- Real Estate News -
Todays Market - 08/20/2008As many of you hear from the news it is all gloom and doom in our real estate market and we don't have anything positive to look forward to. I say this is not so in our town of Missoula, Montana. Yes we have more homes on the market and it is taking longer to sell homes now than it did five years ago. But we can't really expect to keep the appreciation that we had in the past five years. I believe our market is correcting it's self and buying a home is still a great investment. If you are planning on buying and flipping next year, that may be a different story. But if your buying for the long term I say now is a wonderful time to buy. For those investors out there, you can pick up many good buys.
Green Building Time Line - 07/03/2008
GREEN BUILDING TIMELINE
Pre-20th Century – structures were designed and built by builder-architects who had an ability to understand the entire building from design through construction and lifetime operations. They incorporated enduring passive design and simple mechanical systems to heat, cool and light buildings. Architects in the 21st Century will look back upon these ideas to relearn the basics of climatic design.
1930s – new building technologies began to transform urban landscape. Advent of air conditioning, low-wattage fluorescent lighting, structural steel, and reflective glass made possible enclosed glass and steel structures that could be heated and cooled with massive HVAC systems, thanks to availability of cheap fossil fuels. These technologies began a sadly regressive movement in architecture in which architects began to ignore climate issues and their effect on buildings and occupants. Increasing complexity in the industry also brought about specialization in professionals, leading to the loss of the generalists, the builder-architects. This specialization led to an increasing lack of communication between the professionals and therefore of lack of whole systems thinking in designing the various parts of the building. This problem will only begin to be addressed by the start of the 21st Century through the integrated design process.
1970s, a small group of forward-thinking architects, environmentalists, and ecologists inspired by work of Victor Olgyay (Design with Climate), Ralph Knowles (Form and Stability), and Rachel Carson (Silent Spring), began to question the advisability of building in this manner.
1973 – in response to energy crisis, American Institute of Architects (AIA) formed an energy task force, later the AIA Committee on Energy
1977 – The Department of Energy was created to address energy usage and conservation
1977 – Solar Energy Research Institute was founded (later National Renewable Energy Laboratory) in Golden, CO
1980 - The Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC) was founded by the major building trade associations as the Passive Solar Industries Council.
1987 – UN World Commission on the Environment and Development provided the first definition of the term “sustainable development,” as that which “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
1989 – The AIA Energy Committee formed into the AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE)
1990 – Austin Green Building Program launched (Austin, TX)
1992 – AIA Environmental Resource Guide – the first assessment of building products based on life cycle analysis. Credited with encouraging numerous building product manufacturers to make their products more ecologically sensitive.
1992 –UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, or “Earth Summit.” Passage of Agenda 21, a blueprint for achieving global sustainability, the Rio declaration on Environment and Development, and statements on forest principles, climate change, and biodiversity.
1992 – Rio Earth Summit awards Austin Green Building Program on of only ten awards for most innovative government environmental programs in the world, the only one awarded to a US program.
1993 – Inspired at Earth Summit, AIA president-elect chose sustainability as theme for International Union of Architects (UIA)/AIA World Congress of Architects. Signed a declaration of Interdependence for a Sustainable Future by AIA president Susan Maxman and UIA president Olufemi Majekodunmi. Today, the “Architecture at the Crossroads” convention is recognized as a turning point in the history of the green building movement.
1993 – Greening of the White House: President Clinton announced plans to make the Presidential mansion “a model for efficiency and waste reduction.” This encouraged participants to green other properties: the Pentagon, the Presidio, and the US Department of Energy Headquarters, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Alaska’s Denali
1993 – US Green Building Council Founded
1994 – City of Boulder, CO, GreenPoints Program launched (Boulder, CO)
1995 – The Built Green Colorado Program launched (Denver, CO)
1997 - Build a Better Kitsap Program launched (Kitsap County, WA)
1997 – The Navy initiated the development of the Whole Building Design Guide, an online resource that incorporates sustainability requirements into mainstream specifications and guidelines. They incorporate sustainable design into the majority of their new projects.
1998 – Green Building Challenge – Reps from 14 nations met to create an international assessment tool that takes into account regional and national environmental, economic, and social equity conditions
1998 – Build a Better Clark Program launched (Clark County, WA)
1998 – City of Scottsdale, AZ Sustainable Building Program launched (Scottsdale, AZ)
1998 – AIA/COTE Top 10 Green Projects to call attention to successful sustainable design
1998 – President Clinton issued first of 3 “greening buildings” executive orders
1999 – Earth Craft House Program launched (Atlanta, GA)
1999 – Executive Order 12852 established President Council on Sustainable Development final report, recommending 140 actions to improve the nation’s environment, many related to building sustainability.
2000 – Increasing number of municipalities and corporations begin to demand and set internal standards for green buildings within their organizations. Growth in green building organizations, attendance at professional conferences, and consumer awareness grows exponentially.
Small homes, making a comeback - 07/02/2008
Smaller Homes Could Be Making a Comeback
A number of trends suggest that Americans really might be willing to swap their McMansions for McCottages. Soaring fuel costs, environmental concerns and aging baby boomers mean the American dream home may be getting a lot smaller than it used to be.
Over the years, a number of industry professionals have predicted the mass downsizing of the American home. Instead, the average size of newly-built houses has continued to rise from just over 1,600 square feet in the late 1970s to nearly 2,300 square feet now.
But, in a February survey of potential home buyers by NAHB, 60% said they would rather have a smaller house with more amenities than the other way around.
For starters, baby boomers, whose eldest members turned 62 this year, are increasingly becoming empty-nesters. And with the children gone, they need less space.
Families also have changed dramatically. Between 1970 and 2000, the percentage of nuclear families — married couples with children — declined from 40% of households to 24%, according to the Census Bureau. And childless families are expected to increase.
Also, members of Generations X and Y seem more intrigued with life downtown where they can enjoy easy access to restaurants and entertainment, a minimal commute and smaller, easier-to-care-for living spaces.
So how will Americans cope with shrinking space?
Some architects and builders believe that newly-built houses will have layouts that can "live bigger" than their square footage would suggest with rooms that can do double duty. For example, a den can be dressed up as a formal living room when needed.
Formal dining rooms are beginning to fall out of favor as families begin to satisfy their dining and entertaining needs by slightly expanding the breakfast nook.
If the trend toward smaller homes does take root, it could trigger a significant shift in home values.
A study released in May by the online house-pricing service Zillow.com found that less expensive houses appreciated more than costlier top-tier and presumably larger homes over the past five years — 10.1% versus 5.4%, respectively.
