Category Archives: Featured
Builders of Hacienda Saw Green’s Potential
by: Beth Duckett, Arizona Business Gazette
Long before it was cool to be green, Scottsdale residents Laura and Randy Shell set out to build their dream home using energy-efficient appliances and natural materials.
Outwitting Mother Nature
Builders learn to adapt to different regions and seasons
By: James Askew, Builder News Magazine
If there is one thing to be said about building homes in the U.S., it is this: There is, in fact, little that can be called standard building practice. From the frozen reaches of northern Alaska to the sweltering heat of the desert, the U.S. is host to some of the world’s most extreme and divergent weather conditions, and to build a home in each environment often requires a uniquely local bag of tricks. In New Orleans, for instance, hurricane-driven rains can pelt a home at 140-plus miles an hour, while in the Pacific Northwest it is the near constant soak of rain that most threatens the life of a building.