Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes held steady in November at a level of 63 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).
Read more at Eye On Housing
Ongoing home price appreciation offset a small decline in mortgage interest rates to move housing affordability slightly lower in the third quarter of 2016, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI).
Read more at NAHB
Flyover-zone attraction may emerge if the promises of the new Presidential administration play out as planned.
Read more at BUILDER
Tax reform, regulations, immigration, and increasing the skilled labor market top Jerry Howard’s list
Read more at REMODELING
Violations are costly, and too many mistakes could sink your business
Read more at PROSALES
Glass on Web reports that European Aluminium, EuroWindoor, ES-SO, and Glass for Europe are calling for revisions to the 2010 EPBD in order to “reap the distinctive benefits of modern windows” by ensuring that the “energy performance of glazed areas is fairly assessed.”
The associations believe that these revisions to the EPBD will optimize the energy performance and cost of buildings, and should consider the following factors during the revision process:
Increasing the energy efficient renovations to European buildings
Using the energy balance approach to assess the energy performance of windows
Recognizing the benefits of daylight, natural ventilation and solar management
Read More at GlassonWeb.com >
Canada has achieved its first commercial project certified under LEED v4 with 270 Albert St. in Ottawa, which earned LEED gold under the Building Operations and Maintenance (O+M) Existing Buildings rating system.
Managed by Blackwood Partners Corp., the project demonstrates how LEED v4 can be used as a tool of transformation for existing buildings, according to the U.S. Green Building Council.
“Projects like 270 Albert set a strong example of leadership in action. They demonstrate how LEED v4 is providing project teams with a rigorous set of requirements and guidelines that, when successful, can lead a 40-year-old building to become a top performer, saving energy and thereby reducing carbon and combating climate change,” says Mark Hutchinson, vice president of Green Building Programs for the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC). “As Canada ramps up efforts to meet emissions reduction targets, this first LEED v4 commercial project is a great demonstration of how our existing buildings will play a key role in the fight against climate change.”
Read More at ProudGreenBuilding.com >
The National Lumber and Building Materials Dealer Association issued the following update on the state of the Softwood Lumber Agreement between the U.S. and Canada:
Background: The Softwood Lumber Agreement (SLA) between the United States (U.S.) and Canada expired on October 12, 2015. There was a one-year cooling off period where neither country was allowed to engage in litigation on the issue. That cooling-off period expired on October 12, 2016. The U.S. Lumber Coalition, an alliance of softwood lumber producers in the United States, has expressed support for a new agreement but in a recent statement suggested it may have “no choice but to move to initiate trade cases against unfairly traded imports from Canada.”
At the center of the dispute is the claim that the Canadian lumber industry is unfairly subsidized by its federal and provincial governments, as most timber in Canada is owned by the provincial governments. The prices charged to harvest the timber (stumpage fee) are set administratively, as opposed to in the U.S. where prices are set mostly through the competitive marketplace. American lumber producers, as well as the U.S. government, claim this constitutes an unfair subsidy, and is thus subject to U.S. trade remedy laws, where foreign goods benefiting from subsidies can be subject to a countervailing duty tariff, to offset the subsidy and bring the price of the commodity back up to market rates.
Read More in LBM Journal >
For the country as a whole, the NAHB/First American Leading Markets Index (LMI), released today, rose to .98 in the third quarter of 2016, .01 point higher than its level in the second quarter of 2016, .97, and .05 point higher than its level from one year ago, .93. The LMI is now .20 point above its low of .78 reached in March 2012. The index uses single-family housing permits, employment, and home prices to measure proximity to a normal economic and housing market. The index is calculated for both the entire country and for 337 local markets, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). A value of 1.0 means the market (or country) is back to the last level of normality.
Read more at NAHB Eye On Housing
World Millwork Alliance (WMA) 54 TH Annual Convention & Tradeshow will hold its’ premier event at the Memphis Cook Convention Center from September 11-15, 2018. WMA will offer Veterans and Students complimentary access to the exhibit hall during Millwork Career Day on Friday, September 14, 2018 during the show hours of 10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
WMA welcomes Veterans and Students to explore a career in the millwork industry. Learn from worldwide millwork professionals while viewing the finest millwork products. Meet with industry distributors and manufacturers about the opportunities in a millwork career.
Pre-registration for a name badge is available by completing a WMA Registration Form. Any local Student or Veteran who has pre-registered will pick up their complimentary “Expo – One Day Pass” with a valid student ID or Veteran ID at the WMA registration desk in the Memphis Cook Convention Center.
Veterans must show a Veteran’s Administration (VA) identification card to receive an “Expo-One Day Pass” and to gain entrance into the exhibit hall on Friday, September 14, 2018.
Students must show a valid Student photo I.D. card to receive an “Expo-One Day Pass” and to gain entrance into the exhibit hall on Friday, September 14, 2018.
Pre-registration is open until August 13, 2018; thereafter, registration is onsite at the WMA registration desk in the Memphis Cook Convention Center.
