HFOT home built at METALCON

Organizers of METALCON Intl. donated a new steel-framed home to U.S. Army SSG Paul Russell "Russ" Marek and his family at the show last fall.

The three-bedroom, ADA-compliant structure was built inside the exhibit hall for the injured soldier by instructors and construction professionals enrolled in STUD University, an intensive, three-day steel-framing program held each year at the show and produced by the Washington, D.C.-based Steel Framing Alliance.

Show Director Claire Kilcoyne presented the home and more than $25,000 in financial contributions from the METALCON exhibitors and suppliers to the Mareks and to representatives of Homes for Our Troops (HFOT), a Taunton, Mass.-based nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that helps injured service men and women and their families with accessible housing needs.

Each year a steel-framed structure is built inside the METALCON exhibit hall to show what can be done with cold-formed steel framing and how it integrates with metal wall panels and roofing. After each show, the structure built for that event is donated to a local nonprofit or educational organization.

METALCON is an annual event that draws design and construction professionals from more than 40 countries and offers product exhibits, 38-session conference programs, and live-action demonstrations of field techniques.