August 2014 Table of Contents

American production housing has always responded to the times, whether it was war, recession, urban flight, energy shortages, or consumers’ desire for more space. In this stunning timeline, we trace the evolution of the American home over a century of innovation. Read more

What houses look like and how they function is changing to accommodate different family make-ups, population shifts toward denser areas, and increasingly extreme weather patterns. Tomorrow’s best housing solution isn’t all about high-tech systems, complex building techniques, or Jetson-esque designs, however. Read more

Scarcity of space and raw materials are pushing Japan’s home building industry toward creating thinner façades and inventive multipurpose products. Read more

Metrostudy regional directors gauge June demand levels for new homes, and new home building lots in 35 markets across the country. Read more

Plastic trim expands and contracts. Since you can't prevent it, you have to allow for it. Read more

Architect Steve James of DTJ Design shows how production builders can deliver a spa style bath, affordably. Read more

Thirty of the NGBS Green Partners are recognized for promoting high-performance building. Read more

NIST's net-zero-energy test house in Maryland ends its first year with an energy surplus and lots of data. Read more

As solar becomes more affordable, it's smart to keep rooftop photovoltaics open as a future option for homes with a south-facing roof. Read more

Smart builders are disentangling their wiring, plumbing, and mechanicals from their high-performance shells. Read more

The affordable housing category was one of the most robust of all in this year's Gold Nugget Awards competition, as shown by these three trend-setting projects. Read more

Restructuring the housing finance system is necessary to restore the housing market to normalcy to meet the needs of a diverse population. Read more

The home building ecosystem offers rich diversity well beyond its traditional image. Read more

Housing's healing—slowly—and it's painful to continue to have to work through its challenges, but delaying the pain only makes it worse. Read more

Check out a line-up of web-enabled devices to keep homeowners connected and in control Read more

A new survey reveals that security is the No. 1 driver behind smart home adoption. Read more

After two years of searching, Meritage enters Atlanta with its Legendary Communities purchase. BUILDER's Les Shaver talks with Meritage ceo Steve Hilton about the deal, the opportunity, and where Meritage is looking next on its mission to grow into recovery's widening sphere of markets. Read more

Learn how cloud-based software services bring ease and transparency into job site communications. Plus, five providers popular with builders. Read more

Make way for the Millennial buyers. For the first time since 2005, the Current Population Survey shows a drop in the number of twenty-somethings living at home. Metrostudy's Brad Hunter assures this will improve new-home demand for first-time buyers in the coming years as Millennials leave the nest. Read more

TRI Pointe settles on its mammoth $2.8 billion deal to acquire Weyerhaeuser's five home building operations, a talent-rich operator group, 27,000 building lots, and five regional power brand names via a complex Reverse Morris Trust financial transaction. Here, from BUILDER's John McManus, is what the deal means to TRI Pointe, and what it means to home building's leading organizations. Read more

A special supplement of Big Builder focuses on market demand of discretionary buyers' "wants" versus a wider population of would-be home buyers' "needs." Read more

As single-family homes get bigger, tomorrow's buyers seem to prefer efficiency and location over square footage. Read more

As builders leverage the value of amenity-rich master planned communities, a finely tuned trade-off takes place between what's inside and outside the homes. Read more

New-home design's most notable trends of 2014 are aimed at what buyers want. Read more

Demographics and socioeconomic factors play a large role in determining housing’s current new-home design trends. Read more