As energy prices continue to rise, more and more housing consumers in the U.S. are looking for ways to save money on home energy costs. VOA’s Jeff Swicord reports on an environmentally friendly, green building movement in the United States.

From high-rise apartment buildings to single-family homes, so-called “green building” is the hottest trend in architectural design today. Simply put, green building takes into account the energy efficiency of the design and the environmental sustainability of the materials used.

Susan Piedmont-Palladino is an architect and curator at the National Building Museum in Washington D.C. She explains the concept of green building. “Green building is thinking about where it comes from and where it goes. That goes for the material as well as the energy. How are you getting the energy, what systems are you using to heat your house and cool your house? And where are the waste products going to end up?”

The National Building Museum has assembled part of a green house designed by California architect Michele Kaufman as part of its exhibit on green building. Susan Palladino points out some of its green features. “The first one to notice is this generous overhang.” Read more…

It’s the second most used area in the house — right after the kitchen — but is oddly reminiscent of your college dorm room. It’s a hub of household activity — home management tasks, kids’ school stuff, take-home work from your day job — all stored and filed in those ugly cardboard boxes. It’s wired — high speed Internet, a snappy new computer, a color printer — along with a nest of wiring all in a mess at your feet. The rest of your house looks great but your home office looks, well, neglected. Isn’t it time to do something about it? Read more…

The proponents of a telescope visitor centre in mid-west Western Australia have opted for a modern design for the building to house the facility.

Initial plans for the square kilometre array telescope visitor centre building at Mileura Station were revealed yesterday.

Australia is one of two countries short-listed to house the $2 billion facility, the other being South Africa.

A final decision is not expected for at least two years.

The senior project manager with the Mid-West Development Commission, Priscilla Clayton, says the visitor centre would attract visitors from around the world.

“This will be icing on the cake,” she said.

When Maxine Clark talks about her company’s new furniture collection for kids, she acts like an excited 9-year-old. She scoots up onto a bunk bed, gets on her knees to pull out a deep toy drawer, and almost giggles when she lifts a shelf to expose a secret hiding place.

Clark is founder and chief executive of Build-A-Bear Workshop. The chain has partnered with Pulaski Furniture to create and market a new line of youth furniture.

Industry insiders say the four new collections - two for girls, one for boys and one offering modular storage - is part of one of the hottest retail furniture categories. Read more…

AT A RECENT get-together at my home a few of my girlfriends were admiring the beautiful new drapery panels in my master bedroom. They captured attention because the previous draperies had hung there for 14 years. I was so happy to finally replace them with a gorgeous Italian satin stripe fabric. I casually mentioned that this was the very fabric that I had used to design draperies for a client. Having fallen in love with the fabric and the design of the panels I decided to treat myself.

One of my friends asked how much draperies like these cost my client. A bit shocked, I answered her. I explained that my client’s bedroom has 12 of these panels, because she has six windows — I have only one window. I also mentioned that my client lives in a $2 million home in a very prestigious neighborhood. My friend gasped, “I don’t care how beautiful they are and what kind of home it is, that price is just ridiculous and no home is worth that kind of money for draperies!”
Read more…

The 2006 Historic Homes Tour focuses on Tait Avenue in the Almond Grove, gracious Glen Ridge Avenue, and a home on Hernandez one block from Glen Ridge. Craftsman and Victorian styles are represented, but all six homes have been remodeled and modernized, some more extensively than others. The annual tour offers a peek inside lovely homes, beautifully decorated.

The tour runs through Sunday, November 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $30, available at any of the homes or at the Tait Avenue Museum. The price includes Pat Dunning’s expertly-researched program.
Read more…

AllAroundTheHome.com has become a convenient and trusted source for local Washington DC, Northern Virginia and Baltimore residents searching for service professionals, because of the site’s unique approach to connecting the homeowner and the contractor. All Around The Home (AATH) allows the homeowner to select a contractor based on the location and description they most prefer. Companies like G&E Contractors (http://www.gandecontractors.com), a remodeling and addition company in Baltimore, receives customer contacts almost daily from the site. Read more…

Properties are not getting multiple offers and selling within hours of listing anymore. Things have calmed down a bit across most of the country, and properties are now sitting on the market. The traditional method of listing your property with a real estate agent and waiting for people to buy isn’t going to cut it anymore, unless you price very aggressively.

What can you do? The market has gotten a bit cold - showing a definite slowdown. If you insist on hollding out for top dollar, you may get a bit creative Read more…

It’s our annual trip to the candy store — the Pacific Coast Builder’s Conference was held last month at the Moscone Center.

The trade show is one of the largest in the nation, and this year it attracted 35,000 members of the residential-building industry to acres of exhibits, boatloads of educational seminars and some top-notch entertainment provided by actor-comedian Dennis Miller.

For us though, the exhibits are the stars of the show. Hundreds of companies hawk their wares to the mavens of the building industry. Everything from earthquake shock absorbers installed under an entire house, to architecturally friendly, low-profile solar panels, to superhigh-end appliances were there to review. Read more…

Everyone loves an inviting boudoir. Sheets with a high thread count, stylish duvet covers and a plethora of pillows are a call to divine relaxation at the end of a day or a rallying cry to hot, crazy passion.

Mind Fetish Bedding Company, a home goods company that launched in May at the International Mister Leather competition in Chicago, meets all of the leather enthusiast’s bedroom needs without stooping to kitsch or low-quality manufacturing.

Pillows, duvet covers, special dust ruffles, candles, everything that could transform your bedroom into a Tom of Finland sketch is for sale — minus the beefy studs. The company’s slogan sums it all up: “Better. Fucking. Bedding.” Read more…