The payback on residential windpower is shorter than ever, but a variety of issues -- permitting, net-metering, awareness, basic land and wind needs -- limit the turbines' mainstream appeal. More
Realtors and remodelers across the nation are seeing new attention being paid to energy efficiency. More
Five years ago, an audience of luxury kitchen and bath designers nearly revolted when the keynote speaker at an industry event drew cautious aim. In a speech that touched on matters ranging from the poverty outside their windows to the environmental side effects of the construction boom to the imminent U.S. invasion of Iraq, he gently compared them to the first-class passengers on the Titanic drinking champagne while conveniently ignoring the people packed into steerage below and the risk of catastrophe ahead. More
It's easy to use the words “leadership” and “success” without thinking too much about them. When we speak or hear these words, we have a clear sense of what they mean. And, like the concept of “quality,” given examples of specific people or organizations, we can usually identify those who fit these terms and those who don't. More
Experience meets inspiration in the form of John Abrams, of South Mountain Company - a $7.5 million design/build firm in Martha's Vineyard, Mass. - and winner of the inaugural Fred Case Remodeling Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The qualities that won him that accolade are well on display in his body of work. More
Thomas Buckborough signed up for a two-day class given by John Abrams at Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Warren, Vt. As president and design director at Thomas Buckborough Associates in Acton, Mass., he was looking forward to hearing about some new ideas and initiatives that could help him run his architectural design, build, and remodeling firm. More
How do you control costs in a down market, or when job costs run over budget? What's the hardest part about growing your company? How do you motivate production staff? What's your opinion of cost-plus pricing? In a "town hall meeting" for remodelers, the owners of three successful but very different remodeling companies answered these and other questions from a capacity crowd of hundreds of attendees of the 2007 Remodeling Show in Las Vegas. More
John Abrams believes that homes, relationships, communities, and small companies should be built to last for generations. Here's why he's the first winner of The Fred Case Remodeling Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and why South Mountain Company, with 15 employee-owners and 17 owners-to-be, will be building and remodeling homes on Martha's Vineyard for decades to come. More
The annual Big50 gala dinner at the Remodeling Leadership Conference is always a special event. This year's was even more special, however, as it marked the introduction of a new honor in the industry: The Fred Case Remodeling Entrepreneur of the Year Award. More
The Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City, in Arlington, Va., served as a think tank of remodeling-related ideas, issues, and solutions May 17ñ19 during the 2007 Remodeling Leadership Conference, the annual salute to Big50 remodelers. The theme of accountability ó in business and life, and as it relates to employees, clients, trade partners, and oneself ó struck a clear chord with the several hundred remodelers and other attendees who shared challenges and strategies, networked with peers, and returned to their businesses recharged and refocused. More
