According to Belcher, there are about 32,000 homes nationwide officially designated as being green. "Many more incorporate various green building techniques," he says. "The average new house today is 100% more energy-efficient than one built 30 years ago."

Neff of La Jolla Pacific Ltd., a company specializing in construction risk and quality assurance, will moderate a panel discussing "green building on any budget." He says "these are changing times in the housing market, with condominium projects proliferating and more builders looking at going green." These trends "mean builders are searching for smart solutions to minimizing risks in vertical or high-rise construction and achieving cost-effect green-building plans."

A newly renamed technology component of the show is called nextBUILD, a pavilion expected to be among the most visited exhibits, according to Harvey Edwards, NAHB Convention Committee chair and president of Tuscaloosa Building & Land Co. in Tuscaloosa, AL. "Cutting-edge builders realize that technology is critical, not only to their business management, but to their customers, as consumers are demanding state-of-the-art technology in their homes," he says. About 200 exhibitors have rented space at nextBUILD.

After being staged for 25 consecutive years in Atlanta, NAHB, in 2005, decided to cancel a two-year contract with the City of Atlanta, the Georgia World Congress Center Authority and the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, as GlobeSt.com previously reported. NAHB's decision was a result of a lack of exhibit and area hotel space in Atlanta. NAHB paid about $2.6 million in total penalties for breaking the contracts, Atlanta hospitality sources at the time told Globest.com. The estimated economic loss to metro Atlanta was $120 million per year.

NAHB had considered Chicago, Orlando and Las Vegas for the 2007 and 2008 builders' shows. Orange County Convention Center spokespersons estimate visitors at the show this week are expected to spend $147 million locally during the four-day event.