WASHINGTON - Organizers of the 2021 Design & Construction Week (DCW), featuring the NAHB International Builders' Show and the NKBA Kitchen & Bath Industry Show, announced that the 2021 event will be all-virtual. Originally scheduled to take place onsite February 9-11, 2021 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, the organizers decided to transition an online event due to ongoing health and safety concerns and travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“This difficult decision comes following months of lengthy conversations with NAHB and Emerald,” said Bill Darcy, CEO of the NKBA. “The safety and well-being of our attendees, partners, exhibitors, site workers and staff has always been our top priority. As we now cross the 16-weeks-out mark, it was time to transition to 100% focus on a virtual event. An all-virtual Design & Construction Week will be a different experience, but with it comes new opportunities to reach an even larger audience that would not have been able to participate on-site, for any number of reasons, including on-going travel restrictions. We pledge to transform KBIS into an exceptional show experience for everyone. And we will be back live — bigger and stronger — for DCW 2022.”

The new all-virtual DCW 2021 will still take place the week of February 8 with extended programming. Registration for the virtual event is free for all NKBA and NAHB members and attendees will have access to KBIS and IBS exhibitors and programming. The new virtual format will allow participants to see the latest product launches and cutting-edge housing and design innovations, hear from the top leaders in the industry, and take part in online education courses, from wherever they are in the world, the organizers said.

Design & Construction Week will return to Orlando as an in-person event Feb. 8-10, 2022.