EPA’s Paint Law Frustrates Hardworking Contactors Home Construction Improvement “Here on our Home Improvement site we’ve been covering the EPA’s new Lead Paint Law closely since early spring when it went into effect. We’ve written lots of articles on the new law, training, fines and cost implications. So far we’ve met very few people that [...]

A blog entry on BUILDER Online posed a provocative question: Can big homes be green? The answer, as with most things, is “it depends.” As everyone knows, there’s been a shift away from McMansions. Not only can they cost more to build, but they’ll also be more expensive to heat and cool — not to [...]

This week’s Builder Blog post examines what the next ten years will bring for building trends, practices and products. New ideas and technologies will be shaped by consumer needs and wants for the home, builder preferences and societal trends. The environment will have a say, as well; as our growing population requires more resources and [...]

The New Remodeling Rules WSJ – Personal Finance “According to an April 15 report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, annual spending on remodeling is expected to accelerate this year, with nearly 5% growth over 2009. This year could produce the first annual spending increase for the industry since 2006, the [...]

Greenhaven. The name of this home is meant not only to evoke peaceful green glades but also reminds people of its green credentials. Greenhaven is located in Marietta, Ga., in the Chelsea Landing neighborhood. Chelsea Landing is the first green neighborhood in East Cob County. The design of Greenhaven homes was conceived by Pace Homebuilders. The “Green [...]

A recent Newsweek article by Cathleen McGuigan discusses the phenomenon of iconic architecture and experimental design that was fostered by the economic boom of the late 90s. Now, as we climb out of the recession, architects seem to have learned the lesson along with the rest of the population: bigger, more extravagant building isn’t always [...]

An Oak Park, Ill., home was recently featured in USA Today’s Green House blog. It’s a beauty: a painstakingly built home that doesn’t seem new. It fits comfortable into its traditional neighborhood, and as Green House notes, “A passerby would be hard-pressed…to pick it out.” Nonetheless, the home is very modern in its energy efficiency: [...]

Creative minds put to the use of good design can make a big difference in the world! Look at the simple act of washing clothes. Clean clothes can be important for health and dignity. But what do you do if you don’t have a washing machine (through choice or economic circumstance) and don’t want to [...]

The people at W.A. Bernard Inc. pride themselves on maintaining their tradition of quality and old-world craftsmanship within the home building industry. It is for this reason that they were contacted in 2005 regarding renovations to a home in Sherborn, MA. The project was to be a challenging one, seeing as much of the structural integrity [...]

Teenagers: all they care about is…living green? According to Qualified Remodeler, more and more teenagers are taking a leading role in making their homes greener. As an example, they offer a story of an adult who didn’t get rid of her working dishwasher that didn’t match her other kitchen appliances, despite clearly wanting to. Her [...]