Building Edge E-News Briefhas gone weekly instead of twice a month. We knew when we launched this January 1, that it would be helpful, but had no idea how valued it really would become. There were more hits and readers for the April 9th brief then any other! Thank you for your response!
As always, if you would like to support Building Edge and E-news brief through advertising or sponsorship, please email us at: scott@buildingedgemag.com or call us at (352) 372-5854.
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www.BuildingEdgeMagazine.com
Sales for the June issue are now open. Our June Cover Feature is Jim & Pal Bennett with Bennett Construction Services in Ocala. We will have an Edge Spotlight this month on Via Bertolini . Our National feature is on Doors: Interior, Exterior, Patio and Overhead/Garage Doors. Sales will remain open until April 25th.
July's cover is Kara Sutton & Sutton Family Homes. Our National Feature is on Baths: Fixtures, faucets, home spas, hardware, tile and countertops.
Our August cover is Adams Homes. The National feature is Curb Appeal: Entry doors, brick and siding, roofing, lighting, landscaping, paving.
May is currently in production. The Cover feature is The Ransome Group.
On the cover of our current Commercial Building Edge issue is Gainesville's BBI Construction Management, Inc. The National Feature is on Surfaces.
Now open is the Summer 2007 issue of Commercial Building Edge. The Cover feature is on Gray Construction Services. The National Feature is on Green Building. To participate, please email scott@buildingedgemag.com.
New Home Magazine Coming This Fall
Home: Living in the Heart of Florida, a new magazine from Advantage Publishing will unveil its first issue this fall. Taking the experience we have gained from Building Edge and Commercial Building Edge, we are very excited about this new endeavor which will showcase the best of living in our community. Home: Living in the Heart of Florida will be a general circulation publication available to everyone in the community. It will include a wide assortment of features intended to enhance everything that is good about living our area. Sales for this first issue will open next month. For more information, please contact us at (352) 372-5854. |
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Architecture Tour Set for Saturday
Contemporary architecture offers designs that are literally out of the box - walls that may curve or break the tradition of vertical, construction that utilizes new materials or find new uses for old ones, and Gainesville architect Billy Brame says most people know it when they see it. Saturday a self-guided tour sponsored by the Gainesville Chapter of the American Institute of Architects will allow the public to see local examples of contemporary commercial buildings and private homes.
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Road plan aims to ease congestion
An expanded road network that includes widening some roads and building new ones got an initial endorsement from the Alachua County Commission Tuesday as a way to try to relieve traffic congestion. Part of the traffic on major roads is from commuters who live in neighboring counties and work in Gainesville, adding that Alachua County has no control over growth in those counties.
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Seminar touts low-impact development to builders, county officials
For years, Larry Coffman has been trying to get builders, architects, homeowners and government officials across the country to eschew the traditional method of managing stormwater. The old way, he believes, simply isn't protecting the quality of lakes, rivers and streams. Coffman, president of Maryland-based Environmental Services Group, recently made his case to a gathering of local builders, planners and government officials at Central Florida Community College. The seminar, sponsored by the Marion County Clean Water Program, touted the benefits of building with minimal impact on the environment.
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MCBA Parade of Homes™
MCBA's Parade of Homes™ will be held from April 28 to May 13.
MCBA Calendar of Events
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BANCF Spring Parade of Homes™
BANCF's Spring Parade of Homes™ will start April 21, and run until April 29.
BANCF Calendar of Events
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FHBA Members to Rally on April 24
One thousand members of the Florida Home Builders Association are expected in Tallahassee on April 24 to blitz the state capitol in an effort to keep new homes from being taxed out of existence. The rally will include a press conference, and will attract diverse members of the Florida's construction industry - from laborers to superintendents, engineers to developers, Realtors to vendors - who are concerned about the property tax reform debate. Both the MCBA and BANCF will provide bus transportation to the rally. Contact your local office for more information.
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GreenTrends Booths Almost Sold Out
Twenty exhibits in the GreenTrends section of the Southeast Building Conference exposition have already been reserved, which leaves only 13 that remain to be reserved. The conference is set for July 12-14 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. All products displayed in this section must meet approved green building standards. The conference is expecting 18,000 construction professionals in attendance.
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Local Associations' Identity Crises
Of the 29 local affiliates of the Florida Home Builders Association, 18 have decided to drop "home" from their name to better describe the more than half of the members who represent other aspects of the building industry. These people include suppliers, subcontractors, architects and engineers. By changing the name to a Building Industry Association, the affiliates are able to reach out to a broader segment of the industry in the area.
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Senate-House Have Competing Tax Bills
A tax-protest leader told a Senate committee Friday the chamber's bipartisan property tax reform package is too weak, while business interests and local government officials offered mixed reactions. Republican and Democratic Senate leaders released their plan Thursday. It includes a rollback of city and county taxes to 2005-06 levels, then a two-year freeze and cap on future increases. The plan is expected to save taxpayers $11 billion over the next five years. A competing proposal offered by House Republicans would slash taxes by more than $25 billion over the same span.
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Property Tax Plans Leave Out Affordable Housing
None of the property tax plans moving through the Legislature provide targeted relief for the thousands of low to moderate-income Floridians looking for a place to live. Tax reform has become in the monster issue, leaving affordable housing without the time for debate that it deserves. High tax bills have left home buyers with houses that they cannot afford and builders with houses that they cannot sell. Property tax relief will make housing less expensive for all income levels.
