Building Science

  • Builders Need to be Careful With Their Environmental Performance Claims

    Making claims about the performance of your homes can put your company at risk.

     
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    Architects' Own Homes Rich in Cost-Saving, Space-Saving, Eco-Friendly Ideas

    Architects’ own houses often hold the keys to cost savings, building efficiencies, and new standards of beauty.

     
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    Less is More

    Market conditions have produced stunning increases in top-line growth and bottom-line financial performance for large home building companies.

     
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    Under the Hood

    David Governo has a thriving law practice defending builders against construction defect claims brought by homeowners.

     
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    Designing to Avoid Mold

    U.S. BUILDERS SPEND ROUGHLY $9 billion a year on call-backs, with most of those dollars going to fix moisture damage. Law journal articles estimated about 10,000 mold-related lawsuits in 1992, and most legal experts agree that the numbers have been growing. What's going on here?

     
  • Making It Simple

    The federal department wants to simplify the code's prescriptive and performance alternatives, emphasizing ease of use instead of strict requirements.

     
  • Man on a Mission: Building Flaws Exposed

    In a nutshell, builders often violate the fundamental laws of physics. Mother nature doesn't like that. The resulting structures -- plagued by moisture, mold, and indoor air quality problems -- have compromised long-term durability. The builders and owners then suffer the consequences.

     
  • Performance Manager

    Ryan Building develops a way to streamline quarterly budgeting cycles from two weeks to a single day.

     
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    Building Green Gets Profitable

    For years, the prevailing attitude toward energy efficient design and "green" construction has been that it's more trouble than it's worth: increased construction costs; uncooperative subcontractors; and worst of all, indifferent buyers.

     
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    Top Manufacturers Share Plans and Product Strategies

    Fifteen years ago, only about 20 percent of consumers were involved in selecting plumbing products for the home. Today, it is about 75 percent. But you can't have unlimited choices and have a cost-effective supply chain. So our major challenge, in partnership with our distributors and builders, is...