Plywood Hurricane Shutters!

Image by mira d'oubliette via Flickr

From the American Plywood Association - APA, I found three new publications that can help you protect your windows in a Hurricane!

"It is the height of hurricane season, and APA (American Plywood Association) has three different publication series offering hurricane shutter design details. Each offers a collection of five hurricane shutter designs with recommendations for a variety of window and door openings in masonry and wood-frame buildings. The plans in the series include illustrations, materials lists, and step-by-step instructions.

This month we (APA) feature the newly published Hurricane Shutter Design Considerations for Florida. This region-specific publication presents two basic alternatives for hurricane shutters and five different designs to provide options to protect a home from damage in windstorms. The designs are based on requirements from the 2007 Florida Building Code. This publication is available only as a free downloadable PDF. Form T460, 19 pages.

Hurricane Shutter Designs, Form T450, is the original shutter design publication and includes recommendations based on the 2006 International Residential Code (IRC) and the 2006 International Building Code (IBC). This publication is available only as a free downloadable PDF. Form T450, 18 pages.

The details are also available as Hurricane Shutter Designs for Latin America in Spanish. The designs have been separated into five different publications."

These PDF's are available FREE, all you have to do is sign up on the APA site.

For additional information about Hurricanes, see my previous blog posts "Let's Talk about Hurricanes!" and "Hurricane Roofs" - They're still good!

New Plans Added: July 8

Here is a list of new plans we just added to our website:

Under 2,000 S.F. Cottages

1) Surf 1480-4


2) Sand Castle 1080-2

We will keep you posted with upcoming new plans.

100 Top-Requested Building Products Includes 53 Eco-Friendly Picks

From the web site of EcoHome, their sister publication Building Products assembled the top 100 building products from Custom Home, Builder and Remodeling from mailer service cards. Click on the “Building Products” link and find several new products and many old favorites. You’d be surprised what people are interested in putting in their homes today. Energy-Efficiency and Green products are the most requested! It seems people want to buy products to save money, which in most cases means saving energy too! No surprise here.

It’s just that I feel most builders are stuck in the past ways of building. They either don’t know how to add new energy-saving products or are unwilling to move out of their old (if-it-works-don’t-fix-it) way of building. I know there are several innovative builders out there that take charge in presenting new energy-efficient and green products to their buyers. Some builders even take it on themselves to educate new home buyers about the energy efficient life-style. Yes, they probably feel like it’s a waste of time to educate home buyers on energy-efficiency when in most cases it fails to produce a sale.

Nowadays, most Home Buyers want a bargain, or at least if they spend more now on energy-efficient add-ons, they hope it might save money later. The challenge lies in the fact that it is hard to pick a good energy-efficient or “Green” product from the thousands that are coming on the market that will cost less, save money, and last! For your new homes, seek third-party certification such as through LEED for Homes, NAHB Model Green Home Building guidelines, and Energy Star.

I remember all the hoopla about the solar fad back in the 1980’s. I educated myself about solar, even built a few successful projects using direct and indirect solar gain. But when the solar tax credits ran out and winters got warmer, people forgot all about it. People really didn’t seem to understand it anyway. I don’t think it’s like that way now. Solar, Wind, Geo-Thermal, Hydro, Bio-Mass, Hybrid and others are just many ways people are now realizing that it’s not a fad, energy-efficiency is finally here to stay - not only will it save money - but because we have to!

New and Updated Plans: June 12

Here is a list of new & updated plans we just added to our website:

Under 2,000 S.F. Cottages

* NEW PLAN - Wrightsville 1792-4

* TWO (2) UPDATED PLANS
1) Channel Watch 3887-4E
2) Surf 1754-4

We will keep you posted with upcoming new plans.

What's Wrong or What's Right with Homes Today?

I was surfing the web the other day (I know, what a waste of time) looking for inspiration or new ideas... and actually came across one! I came across an interview with Chris Andreson talking with Watts Wacker & Ethan Zuckerman where a Chinese appliance manufacturer, Haier, was trying to expand their market in rural areas and came across a situation where there was a complaint about cabbage leaves getting stuck in their washing machines. It seems that in rural areas, their washer was being used to wash produce in order to make it better and therefore get a higher price at the market. As it turns out, instead of adding a large notice that their washers shouldn’t be used to clean produce, they added a “produce washing” cycle instead, and therefore added to their market sales.

By watching this video, I thought, “what are some ways people use homes that designers don’t know about?” Therefore, I invite you to send in ideas about ways you use your home, or new ways you would like to use it. What do you use the “Living Room” for? What is the purpose of the “Sunroom?” does doing the laundry spill over into the hall? Would you like to cook more outdoors? Do you exercise in the living room? See what I mean? How do you REALLY use you home, or WANT to use your home? Send me a short reply, I’d really like to know.

New Prices!

Since we have been adding more smaller plans less than 1,000 sf, we recently changed our price list to better provide for the popular smaller plans.  Click to view new Price List. 

