Peter Miller, Featured Speaker, 2015 MIA/BSI Washington study tour

Peter Miller, Featured Speaker, 2015 MIA/BSI Washington study tour

Peter Miller, Honorary AIA and V.P. Publisher for Home Group/Active Interest Media, was the featured speaker at the MIA+BSI 2015 Study Tour in Washington, DC in November, where he shared his thoughts on the state of the natural stone industry. The following text sums up the five major points from his talk. 

  1. Business is better for most of us, but it feels different than before. New, younger consumers are in the marketplace, and their behaviors have been shaped by the Great Recession. This requires a new way of doing things in our industry.
  2. Materials matter. We need to stand up for materials that stand the test of time. There is an organic solution to sustainability—the use of natural, long lasting materials. To be durable is to be sustainable. No other material is more beautiful, durable, repairable, or sustainable than natural stone.
  3. Time favors stone. Designers, builders, and owners of stone buildings must think about how their building’s use will adapt to new usage 100 years from now. Chances are, a stone building will last that long—or longer.
  4. Using natural stone says a lot about a building’s owner. According to buyers and stone specifiers, the use of natural stone says that a building’s owner has pride and is a legacy builder. It says they are committed to enhancing the built environment and are not creating a “throw away” building. They understand history and permanence, but also have a vision for the future. Buyers and stone specifiers also stress the fact that natural stone is durable, beautiful, authentic, and meaningful.
  5. Natural stone creates place. In the transient, always changing world we live in, we need resilience, strength, and durability. Stone creates place. It comes from the very ground that a building stands upon. It comforts us and makes us strong.