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Taxing Choices Will Not Include Income Tax
One legislative proposal would reduce Florida's rapidly rising property taxes by increasing the state sales tax. Another would raise property taxes for homeowners to lower the bills for other taxpayers. But one potential new revenue source, common in most states, remains unthinkable and unmentionable in Florida: a personal income tax.
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Register Now for the SEBC
The FHBA-sponsored Southeast Building Conference is set for July 11-15 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. The show is the largest regional building industry event in the south with over 1,000 exhibits of industry products and services. Registration is available online at www.sebcshow.com and at www.fhba.com.
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Consensus Committee Appointed for National Green Building Standard
The Association of Home Builders Research Center Executive Standards Committee has appointed members to the Consensus Committee on the National Standards Committee. The Consensus Committee will work to develop and publish an approved standard on residential green building. The committee is made up of more than forty groups representing a broad spectrum of the industry. The new standard will be applicable to all new home construction, including multifamily units.
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Teleconference Scheduled to Discuss Green Building
Although the overall housing market may be at a slow point, green building shows no signs of slowing down. In recognition of the 37th anniversary of Earth Day, the National Association of Home Builders will host a teleconference to examine the growing interest and demand for green building a remodeling. People are encouraged to participate in the teleconference or to listen to a full replay afterwards.
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Energy Efficiency is a Selling Point
In its Energy Pulse survey, the Shelton Group found that 86 percent of Americans would choose one home over another based on its energy efficiency. Yet, 78 percent of the home owners who were polled reported that nobody talked to them about energy efficiency during the buying process. Buyers like energy-efficient homes mostly because of a lower monthly utility rate, according to the survey. The issues of green are not being presented at the point of sale, which is many times a lost opportunity.
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May 22 is National Membership Day
Tuesday, May 22 is the National Association of Home Builder's National Membership Day, which will award more prizes to successful recruiters than every before, thanks to its exclusive membership sponsor, Whirlpool. Analysts predict that the association's annual membership drive could bring in more than 10,000 new members. Successful recruiting and membership growth are not only good for NAHB, but they are good for the industry as a whole.
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FHA Spurs Housing Opportunities
The modernization and revitalization of the Federal Housing Administration debate began last month with the introduction of two bills in the House and one in the Senate designed to help the agency more effectively carry out its mission of spurring housing opportunities for America's working families. Some of the proposals give buyers better financing options by increasing loan limits in high cost areas and allowing FHA to develop responsible, alternative mortgage products. In the coming weeks, NAHB will work with representatives and lawmakers to enable more working families to become home owners.
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Emission Regulations Could Move into Building Industry
Home builders are waiting to see what kinds of changes the Environmental Protection Agency will make to emission regulations for motor vehicles and whether the new rules put in place for cars and trucks might lead to tighter restrictions on construction vehicles as well. The ramifications of the decision of Massachusetts v. EPA may eventually affect the industry. The court already ruled that the Clean Air Act authorizes the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles as air pollutants. If the agency decides to begin regulating new motor vehicle emissions, home builders could see new regulation of construction equipment emissions.
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Construction Jobs on the Rise
The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) April 6 reported that the number of construction jobs rose sharply in March, increasing by 56,000, after unseasonably cold weather contributed to a loss of 61,000 construction jobs in February. ABC Chief Economist Jeff Taylor attributed the rebound to strong job growth in the nonresidential construction sector, particularly for specialty contractors and heavy and civil engineering construction.
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Hotels Going Green
Independent hotels and major chains alike have planted green hotels, with a few beginning to open. Starwood Capital, Starwood Hotels, InterContinental and Fairmont have green hotel properties under construction or are seeking ways to retrofit existing properties. To achieve true green classification, buildings must adhere to the standards set forth by the US Green Building Council. One stumbling block to completing the green buildings is the added cost of construction.
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ABC Presents Charles A. Mullan Awards for Membership Growth
ABC presented its Charles A. Mullan awards to the chapters in each of the 10 ABC divisions that demonstrated the greatest growth in their membership dues base in 2006. The award is the most prestigious membership growth award that a chapter can receive.
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USGBC Research Committee Identifies Federal Funding Gap
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Research Committee has called for a higher level of funding for research that will advance building design, technology and operations that minimize environmental and human health impacts. A new report published by the committee has found that research related to high-performance green building practices and technologies amounts to only 0.2 percent of all federally funded research. While building operation consumes 40 percent of the energy and 71 percent of the electricity in the U.S., and accounts for 38 percent of the country's carbon dioxide emissions assumed to be directly influencing global climate change.
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Rinker OK's higher Cemex bid
Cemex, the world's third-largest cement producer, increased its offer for Australia's Rinker Group 22 percent to $14.2 billion, winning management support for the biggest takeover ever in the global building-materials industry. Since 1962, the company has been a major tenant at Port Everglades in Broward. Last fiscal year, Rinker imported 1.3 million tons of cement, generating $982,616 in revenue for the port, officials there said. Rinker's port lease runs through 2012.
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| Current Issues |
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Residential April 2007
Commercial April 2007
HOME: Living in the Heart of Florida
Coming Soon
Fall 2007
For more information,
Please contact
Scott Costello |
If you are interested in joining the BANCF and taking advantage of these great opportunities,
Please visit
www.bancf.com |
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