Green Find: EcoHome Magazine

Image via Wikipedia

Also, I would like to highlight a very good source for green products and technology with the new Hanley-Wood website, EcoHome. After getting a copy of the magazine itself, I have found many sources for answers to things like - What is the best 'on-demand' water heater?, what's the best spray foam insulation?, who has the best solar water heater? and many, many more green ideas.

Our "Financial Stimulus" Package

In order to help future home owners, builders, and investors with start-up money, we are offering our own version of financial stimulus - we will be running a special 50% discount on all plans ordered by May 15, 2009.  On top of that, we will also offer free shipping to go along with your order.  Order soon - the sooner you order, the sooner you save!

New Plans Added: April 1

Here is a list of new plans we just added to our website:

Under 2,000 S.F. Cottages
* Seagull 800-3
* Seagull 928-3

We will keep you posted with upcoming new plans.

New (And Recycled) Tax Credits For Going Green

Image by aflcio2008 via Flickr

President Obama has made some changes to the tax credits for energy efficient products. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is the program that President Bush initiated several years ago and was to end in 2007 and then was extended to end of 2008. On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed a stimulus bill (The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) that made some significant changes to the energy efficiency tax credits. The changes are very significant for new homes and remodels. The highlights are:

• The tax credits that were previously effective for 2009, have been extended to 2010 as well.
• The tax credit has been raised from 10% to 30%.
• The tax credits that were for a specific dollar amount (ex $300 for a CAC), have been converted to 30% of the cost.
• The maximum credit has been raised from $500 to $1500 for the two years (2009-2010). However, some improvements such as geothermal heat pumps, solar water heaters, and solar panels are not subject to the $1,500 maximum - you get 30% Tax Credit on these! $1,500 is the maximum total amount that can be claimed for all products placed in service in 2009 & 2010 for most home improvements, EXCEPT for geothermal heat pumps, solar water heaters, solar panels, fuel cells, and windmills which are not subject to this cap, and are in effect through 2016!
• The $200 cap on windows has been removed, but the requirements for windows has been increased significantly. Not all ENERGY STAR qualified windows will qualify.

See more info on saving tax dollars when you build or remodel.

Thanks - Dennis Mercer

Now's the best time to build green!

If you're considering buying land to build a home using green-building concepts. Today's building news might scare people off from building. With all the bad news about housing and everyone seeing "red" - it happens to be one of the best times I've ever seen to build! It also is a very good time to start a green home-construction project, based on several factors: Land prices are cheaper, the number of certified green contractors out there is growing and green is going mainstream as global warming and energy issues are on the front burner. Most General Contractors are also "sharpening their pencils" more just to stay in business. Additionally, federal tax incentives for some new-home construction elements have recently tripled following the recent passage of the stimulus package.

Instead of the previous 10-percent incentives offered, you can now write off 30 percent of the costs of buying and installing solar panels, solar water heaters, fuel cells and small wind-energy systems and geothermal heat pumps. There are dollar caps on some of these credits. See the Environmental Protection Agency website for the latest information.

Moreover, it's pretty clear that the latest green heating and cooling systems typically pay for themselves in energy savings over several years. If you're in North Carolina, you can go to the North Carolina Solar Center and click on 2008 Tax Forms for the latest NC Tax Guidelines. Depending on your situation, you could get up to $10,500 tax credit on a photovoltaic system, $3,500 on Active or Passive Solar systems or $1,400 for a solar water heating system in the same year. Active or Passive Solar systems receive tax credits depending on how they are constructed and designed. You find experts at the North Carolina Professional Directory of renewable energy professionals.

Several other states are offering additional green tax credits as well. Builders can also get tax credits for constructing energy-efficient new homes and should be able to pass some of those savings on to you indirectly. You can also check out the DSIRE Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency. Of course, you can go as green as your imagination and budget allow, ranging from the use of solar energy, natural lighting, energy-efficient appliances and low-emission paints to radon-resistant construction, resource-efficient landscaping and use of recycled or salvaged, locally processed building materials. It's important to check out your local building ordinances to see what is allowed in your area. Most municipalities have become far more progressive in this area.

But be wary. Some contractors instantly mark up a green project significantly without justification merely because people expect to pay more. Carefully screen your contractors. The United States Green Building Council's site (www.usgbc.org) has a rating system for promoting the design and construction of high-performance "green" houses that also features builder resources, green-certified contractor lists and a green-home guide. Also go to the Green Home Guide website and click on "resources" for availability of local, state, federal and utility incentives. Another organization, Build it Green, promotes green practices in California but also features universal guidelines and checklists that may help.

Be sure to keep up to date on what's being offered. By the time you start construction, there may be even more green incentives available.

A Green Home Begins with ENERGY STAR Blue.

It's a Great Time To Go Green!

New Plans Added: February 24 & 25

Here is a list of new plans we just added to our website:

Under 2,000 S.F. Cottages

* February 24: Bogue 1850-4

* February 25: Surf 1536-4

We will keep you posted with upcoming new plans.