Early design decisions have a lasting impact on how efficiently and effectively a building is constructed. By engaging the professionals who make those decisions, the structural building components industry can create better plans, stronger partnerships, and new opportunities for innovation.
SBCA has reimagined its Professional Membership category to better engage architects, engineers, residential designers, code officials, and students. These are the professionals whose daily decisions shape the use, and specification, of structural components, such as roof trusses, floor trusses, and wall panels. Through this new membership category, SBCA seeks to attract, educate, and engage building designers in the structural components industry, and component manufacturers can benefit from having the building designers they work with become a Professional Member to continue building relationships and enhance networking opportunities.
Engaging Building Designers
As component manufacturers well know, building designers play a pivotal role in determining how structural elements are utilized in residential and commercial projects. Whether it’s developing the initial design concept, modeling load paths, or detailing individual structural connections, these professionals ultimately shape the structural framework of the building and influence whether structural building components are utilized in a project.
In this way, designers can often act as inadvertent gatekeepers to the use of structural building components. Their understanding of truss design responsibilities, load transfer, code compliance, and product capabilities directly affects how (and how often) components are specified. Engaging this group is essential to the future growth of every component manufacturer. With education, collaboration, and access to resources, building designers can become powerful advocates for component solutions, helping ensure structural integrity, framing efficiency, and cost-effective methodology across a wider range of construction projects.
Fostering a Community
Central to this effort is the development of tools and resources tailored specifically to this audience. They include technical publications, on-demand education, design guides, and member directories, all aimed at fostering a better understanding of components and encouraging collaboration. The goal is to provide tangible value and create open lines of communication with the association and individual component manufacturers.
By reshaping the Professional Membership experience, SBCA is attempting to create a more inclusive and collaborative design community, one in which our industry’s ideas and innovations flow freely between designers and manufacturers for the benefit of their companies, their customers, and the broader construction industry.
In 2026, SBCA will focus on developing accredited education for its Professional Members and offer them through live online webinars and on-demand course catalogues. In addition, SBCA will host virtual roundtable discussions for building designers to explore key topics related to structural building components (learn more about upcoming events).
Providing Tangible Value
SBCA has always been a hub for technical leadership within the component manufacturing industry. Through resources like the Building Component Safety Information (BCSI) guide, Jobsite Packages, and its annual trade show BCMC, SBCA has built a strong reputation for helping professionals use structural components effectively and safely.
Building upon that foundation, SBCA launched a new online technical document library called the SBCA Knowledge Center. The SBCA Knowledge Center is an extensive library offering over 150 free downloadable content including research reports, white papers, presentations, videos, and more focused on structural building components and the greater construction industry. This vast library of technical resources is a valuable cache of knowledge for building designers, truss designers, truss installers, building inspectors, component manufacturers, and industry professionals.
In addition to the SBCA Knowledge Center, SBCA has developed an extensive education platform called SBCA Academy. This industry-specific online learning environment contains many focused training modules intended to help SBCA Professional Members better understand key elements of the structural component industry.
Bottom Line
The better a building designer understands the capabilities and capacity of component manufacturers and the structural components they design and manufacture, the more these products will be specified in their plans. Component manufacturers can benefit greatly from encouraging the building designers they work with to join SBCA as Professional Members and get engaged with the many resources and opportunities SBCA has created to help increase their understanding.