• Home is where my story begins: Yes, we've come a long way

    We’ve all heard those proverbs that speak about learning from our past. It was philosopher George Santayana who said “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Shakespeare wrote: “What is past is prologue.” Buddha noted: “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” And there’s an old saying that goes particularly well with residential construction: “Nothing is as new as something which has been long forgotten.”

    READ MORE...

  • Quality Thinking: Go for green

    A new era in housing is afoot with energy savings on the brain

    With so many consumers trying to live environmentally friendly lifestyles, it’s no surprise that today’s homebuyers are attracted to “green” homes that offer energy savings and sensible design choices. Thanks to state-of-the-art home technologies, newly constructed homes offer tremendous energy savings compared with houses built just a few years ago. And, with the industry still in economic recovery, many of these green homes don’t cost any more than pre-recession models. Plus, buying a green home today is the best way to save on your energy bills over time.

    READ MORE...

  • Perspectives: Smart density

    When examining housing affordability, a little density goes a long way

    Where can we go to see stakeholders, elected leaders and representatives from municipalities, provincial and federal governments, and the residential construction industry collaborate on issues that directly affect housing affordability? In November, the Canadian Home Builders’ Association of BC, along with industry partners and government, hosted the first HAS: Housing Affordability Symposium (www.withinyourmeans.ca) and are developing the resulting Action Plan to Address Market Housing Affordability. This is the third column in a multi-part series that illuminates related issues.

    READ MORE...

  • Outside Looking In: Construction economy

    Natural resources or tourism? Maybe, but B.C.’s economy is based largely on residential development

    Canadian residential building-permit values rose in August after four months of decline. And activity in B.C., especially multi-unit projects, was one of the main drivers. That’s good news for anyone who builds or owns residential real estate in the province, and good news in terms of B.C.’s overall economic performance.

    READ MORE...

  • Bon Vivant: The toothpick conspiracy

    An amateur handyman discovers the ‘truth’ behind the two-by-four 

    That things have changed in homebuilding over the years was brought to my attention some time ago when I decided to measure a two-by-four. I had always assumed that the dimensions of a two-by-four would be two inches by four inches; hence the name. I was surprised to find out that it was actually one-and-a-half inches by three and a half.

    READ MORE...

  • Going to Market: Slow and steady

    Table set for steady growth

    Economic growth has slowed since the beginning of the year, and the housing market right along with it. Real GDP growth in Canada slipped from 5.8 per cent in the first quarter to two per cent in the second quarter. In fact, the economy contracted 0.1 per cent in July. However, a continuing contraction is unlikely as retail sales were robust in August after flat-lining in July, suggesting that economic growth has returned to positive territory.

    READ MORE...

  • Developments: Time to rethink

    Five ideas to improve housing affordability.

    Although most residents of Metro Vancouver have a good opinion of the region’s quality of life, the 2010 Metro Vancouver Vital Signs report card, prepared by the Vancouver Foundation, gave a “D” to housing affordability. We often hear that Metro’s housing is so expensive because we are running out of land on which to build. I would suggest that we are not running out of land; we are just not making the best use of what we have.

    READ MORE...
 

Web Poll

If you were buying, building or renovating, how important would it be to work with a Georgie Awards® finalist or winner?

Results

"Total voters : 35"