WRITTEN BY JOHN P. TURNER, PE 

Thinking outside the box of how we tackle construction challenges remains one of my favorite topics. I presented this concept a few years ago and will expand on it here. There are lots of areas to contemplate improvement in strategy.

New England winters are awesome, with lots of snow and super cold temperatures — especially in January. However, you might disagree, especially when you experience ice dams on your own roof or are called back to a home you built because the roof is leaking. We all saw a lot of this in 2009, which was the perfect storm for ice dams. You were likely one of a high percentage of home or building-owners with ice dam-related leakage. It was an ice-dam “perfect storm” in January. Construction theories and designs were certainly put to the test. We certainly observed some failures. We all need to learn from those mistakes as we contemplate how best to take care of our buildings.

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The Home Builders & Remodelers Association of New Hampshire (HBRANH) recently held its annual meeting and installation of new officers and directors at the Grappone Conference Center in Concord.

Noted housing economist from the National Association of Homes Builders (NAHB), Elliott Eisenberg, PhD, formally inducted Roger Demanche, Jr., of In-Laws Construction, LLC, as the 2011 president of the state-wide trade association.

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Nashua, NH, October 16, 2010 – The Nashua Area Home Builders and Remodelers Association (NAHBRA) is well underway with the rebuild of the historic structure at the American Red-Cross building in Nashua, New Hampshire.  The project began on Saturday, October 9^th and will continue on Saturdays for the month of October.  Members of NAHBRA are donating their time and resources.

“I was getting a little nervous with the weather they were talking about and I had received a phone call from Boise Cascade late Thursday afternoon telling me that the truss machine was broken and that we wouldn’t be getting the trusses until Monday.  After explaining the scenario a call was made to manufacturing and needless to say we received the trusses late Friday afternoon (in the pouring rain),” says Mark Pederzini, Construction Consultant and Past President of NAHBRA.

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BEDFORD, N.H. – New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority announced today that Kendall Buck has been appointed to the Authority’s Board of Directors. The nine New Hampshire Housing Board members are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Executive Council.

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Just wanted to take a minute to thank everyone who contributed items to our Annual Thanksgiving Food Drive.  We collected 563 pounds of food (that's 160 more than last year!) and $190.00 in cash donations. Thank you again for all your support!

Liz Early, Vice President

All-Ways Accessible, Inc. ® 
128 Hall Street, Suite FConcord, NH 03301

The 2010-2011 Leadership Team for Build Green NH was recently installed.

Left to Right: Liam Cargill, Cargill Construction, Legislative Chair;  Paul Krukonis, KBRCO Architectural Home Designs, at large member; Bob Tortorice, Building Alternatives, Vice Chair; Judi Farr, Keller Williams, Chair; Mike Demers, PSNH,  Secretary;  Rob Pickett, Rob Pickett & Associates, Treasurer; Jessie Jean, Beechwood Builders, Membership Chair; Paul  Freeman, Brooks Post & Beam; Chris Simpkins, Bruss Construction, Education Chair.

Missing from Photo: Rick Bouchard, Queen City Remodeling, Immediate Past Chair; Tom Werst, at large member 

Build Green NH Steering Committee meets the 2nd Tuesday of each month. All Build Green members are invited to attend.

CONCORD, NH, August 18, 2010 – According to the U.S. Census Bureau the number of building permits issued for new residential building in New Hampshire is up substantially from last year.

Through June the number of single family permits issued stood at 1,033 which is 56% ahead of 2009 for the same six month period. With even stronger performance in the multifamily area the total number of permits for all residential building was up 67% over last year.

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By Contributing Writer Dale Squires

The Granite State Builder Magazine has a mission is to help builders, contractors, and suppliers stay in front of the economic recovery, providing information and connections to professional service providers in support of Member construction projects.  New Hampshire’s larger landcare design-build firms often provide landcare services on an ala carte basis to GSB Members – services some Members cannot or choose not to execute in-house. Shoreland Permitting is a good example.

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Governor Lynch Appoints Modular Homes Manufacturer to State Board of Fire Control The NH Executive Council has confirmed Governor Lynch's appointment of John D. Ela, CEO of custom Modular Home manufacturer Epoch Homes, to the New Hampshire Board of Fire Control.  The appointment fills the seat that represents the manufacturing industry to advise the State Fire Marshall on Rules and Regulations related to fire safety and code enforcement in NH. 

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Special Announcement from Jackson Lumber & Millwork

NOW OPEN SATURDAY 7:00AM - 12:00PM 

at our Nashua, Haverhill & Lawrence Facilities

South Berwick, ME -- Lead-Safe Certified Renovator Peter Lawton has been named Northern New England Principal Instructor for Kachina, the EPA-approved training and compliance leader for the remodeling industry. Lawton is charged with training remodeling professionals on EPA home remodeling procedures that go into affect on April 22, 2010.  “As of April, contractors cannot work in homes built before 1978 without becoming an EPA Certified Renovators,” said Lawton, who has been a Lead-Safe Renovator since 1998. “If you break paint or create dust during a remodeling project, this pertains to you.”

EPA Fines for Non-Compliance Begin April 22, 2010
“In accordance with the new EPA regulations,” he continued, “lead-safe work practices must be initiated, overseen, and directed by a Certified Renovator. Both the individual and the firm must be certified through an EPA-approved training program. This is serious business and contractors who are found liable for working without certification will be facing penalties of up to $37,500 per violation per day and even criminal imprisonment for non-compliance.”

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Concord, NH – March 31st, 2010 – A new statewide energy code officially goes into effect on April 1, 2010 which calls for more energy efficient building practices to be followed for all new and existing homes as well as commercial buildings.  Currently, New Hampshire is transitioning from the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) to the 2009 IECC and as a result of this transition, it is estimated that the efficiency of new residential and commercial buildings in the State could increase by 18 to 22%.  

The new energy code (IECC 2009) was adopted by the NH Building Code Review Board in May of 2009, following an assurance from Governor John Lynch that NH would achieve 90% statewide compliance with the new energy code by the year 2017. This assurance secured $25,827,000 of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds for the NH’s State Energy Programs (SEP). 

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CEO Tracy Streckenbach Becomes Senior Advisor as Company Enters Phase II of Growth

GerrityStone - New England’s premier interior and exterior custom stonework and granite specialist – is pleased to introduce Jack Parquette as its new President. Concurrent to this move, CEO Tracy Streckenbach will be moving from her current position to Senior Advisor of Mergers and Acquisitions for the Gerrity Company.

“It was exactly two years ago this month that I joined GerrityStone to lead the company’s restructuring and positioning efforts, and to get it on track to profitability,” Ms. Streckenbach said. “With each of the key initiatives successfully implemented, we move onto Phase II of the growth plan.  This phase requires an entirely different skill set, and one to which Jack Parquette is extremely well suited.”

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Each fall, HBRA-NH members elect new presidents to their regional associations, and these local leaders make a big commitment to helping others in their local building community. To get to know them a little better, Jenna Pelech of GSB asked each how he first got involved in the building industry and where he likes to enjoy a night out with family and friends. 

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