The 2024 Virtual Concept Home by Livabl is helping homebuyers obtain the latest home innovations in an attainable way.
The project is an unprecedented collaboration created by Zonda Home and includes many of the biggest names in architecture, design, and materials for new builds.
This concept is changing how new builds are presented to the world and potential buyers. It also allows companies such as TREX to to display its product, letting buyers view TREX and its many uses via virtual reality.
TREX is a founding sponsor for the 2024 Virtual Concept Home by Livabl. We spoke to Leslie Adkins, the vice president of marketing for TREX, about the company’s involvement with the Virtual Concept Home, how TREX products have changed over the years, and its commitment to sustainability.
Please tell us a little about TREX and what makes it an excellent choice for homeowners.
TREX is the company that created composite decking. About 30 years ago, people were only using wood, and you had to deal with the maintenance involved with wood. Also: wood can get scratched, it fades, and you must deal with that.
I remember 30 years ago, I had a friend who bought a new house. During the following year, she had a deck built from TREX, so I asked her about it. She told me it was great because you didn’t have to pay for the maintenance year after year. So that’s how I first learned about TREX.
TREX was born out of a need for low-maintenance decking products for homeowners. Unfortunately, at the time, it was only available in gray. So, while we’ve invented the category, we’ve also evolved it as the years have progressed. Thirty years have passed since that time, and now you get it in a wide variety of colors, and it’s so much more realistic looking. The holy grail is that TREX looks like wood but performs far better while still installing in the same way wood does.
TREX is made from 95% recycled or reclaimed products. It’s not new for us; we’re not just getting on the green bandwagon. Thirty years ago, our inventor had a whole host of things he was collecting and trying to figure out what he could do with plastic waste. He was concerned about it then and turned that plastic into something that ultimately became TREX.
It started that way and has remained that way. We are one of the largest plastic film recyclers in North America. We do our part. Sadly, there’s more than enough plastic waste out there in the world, but we certainly do the most we can with that, and we use things like sawdust or orchard wood that would have otherwise been burned, and we’re using that to create TREX.
It started with long-lasting decking. Today, TREX is far more than just decking. We have decking, railing, and outdoor lighting — we have anything happening in your backyard for outdoor living. We are thinking about creating those products or are already involved with them. Once you step over the threshold from your door to your outdoors, that moment is really important to us.
Are there other ways TREX has changed over the years?
Yeah, I think that the performance level was always going to be better than wood, but we’ve vastly improved that over the years, but the aesthetic efforts have changed remarkably.
In our office, we have a wall that features the original board and every generation after that. It is phenomenal. It has become more realistic, and many more colors are now available.
People have begun to treat outdoor living as an extension of their home and their life. So now they treat it similarly, and then they design it, and they can see how it flows with their style.
I’ve been with TREX for 13 years, and to witness the level of evolution and sophistication that the outdoor spaces have taken on is remarkable.
Shaped structures are a part of that evolution, too. We have furniture and spiral staircases. So, we’re trying to think about anything a homeowner needs or wants within their outdoor living space. Filling in that lifestyle and making it eco-friendly and low maintenance.
Why did TREX want to be involved with the Virtual Concept Home?
We’re always looking to try new ways of doing things, and something about this was just so appealing about this project. It’s a virtual home; even five years ago, no one had mass access to something like that. The utility of it is so different, and that’s fascinating to us.
We can reach so many more people because if you build a home in one place, only a few people experience it. So, this was a new opportunity, and previously it was always a hang-up for us because we get approached by partners all the time. They want to partner with us on a new build. But that’s going to be one home in one city.
In this case, from its origins, the Livabl Virtual Concept Home was meant to be experienced by far more people than could ever go to a physical location. So I think that whole notion of it is exciting. In looking at the early floor plans, it looks so cool, and I like the way it’s coming together.
Which products does TREX include in the Virtual Concept Home and why?
We are highlighting our Transcend Lineage decking, one of our newest introductions. Transcend lineage was launched in mid-year 2022. Transcend was always our benchmark line, but the Lineage program has many more on-trend design colors and a much more refined aesthetic. It looks much more realistic than we were making five years ago.
But more importantly, we never think of aesthetics without considering performance. For example, this board is a result of climate change. Summers are hotter than ever, and more people are creating outdoor spaces. We hear a lot about how hot decking can get; this board has heat mitigation technology. So, if you put it next to our regular Transcend board, it will be cooler.
We’ve accomplished this through technology and the color palettes we offer. And we just launched two more new colors this year. So we’ve got a range of four colors, and they’re our coolest deck boards ever.
Then there’s also the railings. 85% of the decks built in the United States require railing as code. It’s often an afterthought when a customer comes in because they gravitate towards the decking, but we try to ensure we have decking that complements things.
We’re offering signature railing on the top, which is our aluminum railing, and that’s much more on trend with design, rather than big chunky posts and big chunky balusters and rail. This is like thinner aluminum rails with more sightlines.
We’re offering two different approaches on the infield, which is what goes between two posts. First, we’re offering our broad rail, our cable rail solution. The cable rail has a cool look, but all of the maintenance can be challenging over time because it starts sagging, and you have to tighten it up again.
We came out with a product we call rod rail, and it’s horizontal aluminum that mimics the look of cable rail, but it’s much more durable.
We’re also offering some glass panels, so it’s aluminum posts with glass panels in between to open up your sight line because nowadays people are so focused on the outdoors and creating these outdoor spaces that live like rooms. We feel it’s important to be able to see. If you’ve got a great view, you want to be able to see through your railing.
What does the future hold for TREX and its continued interest in sustainable products?
I think you’ll see a continuation of our theme. But there are some revolutionary innovations we will focus on in the future. Since we invented the category, we have taken on a lot of responsibility when inventing what comes next.
We will soon be launching on a regional basis to some select markets what we think is possibly the next iteration of wood composite decking. And it’s again thriving both for that aesthetic and performance. So we’ll constantly be pushing that envelope of how realistic we can get the look and feel because everyone craves the look and feel of wood.
We’re also pushing boundaries beyond decking and railing—such as cladding on walls. You see a lot more of that in terms of more modern architecture. You’ll see it attached to walls horizontally or vertically as privacy screening.
We’re constantly thinking about the opportunities to leverage our recycling and extrusion heritage. We want to build upon what’s great for outdoor living. So we try to stay within that boundary.
With our guard rails, there’s a lot of room for innovation and creativity. We’re honestly coming up with great ideas that will serve the homeowners of the future.
We’re not new to this game. This is the only way we’ve ever run this business. And so, while other people are racing to find out about sustainability, we’ve got that down.
So now, we’re looking at the latest raw materials coming in. Everybody’s integrating these days, which is a great thing. We’re very excited about that. But it puts a lot of pressure on our raw material streams, and we want to find what is the next material stream of plastic that people aren’t recycling. So, let’s get back and figure out how to do good by doing by making more TREX with it. We’re never going to be complacent.
For more information about TREX, visit trex.com. For more information about the 2024 Virtual Concept Home, visit Livabl.com.
