The nine football fields worth of exhibit space at the 2017 AHR Expo in Las Vegas Jan. 30-Feb. 1 will make it the largest show in the event’s 88-year history, surpassing the previous record set in Chicago in 2015, according to show organizers.

“We are announcing that this show will be the largest ever,” Clay Stevens, Show manager of the AHR Expo, said in an interview posted on ASHRAE’s website on Jan. 17. “Many exhibitors have taken larger booth spaces anticipating that a more robust economy coupled with an exciting show location like Las Vegas will energize attendees. We’re expecting over 60,000 industry professionals.”

Stevens attributes the increased exhibitor space to renewed optimism in the industry. That optimism, he said, was reflected in an annual economic survey of exhibitors conducted by International Exposition Co. and ASHRAE Journal that was released Dec. 20.

According to the survey, 86 percent of the respondents expect their sales to grow in the coming year.

“There’s no doubt that the building industry has improved,” Stevens said. “What we see from the economic survey is that there is quite a lot of optimism. It may be that after a downturn,  now we’re making up for it.”

The survey found 27% believed their business would increase by more than 10% this year, a 6% increase from 2016. Other survey findings:

• Respondents forecasting business growth between 5-10 percent in 2017 increased 5 percent from 2016, to a total of 38 percent.
• 22 percent of respondents indicated business growth of less than 5 percent, with 11 percent saying business activity would remain the same for 2017.
• Only 2 percent anticipated their business would decrease in 2017 (compared to 8 percent surveyed in 2015).
• The survey found that 61 percent of the exhibitors plan to introduce new products, with energy efficiency remaining a key focus.