Here’s an interesting story: a company is hoping to be build a new town in New Mexico. Only thing is, you can’t live there. It’s a ghost town.

The town (currently called the Center for Innovation, Testing and Evaluation) will have all the amenities that a real city would have, including houses and businesses. Everything would be fully functional with utilities. It would even have a mall (not filled with merchandise presumably)!

So why on earth is this town being built? For research of course! Pegasus Global Holdings will use the town to test energy efficient and green home innovations. MSN Real Estate gives an example of what might take place there:

If it all sounds too crazy, here’s a down-to-earth example: Say scientists want to see if a new kind of smart thermostat can make an entire neighborhood more energy-efficient. They could hand out the thermostats to homeowners in Albuquerque and check in on their meters for the next year. But the results would depend on a lot of factors out of the researchers’ control, such as how warm or cool individuals like their rooms to be or the houses’ insulation quality. And if the experimental system doesn’t work, the scientists would have disrupted people’s lives and maybe increased their utility bills.

But nobody would live in the center’s buildings. Computerized systems would mimic human behavior such as turning thermostats up and down, switching lights off and on or flushing toilets, but they would do so under the scientists’ control. A research team could install the thermostats in a block of the center’s two-story suburban houses, then run multiple long-term scenarios, manipulating the imaginary residents’ behavior to see what the energy use is under different circumstances.

Oh, and since there will be researchers and scientists there to run things in the imaginary city, they’ll be staying in facilities underground.

Although building an entire city that no one lives in might seem odd, having this sort of research space might lead to all sorts of discoveries with energy efficiency in the home. What do you think?

Image courtesy of pascalbovet.com on Flickr.

Prequalifying Clients
Qualified Remodeler
“There is an old saying that if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there. Similarly, in the remodeling industry, if you don’t know what your business focus is, any client will do. In today’s marketplace, where finding remodeling jobs can be a struggle, accepting clients you avoided in the past may be a necessary evil. However, a group of remodeling contractors in Cincinnati stresses the importance of staying true to your business and yourself.”

Apple’s Visionary Redefined Digital Age
New York Times
Use an iPad on the jobsite as many builders do? Take a moment to remember the driving creative force of Apple.

States With the Highest (and Lowest) Homeownership
24/7 Wall St.
“The dream of owning a home has become increasingly unattainable for many Americans, and the situation is not likely to improve soon, as the collapse of the housing market and the recession continue to take their toll. That is the disturbing conclusion to be drawn from the US Census Bureau’s newly released report ‘Housing Characteristics: 2010,’ an overview of the national home market at the end of the last decade. One of the highlights of the report is a list of the states that have the highest and lowest percentage of homes occupied by their owners. 24/7 Wall St.’s review of the data found that homeownership rates were high in thinly populated states and those with low home prices, while homeownership was low in states with expensive homes and large cities.”

Inhabitat recently blogged about the Swiss St. Maurice Abbey. It’s ancient — more than 1,500 years old — and during the thousand-plus years of its existence, it sometimes needs a little TLC.

Recently, the abbey had some rocks fall on it. For protection, it was originally built next to a cliff, and that decision has served it well for thousands of years. Unfortunately, where there are cliffs, there are rocks, and when there’s a structure nearby…

Somehow, the St. Maurice Abbey had to be protected. But how to to do that while keeping with its ancient aesthetics and traditions? Enter Savioz Fabrizzi Architectes. They designed a roof that gently floats over the abbey and achieves the goals of protection and not changing the fundamental character of this historic place. It lets in massive amounts of natural light and looks like a cross between water and sky. Inhabitat has some great pictures of the project; check them out here.

Fine Homebuilding offers a few provocative answers to this question. One of their readers wondered if offering some sort of incentive, or making a small payment to potential customers, could reap rewards beyond what offering a free estimate would. Does investing in $50 gift cards to a local business lead to jobs?

Fine Homebuilding readers point out that this could lead to people getting consultations just for the swag, without any intention of hiring you to do a remodel. On the other hand, some people might be enticed enough by the offer that they decide to pull the trigger and actually hire someone to start the remodeling process.

