Builder - January 2009 - (Page 29) BMAIL What I’d like to see, then, are political and cultural changes that lead us to become more flexible in our ideas about the way a home, school, or businessplace “should” look. Basically, we need to change our values. Currently, the people who are most willing to embrace homes that are shaped “oddly” are considered rebels or free spirits, but some odd shapes, like dome homes in tornado- and hurricane-prone areas, simply make sense. If we are going to allow ourselves to build in danger zones, then our policies should support and promote the building of environments that truly fit the meteorological and tectonic events endemic to a locale. I believe that we are at the beginning of the path that leads in that direction. As our society becomes more open to green thinking (and gets past the inane greenwashing that is prevalent today), we will naturally want to start building in ways that work with the environment rather than against it. Our aesthetics will then slowly change so that we accept that homes can look different than traditional ones, and that in different regions, buildings will have features that complement local environmental characteristics. Encouraging this change requires cooperation among governmental departments, businesses, organizations, educational institutions, the media, and progressive individuals. Hopefully, one day our society will have a closer relationship with the environment and a better understanding of how to coexist with other elements of our natural world. This understanding will be reflected in new ways of building that complement, rather than compete with, nature. Posted on BuilderOnline.com in response to Ted Cushman’s blog post “Hardening the Target” sion and the New Deal—principally, that neither Hoover’s actions nor the New Deal solved the problem; they prolonged it. As for the country not having an auto industry, we’ve been without a competent auto industry for over 40 years now (with brief exceptions). If Toyota can make money in this country, American-owned companies should learn how—without help. Let’s not repeat that mistake in home building. Posted on BuilderOnline.com in response to Boyce Thompson’s blog post “Where’s the Talk of Home Builder Bailouts?” The Greater Good uccess stories S collaboration vettedof how supplier tremendous opportunities to increase efficiency are common outside our industry. Seeking to reduce our supplier’s costs by adjusting our processes and policies is not a conflict of interest. I recently asked a construction VP whether he would schedule the same way he does today if all the construction workers on his sites were employees. He said, “No way!” If we help our suppliers operate more efficiently, the benefit will be shared by the builder. Posted on BuilderOnline.com in response to Scott Sedam’s blog post “Waste Management” Closer Look While house price indexes have reported a downward trend in most MSAs, a new house price index I’ve been following, IAS360 (http://iasreo.com/ ias360update.html), has been reporting small gains at the neighborhood and county level. So far, this is the only house price index I’ve seen analyze at the neighborhood level. Posted on BuilderOnline.com in response to Boyce Thompson’s blog post “The Next Housing Boost” Lessons Learned ll the buyouts A downturn, rewarddo is prolong the companies for bad behavior and encourage them to continue their bad practices. We don’t need that in home building and we don’t need it with mortgages—we don’t need it, period. Look at what the banks are doing. Instead of extending credit, they’re buying other banks, which is exacerbating the problem, not solving it. We may have failed to learn the correct lessons from the Great Depres- DO YOU HAVE A COMMENT OR QUESTION? E-MAIL DENISE DERSIN AT: ddersin@hanley wood.com W W W.BUILDERONLINE.COM http://www.BuilderOnline.com http://www.BuilderOnline.com http://www.marvincasement.com http://www.BuilderOnline.com http://iasreo.com/ http://www.BuilderOnline.com http://www.marvincasement.com http://WWW.BUILDERONLINE.COM
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