Vinyl makers push for New Urbanism market
New Urban News Article with images, table, sidebar, 3/1/2008
Industry campaign boasts improved color and variety, but critics link vinyl to dioxin and environmental harm.
In the past ten months, the Vinyl Siding Institute has co-sponsored a Seaside Institute program in Atlanta, a SmartCode seminar in Miami, and a tour during CNU’s annual convention in Philadelphia.
The Institute — VSI for short — has run full-page advertising in Planning magazine asserting that “New urbanism needs the versatility of today’s vinyl siding.” To get this message across, the Institute this winter produced a publication called “Designing Style,” which aims to persuade builders and designers of traditional houses to use vinyl on their exteriors.
The publication, offering advice on how to use vinyl on houses in nine historical styles, from Craftsman to Cape Cod to Queen Anne, was put together after consultation with a few new urbanist designers, including Kenny Craft and Mark Bombaugh.
