Greeted in the morning by a panel of industry superstars at the keynote address and complemented in the afternoon by nearly 400 companies showing off the newest trends, the International Roofing Expo opened Tuesday at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center with a pledge for better times ahead.

Millard Fuller, the visionary Christian with a single-minded, some say stubborn, focus that resulted in more than 300,000 houses built for the poor, died unexpectedly Monday night, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton will not be able to travel to the International Roofing Expo in Las Vegas to provide the Keynote Address on Feb. 3 due to complications from a back injury. Instead, the IRE will present, “Power Panel: What You Need to Know to Survive and Thrive.”

Carlisle Energy Services, a newly formed division of Carlisle Construction Materials and a manufacturer of energy-efficient single-ply roofing systems, and Energy Conversion Devices, Inc., a manufacturer of proprietary, thin-film amorphous silicon-based photovoltaic (PV) laminates, announced that they have reached a multi-year agreement for ECD to supply its UNI-SOLAR laminates to Carlisle Energy Services.

The name change reflects the company’s new strategy offering innovative solar solutions for every rooftop, including the ability to produce clean solar power, measure and control its usage in order to reduce overall energy demand.

The National Safety Council is calling on motorists to stop using cell phones and messaging devices while driving, and is urging businesses to enact policies prohibiting it and governors and legislators in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to pass laws banning the behavior.

SPRI, the association representing sheet membrane and component suppliers to the commercial roofing industry, has announced that “The Wind Design Standard Practice for Roofing Assemblies ANSI/SPRI WD-1” has been updated and accepted as an American National Standard as of December 2008 after the removal of permissive language.

CertaSpec - CertainTeed’s comprehensive online roofing specification writing tool - recently received updates to include important LEED criteria.

Roofing professionals seeking intensive, high-energy educational sessions that will take their business to the next level should plan to attend the 2009 International Roofing Expo, Feb. 3-5, in the Shoreline A&B Halls at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.

Reflective Roof Coatings Institute (RRCI) will hold its fourth annual meeting at Harrah's in Las Vegas on Monday, Feb. 2, 2009, prior to the IRE/NRCA conference.