New reports have revealed that the remodeling industry is bouncing back and is ahead of the building industry in the recovery curve. According to Builder magazine, national spending on remodeling reached $300 billion in 2010, as reported by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

The report offers predictions that remodeling spending will increase at a rate of about 3.5 percent this year and in the years to come. While that is below the 12 percent annual pace of the housing boom that occurred from 2003 to 2007, it is quite higher than the downturn from 2007 to 2009, in which remodeling spending dropped by nearly 13 percent.

Gwen Biasi, spokesman for the National Association of the Remodeling Industry, said “It’s picking up somewhat out there. We’re hearing from members that their phones are ringing again and people are coming up with money for remodeling projects. The project aren’t as huge as they might have been five years ago, but [remodelers] are seeing an increase.”

Perhaps this news is a sign that the building industry will see an increase in spending in the next few years, too.

Photo credit: Nchsa.org.

Every once and a while I think it’s probably a good idea to take a step back and think about why we’re doing what we’re doing. For instance, I’m currently in LA at the Design Bloggers Conference. I’m meeting people who work in the design world, like myself, who are also spending a lot of time these days writing, or blogging, about what they are doing and why they are doing it. Which begs the question: why am I writing this little piece right now? What’s this blog all about? It’s a question I think I know the answer to.  We at Trilogy Partners are different than most other firms in our industry when it comes to design and build because we are fully integrated and truly a “one stop shop.” We see it from all angles. We are designers and ditchdiggers. We are builders, planners, and accountants. We are carpenters and tradesmen and we are passionate about how things look and feel. We are storytellers. In effect, we wear a whole lot of hats around here for one reason. So that we can serve our clients fully and completely. And we want people to know that. But there’s more to it than just what we do.

We’ve been doing this for quite a while now. In the course of each project we learn a whole lot, and I want to take the time now to pass along some of what we’ve learned. The good lessons, the hard lessons. Each project is a journey and is its own story. Building a home is a rather long process that grows from concept to creation to a lasting realization of a vision and a dream. These journeys oftentimes take years, and during the course of these years things happen that are worthy of words and remembrance. Each project brings with it a separate wisdom. So I’m here to pass along the stories, and the knowledge of what it takes to design and build homes because, honestly, I couldn’t find anyone else who was. This is the only place where you can get a complete picture of both sides of the home design and build process that I’ve yet to find.

I can tell you this: designing, building, it’s hard work and harder still to do really well. But it’s a lot of fun. And it’s really rewarding to drive by a spot where once nothing stood and see, now, a wonderful home alight and alive with the people that live within its walls. That’s also what I want to write about. The joy and the how of what we do. And the gratitude we feel for being allowed to do what we truly love. With the hope that some out there will read our words and benefit from what we’ve learned. And be inspired to move forward, with confidence, in pursuit of their dreams.

Enjoy!

Some things about this industry so amaze me. Take for example the client who is hoping to get the best house for the least amount of money. So they hire a builder, any builder, who is willing to build for less. It’s a logic that even the clients don’t believe. These clients are driving expensive cars, not cheap cars. They spend more money to send their children to school. They have all of their lives invested sensibly but in quality. So why is it when it comes to one of the most important investments that they are every going to make, that they suddenly want to go cheap? Suddenly quality doesn’t matter. And that amazes me.

Lowest Bid Could Cost More

As I’ve posted before, I’m not a big fan of the bid process when it comes to complex residential builds. There’s just too much room for things to get overlooked in the bid. And it’s pretty much always the case that if a construction bid comes in low, that a lot of things are being overlooked. Left out, intentionally or not, there will be a day of reckoning. The rewards to the client for hiring quality are immediate and lasting. Quality building companies bring not only construction expertise to the table. But accounting know how. Problem solving abilities. A work hard ethic. And essential creativity. Not to mention that quality building companies are, for the most part, comprised of intelligent people with more than an average level of integrity. One need only check the builders’ references to separate quality builders from used car salesmen. In a “zen” sense, the house is ultimately a direct reflection of not only the architect and owner, but the builder as well. And chances are that if you blend all the above ingredients together, that the price of the construction is going to be what it should be, and both the owner and the builder will continue to have a strong relationship long after the last nail is driven home.

Quality Is An Investment

My belief is that in construction, as in other aspects of life, quality costs more. A quality builder is going to cost more than someone who is desperate for a job and will do anything to get it. Low bids go hand in hand with insufficient allowances for finishes and features. And with hidden costs and fine print. Quality costs, but quality is an investment. And we are used to hearing this, saying this, living this in life. But why is it when it comes to home building, we’re willing to forget about quality and be suckered in by the cheapest bid from fly by night contracting incorporated? It just doesn’t make sense. But I see it happen again and again. The construction industry may have a bad reputation, but it doesn’t help that clients sometimes encourage poor behavior by buying into it.

