Industry News

MINNEAPOLIS — Robert Blake wants to Indian Country to seize business opportunities in the burgeoning renewable energy market. The Red Lake Band of Ojibwe member envisions a future in which tribes could be exporting energy, contributing to a $1 trillion market through the development of renewable energy microgrids, such as the ones built by Blake’s Minneapolis-based company Solar Bear LLC. Robert Blake. Courtesy photo.Amid the economic downturn of COVID-19, Blake feels tribes should have more sustainable methods Read more…

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 638,000 in October with the unemployment rate falling to 6.9%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday. The improvements reflect the continued comeback of economic activity that had been slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Notable job gains occurred last month in leisure and hospitality, professional and business, retail trade, and construction. However, employment in government declined. The unemployment rate declined by 1 percentage point to 6.9%, and Read more…

Ascentium Capital makes it easy for NAHB members to finance business assets.1 Use Ascentium’s consultative approach to create a finance program to match your cash flow. Plus, with the $0 down program you can avoid up-front costs. Take advantage of the benefits of financing: Business financing up to $2 million Working capital loans up to $250,000 No substantial upfront costs Customized payment structures Potential tax savings Request a no-obligation finance quote today at ascentium.info/nahbad. 1 Financing and instant Read more…

Of the roughly 879,000 single-family homes started in 2019, 20.3 percent included decks, according to NAHB tabulation of data from the Survey of Construction (SOC, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and partially funded by HUD).  This is down over two percentage points from percentage points from the 22.6 percent recorded a year earlier, which in turn was down over one percentage point from the year before that.  It also stands in sharp contrast to the much higher 67.4 Read more…

Record-low mortgage rates were not enough to offset inventory shortages and rising home prices as housing affordability continued to decline in the third quarter of 2020, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). In all, 58.3 percent of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of July and end of September were affordable to families earning an adjusted U.S. median income of $72,900. This is down from Read more…

Architect Russel Hayden explains how he sought to renovate a derelict 1960s house to EnerPHit standards. Interview with Russel Hayden Russel is an architect who, up until four years ago, had spent his whole working life in London. Prompted by a desire to leave London and move closer to family, he and his wife bought a derelict house in Stockport with the intention of it being a project to renovate, before selling it on and Read more…

The recovery of overall labor market continued but at a slow pace. In October, 638,000 nonfarm payroll jobs were added, and the unemployment rate fell to 6.9%. However, October residential construction employment was 11,500 higher than a year ago, marking the first year-over-year gain since the recession of 2020. Residential construction employment rose by 23,800 in October to 2.9 million as housing remains a bright spot of the recovery. Total construction industry (both residential and Read more…

Self-building an annexe in an area of coastal erosion meant a low-cost but high-performance build was a priority for architect Colin Rice. Interview with Colin Rice Colin is a partner at Cullinan Studio, but one of his first jobs after graduating in 1980 was working with Lyall Addleson. Lyall was well-known for his “Handbook of Building Failures”, and Colin worked with him on his investigations into building defects, and subsequent book “Performance of Materials and Buildings.” Read more…