It doesn’t take a roomful of economists to make the point that the retail and mixed-use construction markets have, in a word, tanked in the last 12 months. The resulting decline in design demand has left architectural firms scrambling.
This article originally ran in the July 2009 issue of Architectural Products magazine.
Fire Sale
Fire Sale
Financing the Future
Renewable-energy technology is advancing at a rapid clip. What’s not widely known is that financing options for those who wish to own/operate solar, wind and other energy-generating equipment are evolving just as quickly. Making sense of your financial choices takes some homework, though, and likely more than a few phone calls, including at least one [...]
Time Is Money: How Proper Scheduling Can Help Your Bottom Line
Too often, building pros can fall back on informal, back-of-an-envelope schedules that make progress tracking impossible—and can make delays almost inevitable. A strategy built on realistic estimates and software-based tracking can help put an end to late project delivery, and help ensure customer satisfaction. This article was originally published April 2009 on the LowesForPros website.
Time [...]
Sustaining Your Business With Sustainable Design
There’s no doubt that green building is in the black, even as the overall housing market hemorrhages red ink. The value of green-building construction climbed from $10 billion in 2005 to between $36 billion and $49 billion in 2008, according to a recent McGraw-Hill Construction report. Builders in the field agree with this assessment, but [...]
Bringing Heat and Power Together
Combined heat and power (CHP)– or “cogeneration” – systems generate electricity and heat in a single, integrated package. Determining whether these efficiency-boosting designs are right for your facility requires an understanding of the technology and your own operational needs. This story was published originally in February 2009 on the LowesForPros.com website.
Bringing Heat and Power Together
Make Mine Well Done
So, do you really need us to tell you that outdoor kitchens are no longer a trend, but a fact of life for high-end homeowners? The move from backyard kettle grills to fully applianced outdoor living spaces is well documented, but new high-end offerings promise to take these designs to a newly luxurious level. This [...]
Vacation Homes: Family Affairs
News reports may be filled with doom and gloom for home builders, but those professionals whose business is focused on the custom second-home market aren’t seeing signs of slowdown. From North Carolina’s mountains to Montana’s Big Sky country, these pros are staying busy creating high-end vacation retreats designed with a family-friendly emphasis, and with budgets [...]
Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
Editing, writing and rewriting all were components of a long-term project working with the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce on the organization’s Innovate Now! initiative. I provided voice-and-tone guidance for the Innovate Now! website, and edited (with major rewriting) more than 50 business case studies now included on that site.
