Leadership
Leadership
A compilation of HousingZone's articles, surveys, ideas, trends, and tips on leadership for residential builders, remodelers, and architects serving the residential construction industry.
HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge Announces Forthcoming Resignation
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge has said that she intends to leave office later this month
Custom Builder
Floodproof on a Floodplain
An impressive addition to the IDEA Home series, the NEWLOOK Experience Home is a master class in engineering and creative design, with builder Michael Freiburger out-thinking an exceptionally tricky lot
Custom Builder
Why Start a Custom Building Business?
In this Taking Care of Business segment, expert coach and trainer Scott Beebe joins our host Duane Johns to talk about where custom builders could be getting off on the wrong foot
Custom Builder
3 Questions Answered About Reliable Energy in Home Construction
Energy expert Bryan Cordill makes a case for why and how propane is an answer to growing concerns about reliability and resilience in home construction
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Leadership
Simply Fantastic
This cedar-sheathed custom home "planted" amid the rolling hills of California's famed Napa Valley bears a striking resemblance to a vineyard shed. In reality, the 996-square-foot weekend escape is dedicated to providing its owners with a sanctuary where they can find respite from their hectic urban-oriented lifestyle.
Leadership
Building the Business
Gary Striegler and I crossed paths for the first time at a pivotal point in both of our professional lives. After more than 10 years of writing for distributors and contractors in the plumbing business, I had finally left the bathroom to learn about the whole house by joining the staff of Professional Builder.
Leadership
More on Moisture Management
"Concrete Floors and Moisture," a new 164-page book from the Portland Cement Association, explores ways to present unwanted moisture in concrete floors. Problems from excessive moisture include deterioration and debonding of floor coverings, trip-and-fall hazards, microbial growth, staining and the breakdown of building finishes.
Leadership
2005 Forecast Sunny, Not Record-breaking
Predicting the Future is tricky business. Last year, housing experts uniformly predicted that home building would come off its hot streak, but record results proved them wrong. Now they agree that decline will come this year. According to the NAHB, 2005 will show a modest decline in total housing starts from 1.
Leadership
Pampering the Press
At a recent groundbreaking ceremony, Paramount Homes, Asbury Park, N. J., gave press members something they could really work with — clipboards emblazoned with the builder/developer's new community logo and phone number. This take-home gift not only served as a handy way to take notes and quotes during the event, but also reminded reporters of the community and contact number long afterwa...
Leadership
'Golden Handcuffs' For Supers
Construction superintendent is arguably the most important management position in a home building company. After all, this front-line manager has responsibility for the quality of the delivered product and controls direct construction costs that represent 50 percent of the selling price. Yet many builders struggle to keep supers from job-hopping around the local market.
Leadership
Lingering Myths about Generation X
Generation X attracts more speculation, controversy and debate than one would care to master. The conversation began in 1991 with Douglas Coupland's book, Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, which profiles a group of "underemployed, overeducated, intensely private and unpredictable" twenty-somethings who have "nowhere to direct their anger, no one to assuage their fears and no cultu...
Leadership
Customer Relations
In this six-part series, we interview leaders at Pulte Homes, the first national company to win the National Housing Quality Gold Award. In these conversations we share with you the practices that helped one of the nation's largest home builders achieve the NHQ, the hardest award to win in home building.
Leadership
Soaking Up The Sun
In Sacramento, Calif., home owners can generate their own electricity on cloudy and cold winter days. On sunny day, these same home owners generate nearly all the power needed to meet their home energy needs. Local builders have partnered with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District to develop Zero Energy Homes, which feature the latest in energy efficiency equipment, tighter building standar...
Leadership
DSI Architectural Products
DSI Architectural Products fabricated this four-level, copper stairway system. All four levels are constructed of copper pipe with an applied patina finish giving the system an aged appeal. This particular stairway was designed for a home buyer looking for an alternative to traditional stairway construction materials.