Contributor: Michael Strong

HOUSTON, TX–Not making money on your money? Saving is the new best investment strategy–so many people are investing their funds in future savings with green remodeling. Recently released data shows that in Seattle, in 2008 (the most recent data available), where nationally certified green homes were sold and compared as follows to non-certified homes sold during the same period:

1. Median sales price was 6% higher!
2. Time on market was 29.4% shorter!
3. Price per Squre Foot was 9.3% higher!

That should come as no surprise because it makes sense that a more energy efficient, durable, lower maintenance, healthier home is better built than the obsolete counterpart built only to meet minimum “code.”

With the 2009 debut of the NAHB Green Remodeling Standard, www.nahbgreen.org, anyone can and should make their home greener during a remodel. This is the first and only national green remodeling standard in the U.S. and it should be a homeowner’s blueprint for any remodeling project. Whether you are remodeling a kitchen or a bathroom, adding space or converting an attic, this Green Remodeling Standard is your guide to a healthier, more energy efficient home that will lower your living costs and enable you to sell your home faster and at a premium.

Homeowners have unprecedented choices when remodeling to create their dream home. Quieter, cleaner, lower maintenance homes with smaller energy bills and the best indoor air quality options in U.S. construction history are more popular than ever. Here are my top five choices for making your existing home greener:

1. Apply a radiant barrier paint to your roof deck. By applying E-Barrier paint from Sherwin Williams http://www.sherwin-williams.com/pro/green/index.jsp to the bottom of your roof deck from inside your attic, you can expect to repel up to 70% of the sun’s radiant heat from ever entering your attic.
2. #mce_temp_url#Be prepared for water usage price hikes by installing new Water Sense certified plumbing fixtures and commode during your next remodeling project. Whether made by Kohler http://www.us.kohler.com/savewater/products/landing.htm or another manufacturer, Water Sense certified fixtures work and will save you water. Install an Energy Star rated digital thermostat. They are easy to installhttp://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=find_a_product.showProductGroup&pgw_code=TH and can save you about $180 a year by properly setting your programmable thermostats and maintaining those settings.
3. Add more insulation to your attic. Blow it in to make sure you cover up all the cracks and leaking holes in your attic. You can do this yourself or hire a professional but make sure you reach R-38 when you are done. Your contractor or equipment rental company will tell you how deep it needs to be to hit that golden mark.Use only Energy Star rated appliances like Miele www.Miele.com in your next kitchen remodel. Regardless of the price range you are considering, these high efficiency, German engineered appliances will save you more energy and water than their non-rated appliances. Plus they are so quiet you can’t hear them and they are the snazziest looking products on the market today!

These wise choices make your home efficiently more cost effective to live in and more desirable at resale. With the current real estate market in flux, many homeowners are opting to add on for more space or just freshen up their current home instead of moving and this is the perfect time to invest in future cost savings.

The www.nahbgreen.org website is a valuable tool—almost as valuable as an experienced Green Builder or Remodeler. Green building is one of the fastest growing industries worldwide with new and improved products being introduced at a rapid pace. Many of the techniques and products that will give you the greatest return on your investment can be recommended by the professionals who work with them on a real time basis and who keep up with the new trends and technology.

Think Green, Live Green, Build Green—it’s the right thing to do.

—30—

To comment on this article, please email Michael Strong

Source: The New Era Times

As I’ve posted before, when we started building homes we knew a lot less than we know today. Each day brought with it new lessons. I can remember the first day I met the building inspector from the Town of Breckenridge. His name was C and he was in a foul mood the moment he got out of his car. He’d come out to our building site to check to see if there was frost in the ground. We were installing pre-cast foundation walls, which are bedded in a gravel footer. Beneath the gravel was compacted dirt, and the building department had stipulated that we must lay our foundation walls on ground that was unfrozen. It was about 5 degrees that morning, and per agreement we’d called in our frozen ground inspection, and C had arrived thermometer in hand. After sticking the thermometer into the ground and consulting it, he told us in no uncertain terms that we were not going to be putting in our foundation walls that day. Determined to get the walls in (we had a crane on site charging us by the hour) I commenced to debate with C. I had gone on with my carefully crafted argument for about a minute when he gave me the blackest of looks and turned and walked away. And it dawned on me that I had just managed to completely annoy the one person who held sway over our entire project. I’ve previously posted about how we’d erected a plastic tent over the entire site to keep the soil from freezing. And how the wind had blown the tent away. Big mistake. And now another big mistake. The building inspector hated us. For minutes afterward my brother and I just paced in silence wondering what to do next. Because it certainly wasn’t going to be getting any warmer for months. How were we ever going to get those concrete walls installed?  Then someone suggested that there was a miraculous device called a ground heater that was usually used in situations like this. And so we rented one, and when C came back the next day, the ground heater had thawed the ground and we were allowed to proceed. I went out of my way to apologize to C telling him that I was doing the best I could to figure out how to build my first house. And to my surprise, C told me about feeling totally miserable the day before because of a terrible cold, and how he was feeling much better today, and we had a chat about colds, cold weather, and building in the cold winter. From that day on, C and I got along just fine. Over the years my brother and I grew to know, to respect, and to appreciate all of those who worked in the Breckenridge Building Department. They can be your greatest allies, or, should you decide to cut corners, your worst enemies. They are our partners in standards of quality and safety. And we are proud to join with them in producing the best product possible.

