Housebuilder is launching a new event for 2013, The Housebuilder Product Awards.<br> <br> The Housebuilder Products Awards will reward and recognise excellence and innovation in the products and systems developed for new homes in the UK. Entries will be invited in the new year in a series of categories with the expert panel of judges assessing the contenders on criteria including time saving; cost saving; meeting a particular standard or need; and practicality/ease of use.<br> <br> "The housebuilding industry faces a series of ongoing challenges to improve the design, quality and delivery of new homes," said Housebuilder Media's publishing director Ben Roskrow. "There is pressure for housebuilders to improve in sustainability, energy efficiency, thermal performance, acoustic performance, smart technology, Lifetime Homes and disabled access, design excellence and all round structural quality and longevity. The product supply sector has developed to help housebuilders meet these challenges through innovation and imagination and these new Awards will recognise those products which are doing the most to deliver improvements to the housebuilding process." <br> <br> The winners of each category – announced next spring – will go forward to the Product of the Year category in the annual and long established Housebuilder Awards in …