In the wake of last week’s superstorm Sandy and other damaging weather conditions throughout the year, many homeowners have invested in back-up generators to keep their homes humming when the power goes out. According to the Building Performance Institute (BPI), however, generators can pose serious danger to a home’s inhabitants when not used properly, especially… Continue Reading
It seems every now and then a new technology comes along and gets everyone in real estate excited. Right now that technology is QR Codes. However, the problem is that there are very few resources out there specifically showing the best ways to use QR codes for real estate. Just like with Facebook, Twitter, Blogging,… Continue Reading
For all the folks with cell phones. (This should be printed and kept in your car, purse, and wallet. Good information to have with you.) There are a few things that can be done in times of grave emergencies. Your mobile phone can actually be a life saver or an emergency tool for survival. Check… Continue Reading
Green homes have many advantages-for builders and consumers as well as the environment. For builders, they offer the ability to differentiate your homes from others on the market, reduced callbacks, and the potential for increased profit. For consumers, they offer better indoor air quality, lower operating costs, reduced maintenance, and higher resale values. For the… Continue Reading
Texas markets are among the healthiest right now, and some of the best-selling plans come from the Lone Star State. They aren’t just for cowboys, though—rugged good looks and layouts that celebrate the outdoors make these homes likely to be favorites wherever they’re built. Award-winning Texas homes are designed to get the most out of… Continue Reading
This serene master bath certainly accommodates the clients’ request to bring nature inside. Beyond that, “they were open to nontraditional ideas about the space,” says architect Adam Montalbano. The outcome is a rather transparent arrangement that uses strategically placed windows, glass, and mirrors to define its dressing, bathing, and primping areas. The center of the… Continue Reading
It sure can, according to Abhinand Lath, who was exploring an abstract idea about bamboo for his graduate architecture thesis at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor when he invented a revolutionary surfacing material called SensiTile. Lath puts it in simple terms, “the product bends and plays with light by incorporating fiber optic–like matrices… Continue Reading
1. Old bricks, worthless? No, those bricks can be recycled, and are very valuable to some people! 2. Use reclaimed wood for your next project at home. Use your own, or find some on freecycle, Craigslist, at your local transfer station, or recycle.net. 3. There are many places you can exchange or recycle your old… Continue Reading
Four innovative homes ignore conventional wisdom in this article by Jenny Sullivan of the The Builder. Credit: Courtesy Connor Homes/Jim Westphalen Photography This prim home’s symmetrical façade is the spitting image of the Wells Thorn House in Deerfield, Mass., which was built between 1711 and 1780 and is considered one of America’s finest specimens of… Continue Reading
Synthetic food? Perfect solar harvesting? If we could clap our hands and invent something that would cure a pressing global problem, what would it be? According to GreenTech Enterprise – an inexpensive way to extract salt from seawater so we can drink it. In their article, they state that several countries are already dealing with… Continue Reading