Kitchens are just so much fun to design… especially if you enjoy food and entertaining as much as we do. The kitchen at the Timber Trail residence is different than any we at Trilogy have ever done if for no other reason than the kitchen space is an octagonally shaped room. With eight walls to address in design, we turned to Kathye Conti and the outstanding team at Kitchenscapes in Breckenridge, Colorado.  The result was a thoroughly modern and energy efficient kitchen rooted in old world European concepts. Because the theme of the house was “a centuries old european mountain chalet reborn” cabinets were designed to resemble antique furniture pieces drawn together and stacked one upon the other as though the kitchen had literally been shaped over years of use. The kitchen features multiple cooking, cleaning, and prep work stations, a center island, two sinks, two dishwashers, double ovens, and side by side super energy efficient Sun Frost refrigerator and freezer units. The kitchen is centered around a 48″ Viking stove top with four burners and a grill top with downdraft vent built into the center island. A large family breakfast table, a pass through to the living room bar, stone walls, travertine floors, and wonderful mountain views complete this uniquely envisioned space.

Many believe that the kitchen is the most important room in the house. What do you think?

For most people, the construction method is never questioned.  Stick Frame and truss roof are assumed.  Why is this? – because that’s what builders offer.   There really is no other reason.  The building method is so ingrained in our sensibilities that even when we design and build our own homes, we still build with sticks.  There are many better options, but still, we build with sticks.

Stick frame has some benefits

• Most construction trade people understand the system, no new learning or tools are needed.
• Re-tooling is not necessary
• Architects understand the system and can accomplish many difficult designs using stick frame and trusses.
• Last minute changes during the construction cycle are relatively easy.
• The system does not need to be explained to anyone.
• Building Inspectors know what needs to be done and how to inspect it.

Stick frame also has some significant drawbacks

• It is nearly impossible to insulate stick frame properly
• There is insufficient trained trade labor to properly build with stick frame
• It is extremely complicated as a structural system, with too many trades involved- too easy to miss the mark.
• Moisture infiltration into the wall, roof, and ceiling systems almost assure mold and mildew problems.
• The guys at the end (plumbers, electricians, HVAC guys) have a tendency to cut up the structure dangerously.
• Structural material quality has eroded substantially over the past ten years.
• It’s very easy to downgrade the specification without the owner’s knowledge.
• It’s a thirty year system.
• Cathedral ceilings are weaker, poorly insulated, and slow to build.Use beyond thirty years results in substandard housing.

In Addition, there are a number of excellent options

• Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) exceed specification for stick frame in every respect (strength, insulation, tolerance) and can be used for walls, roof, ceiling, and roof.   They are pre-cut to fit on site and greatly reduce on site labor hours and skill levels necessary.  A 100 to 150 year system.
• Steel frame is quicker and stronger.
• Engineered lumber floor trusses are faster
• Insulating Concrete Form (ICF) wall systems are stronger, better insulated, have good thermal mass, are quicker to build
• Aerated concrete blocks are strong, have good thermal mass, and are quick to build with.
• Cast in Place concrete is strong, has good thermal mass, and is a 150 year structure.

Steel framing has insulation disadvantages, as does cast in place concrete.  The aerated concrete blocks are very limited in their usability.  The best combination of these systems is ICF walls, with engineered lumber floor trusses, and SIPs for the roof or ceiling system. If the budget is tight or the land is not flat, SIPs also make excellent walls.

