Awards of Excellence in Housing

The Awards of Excellence in Housing will begin accepting submissions tomorrow. This year, submissions can be upload completely online. A CD with the same information is all that needs to be mailed to the CHBA-Alberta office - no hard copy photos required.

Moving to an online submission system is a great step forward for our association members and the environment. The online submission system reduces time it takes for members to print the photos and reduces the waste after the photos have been judged.

Pulse Survey

Home builders in Alberta expect total housing starts to be about 44,000 units in 2008, down from the 48,336 units started last year, according to the latest Pulse Survey conducted in January and February 2008 by the Canadian Home Builders' Association (CHBA). Despite the moderation, starts are expected to remain well above the levels of the latter 1990s/early 2000s.

RenoMark Goes National

Membership in the RenoMark™ program continues to grow in leaps and bounds, with Alberta statistics in April being: Edmonton - 18 companies, Central Alberta - 11 companies and Calgary - 34 companies. Interest from new renovators and potential corporate sponsors continues to rise on a monthly basis, and many consumers are realizing the RenoMark™ program sets the standard for reputable renovation companies. Many renovators are reporting a large increase in the number of leads generated through their websites with much of it believed to be directly attributable to the www.renomark.ca website. There are currently six Home Builders' Associations in Ontario, one in Manitoba and one in Saskatchewan that have adopted the RenoMark™ program and the national Home Builders' Association have now prominently recognized RenoMark™ on their website at www.chba.ca. Those interested in sponsorship opportunities are encouraged to contact Michael Nyikes.

Reports from CHBA Meetings

Earlier this month volunteers and staff attended the winter CHBA national meetings in Whistler. Representatives from each committee will prepare summaries from the meetings which can be viewed here. The National Marketing Committee heard a presentation on A New Way of Managing Expectations by AVID Ratings read more of the summary here.

BUILD Your Brand

Have you ever wanted to show your support for the industry at a provincial level? Now's your opportunity to become a sponsor at BUILD 2008. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor click here.

Do you have a unique product, program or service that is terrific for the residential construction industry? Two exhibitor spaces in the MASCO Trade Show are still available. The will be open for two days at BUILD '08. Trade show exhibitors will have innovative products, programs and services tailored to the residential construction industry. A few exhibit spaces are available. Click here if you are interested in becoming a trade show exhibitor.

BUILD '08 takes place at the breathtaking Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge September 18-21. Register for BUILD today!

Advanced Building Systems Symposium

The Government of Alberta is presenting a full day symposium on advanced wall, floor and roof systems that will provide the opportunity for home builders, designers, suppliers, manufacturers and others in the building industry to hear experts from all over North America discuss the various systems, cost advantages, challenges and sustainable "green” aspects of these advanced building technologies. The agenda covers discussions on systems such as structural insulated panels (SIP), open web floor trusses, design software, panelized vs stick-built construction, insulated concrete forms (ICF), and a host of other topics. The symposium will be held in Calgary May 21 and in Edmonton May 22. More information can be obtained by visiting www.greenalberta.ca or by calling at (780) 427-6502.