gas and electric utility customers in Oregon. The Better Living Show is a free event, unusual among trade shows.
At the Better Living Show, I find myself the only exhibitor of attic ladders.
A 10-ft square booth is adequate for three working ladders, MidMade, Fakro and Calvert. The "ceiling" of each display is tilted back 65 degrees, so that a ladder can be seen close-up. My message is that a new ladder in heated spaces should be insulated to at least R4, and should be gasketed. An existing ladder should be replaced if it is unsafe or leaky. I am not an advocate of tent structures to cover a poor ladder. Tent structures do good only if in complete planar contact with a mannerly floor, as of plywood.
"Nowhere else on Earth. Not in any store display or other trade show. Examples from three excellent and affordable families of sealed and insulated drop-down ladders. Strength, versatility and lowest cost, are in beautiful wood construction. Three independent discoveries of simple and reliable mechanisms that put to shame all offerings found, and best avoided, in big-box stores. With years of experience, I can help you to understand your unique installation needs, and to make a correct choice. My contracted service includes selection, finding best location and framing methods, and inventions of finishing and safety features. I have learned to integrate a ladder with a thick R38 floor, with rugged simplicity."
This display differs less than hoped, from that of the show in 2008. I wanted renewed investment as an exhibitor, to involve new directions: prototype insulated and gasketed factory-manufactured, standard service doors and plugs, newly defined as Energy Star, for a builder or remodeler's kit. Change does take time.
Better Living Show 2008
Zooming in, you may see an insulation demonstration in the "wall" of the MidMade display. A Johns Manville R25 batt is set in 2x6 wall framing. Wall insulation should be somewhat over-filled, for intimate contact with drywall. Under drywall is Swedish "Tenoarm" vapor barrier, which will prove superior to any other vapor barrier in accelerated aging tests. This 8-mil thickness material is used in cold climates with tapes and adhesives that avoid any leakage paths, that assuredly would produce rot. In Oregon we can get away with some barrier leakage, but a good barrier also increases insulation effectiveness. Kraft facing is inferior to a thorough polyethylene barrier.
