In this latest episode of “If Walls Could Talk,” W&C’s Jill Bloom and John Wyatt speak with Stephen Sears, CEO and executive director of EIMA. When the magazine last spoke with Sears at this year’s BUILD’24, he outlined several initiatives and goals that the association was working toward and what the status on these goals were at.

First off, gave us a briefing on this year’s EIMA event held down in Texas this spring. Among its updates included renaming its competition to EIFS Excellence Awards, membership growth, education courses, and more.  

Secondly, Sears posted on social media about The Arcadis 2024 International Construction Costs report, which calculates an index using 20 building types, such as residential, commercial and public sector, which takes into account construction costs and market conditions. Some of the results from the report outline the most expensive cities in the world, New York, San Fran and Philadelphia among those. Here, Sears outlines how EIFS as a system can be utilized for greater long-term benefits for owners.

As thorough as ever, listen to Sears present his thoughts on the future of the system and what lies ahead for the industry—and the association.