The Real Cost of Stick Framing

Do not let builders railroad you with inferior building systems.  It will cost you- in many ways.  If you settle for stick frame, it will cost you in the following ways:

• Poor constructionA short life span- under forty years
• Over budget and not on schedule
• Horribly insulated
• Weak, especially in high winds or snow load

reprinted from http://www.sipsproducts.com/stick/

Colorado Building Company, sister company to Trilogy Partners, was founded in 2007. Whereas Trilogy is a Design and Build construction company, Colorado Building Company is construction management/general contracting company. CBC specializes in projects where design oversite is the parameter of architects and interior designers not working under the design-build model. Trilogy Partners uses CBC for general contracting services.

The team behind CBC has more than half a century of combined construction experience. CBC is experienced in the construction of high value custom homes.  But smaller projects and remodels receive the same attention to detail and customer service as large projects. CBC also has a commercial division to service non-residential projects.

CBC leads the way in sustainable building and cutting edge construction technologies. CBC built the first zero net home in Breckenridge. CBC leadership is experienced in Structural Insulating Panel construction, advanced green framing technologies, timber frame, log, and conventional framing. CBC is committed to the highest level of quality and customer service.

Your new home is designed and now it’s time to hire a builder. Before you do, the architect gives you some guidance and tells you that there are two types of contracts that govern construction. One type is called the Fixed Price Contract. The other, the Cost Plus contract.

Fixed Price Contract

The Fixed Price Contract is just what the name implies: the builder agrees to build the house for a fixed price. In order for a Fixed Price Contract to make sense, the builder and the owner must have an clear and similar vision of what the project entails. For example, the level of finishes must be understood as standards will be cost sensitive. The builder will base his price on a very detailed budget and other assumptions then will add a profit margin unknown to the owner. The danger of the Fixed Price Contract is that what the builder assumes may not match what the client is envisioning. This may not become apparent until well after construction has begun. For example, a builder might specify a certain type of shower fixtures throughout the house. When the contract is signed, the owner assumes the amount budgeted (or allowed) for fixtures will be adequate but later, when actually choosing the specific fixtures, determines that the allowed amount is not satisfactory. Many design elements are priced as allowances. In other words, the builder gives an allowance for a specific item knowing that the owner does not, at the time of the contract signing, know exactly which brand and style might be selected. As illustrated, many assumptions, allowances and expectations must mesh perfectly for both the builder and the client to be well satisfied. A Fixed Price Contract can work well if the project is sufficiently simple so that all involved have a clear picture of what the finished project will be. But in the case of higher-end custom homes, a clear idea of the finished project is quite difficult. The design aspects of the house can be exceedingly complicated. If a fixed price contract is governing this type of project, the owner, architect, and builder can come into conflict over expectations and ultimately, money. And the builder may use “change orders” to exceed the amount of the fixed price if the owner’s desires and expectations exceed the builder’s allowances and assumptions.

Cost Plus Contract

The Cost Plus Contract is a contract based on a estimated cost that is not fixed. The builder proposes an approximate budget, and agrees to take profit based on a percentage of the total cost of labor and materials. With the cost plus contract, the owner is given the actual cost of each expenditure and is aware at all times exactly what the builder has spent for labor and materials.During construction, the owner must approve all expenditures. As a result, the owner is very involved in the economics of the project and in fact, is called upon to supervise how and where money is spent. This type of contract allows for project flexibility. For example, if the amount budgeted for excavation is lower than expected, that amount can be, if the owner wishes, transferred to the amount budgeted for, as an example, plumbing fixtures. Though the Cost Plus project depends on an accurate estimate of costs just as does the Fixed Price project, the Cost Plus contract and process allows for greater transparency than the Fixed Price Contract. Of course, the Cost Plus Contract requires that the owner be willing to spend time participating in the supervision of the budget. Costs can escalate if the owner does not make efforts to control spending. The Cost Plus Contract is ideally suited to more complex projects where there is a great emphasis on design, standards, and finishes and quality is of utmost concern.

The Bottom Line

The home owner must make take very seriously the contract phase of the home building project. In the past, the Fixed Price Contract was often the instrument of choice. As custom homes become increasingly more complicated and thus difficult to budget with exact precision, the Cost Plus Contract provides flexibility and transparency that the Fixed Price Contract cannot. The Cost Plus Contract has become the contract of choice for complex custom home projects.

This years Summit County Builder’s Association Parade of Homes is scheduled for the weekends of September 17 and 18th and 24th and 25th. If you’ve never attended a Parade of Homes, make this year your first. Between 15 and 25 new and remodeled custom

single family and multi family homes are open to the public. It’s a showcase of architecture and interior design, sustainable building, and the latest technologies and building process. The homes compete for various prizes including site design, architecture, interior design, and green building practices. Want another reason to attend? Proceeds from the Parade of Homes $10 admission fee go to the Summit Foundation, Summit County’s primary charity. So make sure you put the 2011 Parade of Homes on your 2011 Calendar.