January is a time for reflection. It’s the start of a new year but also the middle of winter. It’s a month of short days and long dark nights spent indoors, which leaves lots of time to reflect on the year that was and the year to come.
Andrew Lloyd Webber famously identified a year as 525,600 minutes and then asked, in song, “How do you measure a year?” Webber went on to answer his own question with, “How about love?” in his song “Seasons of Love” from the musical Rent. Well, I don’t have the time or the space to break down 2024 into all
525,600 minutes, but I do like the idea of seasons–seasons of metal!
Making connections
Winter is a time when construction slows down, at least in the northern part of the country that I call home. It’s a great time to head south for some sun and warmth, which is why I love attending the back-to-back Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA) Annual Meeting in December and the Metal Construction Association (MCA) Winter Meeting in January. The two events bring together friendly competitors
from two different segments of the metal construction industry for collaboration and camaraderie.
In 2024, both groups collaborated on unified messaging regarding the sustainability benefits of steel in
construction. We already know what a great story steel has to tell about being the world’s most recyclable and circular building material. Our challenge, and the purpose of this collaboration, is to get that message out to the rest of the construction industry.
Speaking of heading south for the winter, many MBMA building manufacturers host annual builder meetings in places such as Tucson, Ariz. and San Antonio, which were my next two stops in February and March. At
these meetings, the camaraderie and collaboration expand from building product manufacturers to contractors and erectors. It is at events like these where you see the real strength of the metal building industry. Each manufacturer celebrated their customers at the Behlen Building Systems meeting in Tucson and the Butler Manufacturing meeting in San Antonio. They also celebrated the longevity of their relationships, and
the volume of buildings produced and erected over the past year.
Spring is when the construction season heats up, and MBMA contributed to our annual architectural faculty workshop in April. The workshop is part of our three-pronged approach to getting the message of metal buildings to architectural educators, students, and practicing architects. At the workshop, we teach the teachers about the benefits of metal buildings and show them how to incorporate them into their curriculum.
Industry insights
In late spring, MBMA’s focus turned to the second prong of our architectural trident: practicing architects. We set
up shop at the largest gathering of architects in the United States—the national AIA conference in Washington,
D.C. Our goal was to challenge attendees’ preconceptions about what a metal building looks like. In front of a backlit collage of buildings, we asked them, “Can you spot the metal building?” Of course, it was a trick question because all the buildings pictured were metal.
Summer saw a return to Cleveland for the greatest technical minds in the metal building industry as MBMA held
its annual Design Seminar. Engineers in attendance heard presentations on a diverse range of topics, including failure analysis, temporary bracing, wind loads, and even bulk grain storage. In late August, the MBMA board of directors also met in Cleveland, a meeting highlighted by MBMA chair Mark Van Dyken throwing out the first pitch at a Cleveland Guardians game.
Extracurriculars
Summer also saw the debut of MBMA’s latest “Travels with Tony” video featuring the Hardesty Center for Dance Education, home of the Tulsa Ballet. In this installment of the popular web series, I visited Tulsa, Okla., where I tried to answer the question: can a metal building really dance? To find out if the rumors that I actually donned a pair of tights and showed off my dance moves in the video are true, you’ll have to check it out on our YouTube channel at YouTube.com/@MBMAMEDIA. While you’re there, you can check out our most recent “Travels
with Tony” installment, where I visit the USA BMX Hall of Fame.
Meetings of the metal minds
Fall is a particularly busy season in the metal building industry as manufacturers try to get buildings produced and contractors try to erect buildings before the weather turns, the ground hardens, and construction slows down. MBMA kept busy with our annual Safety Workshop and Energy and Sustainability Committee Meeting. Fall also brings the biggest gathering on the metal construction calendar: METALCON! MBMA joined the party in Atlanta, which coincided with Halloween.
The year ahead
As I write this column near the end of the latest 525,600 minutes that were 2024, I feel optimism for the year to come. We made it through a contentious election and are headed toward a more peaceful presidential transition than the last one. Inflation has settled, and we appear to be past the concerns about a potential recession. MBMA is growing, adding a dozen new members in 2024, and we expect that trend to continue in the new
year. I’m looking forward to 2025 and another trip throughout all the seasons of metal.
Tony Bouquot is the general manager of the Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA). He leads MBMA in its mission to provide research, leadership, and education that increases the prominence and use of metal building systems.