Luckily, Fine Homebuilding readers offer two other great suggestions for remodelers: try door hangers advertising your company, but be sure to carefully target the neighborhoods where you are placing them.

Also consider an open house using a recent house you have worked on. See if the homeowners would be willing to open their home to the public for a Sunday afternoon. And if you are desperate to hand a gift card to somebody, this might be your chance: the homeowners would probably appreciate it, and Fine Homebuilding suggests that you can collect leads with a gift card drawing.

What do you think of these ideas? Have you ever tried any creative ways to get new remodeling business?

It’s everything from wheelchair ramps, to height of the windows to door hardware to toilets. With this growing focus, building professionals and homeowners are realizing that universal design doesn’t have to mean institutional-looking spaces: it’s possible to have your cake and eat it too when it comes to homes that will stand the test of time on the scales of both life and design.

Below are two videos from our sister brand, Marvin Windows and Doors. They feature Esther Greenhouse, an environmental gerontologist at Cornell University, covering some hot topics on universal design. What do you think?

An article called “Downsizing the American Dream” on USA Today gave some more specifics:

• According to leading architect Sarah Susanka, “The whole glow of bigness kind of wore off all of a sudden.” Home square footage is now at a median of 2,100 square feet and could conceivably continue to drop.
• The rooms in a home are now rooms that people use; no need for separate formal living and dining rooms.
• Flexible space — with a few exceptions, a room is a room is a room. Space needs to grow and change with homeowners. Maybe that game room for the kids can become a home office for early retirement consulting that can be changed to a home theater for the grandkids.
• More focus on creative design — small doesn’t have to feel small.
• People are moving away from large expanses of lawn that need to be watered, mowed, raked and shoveled. Community green space in new housing developments is gaining in popularity.

What do you think of these assertions? Are you seeing them in your projects? Will this affect your future business?

As technology has advanced, so have the opportunities for builders. When laptops became lighter and more transportable, it was easy to throw it in your bag on the way to a jobsite. And when technology became more mobile with the introduction of smartphones, it became even easier to stay connected on the jobsite. Now you could not only take calls from people, but also stay connected to the Internet and access important documents.

The introduction of the iPad is a game-changer for builders as well. It’s lighter and even more portable than a laptop, but with a larger screen than a phone. As Construction Informer points out, it can help reduce the need for builders to carry around hundreds of pages of drawings and specs. Handy!

How do you feel about this new technology? Do you have an iPad? Are you sticking with a smartphone or laptop? Or are you a proud Luddite? Let us know if mobile technology is helping your building business!

Photo courtesy of Apple.

It’s the Superconductor from Avanti and it contains a fridge, sink, two electric burners and two drawers. It even has a nice backsplash. In one tiny bit of space, you can store perishables and other food, cook on a stovetop and even wash dishes. Add in a microwave and a toaster oven, and you could have a complete kitchen that could go in a corner of your house.

The Superconductor could work for a variety of situations: dorm rooms, apartments with roommates, offices, even regular homes that need a little more kitchen power.

Is this compact wonder something your customers might go for? Would it be something useful for very small apartments? Or is it just a cool toy?

Writer Nigel Maynard surveyed a variety of professionals (LEED architects, sustainable builders, the works) to obtain an accurate prediction about the future of the industry. Furthermore, his article is enhanced by various facts and quotes regarding energy use and new building practices.

In future years, there will be a strong emphasis on the home functioning as a system. This applies to everything from plumbing to insulation; all parts are interconnected and can make a difference in energy and cost savings. Another change on the horizon is regulation of water usage and a strong emphasis on conservation.

Most important, the article discusses the role human behavior will play in these new practices. There is to be a much stronger focus on “educating green” and teaching homeowners how to properly use the sustainable features of their home, garnering greater cost savings and protecting mother earth. There is even a new feedback system available that reports energy usage levels within the home using red, yellow and green lights. “Studies have shown that when people see how much energy they are using, they will alter their behavior.”

Obviously, change is coming. Which of these trends, technologies, products and practices do you think will become most established in the next 10 years?

Image courtesy of Builder Online, Brian Stauffer