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Archive for April, 2010
Utility ratepayers use less energy than 8 years ago according to Energy Trust of Oregon
(April 27, 2010 • Energy Efficiency Tips • 0 comments
This was an announcement from Energy Trust of Oregon that I thought was really positive.
“Energy Trust of Oregon has saved enough energy in the last eight years to power 265,000 homes and heat another 26,000 with natural gas (roughly the combined population of Eugene and Salem),and the savings were delivered at a cost that is three to four times cheaper than buying new energy. “You can think of us as an efficiency utility, in the clean energy acquisition business,” said Margie Harris, executive director.
“The savings we achieved, nearly $600 million, is money that stays in customer pockets, year after year. Especially during these challenging economic times, saving critical dollars helps both homeowners and businesses stay afloat.”
Energy Trust activity also generated $76 million in wages and created almost 2,300 new jobs.
Sofa Table Chair Party Photos
(April 26, 2010 • Renovation Concepts Member Party • 0 comments
Susan Walter and her staff at Sofa Table Chair hosted a wonderful Renovation Concepts event on Thursday. The Sofa Table Chair showroom was filled with wonderful new furniture pieces, the food, networking and ambience made for a really great evening.
Enjoy the photos of this Renovation Concepts event!
For more information on design and furniture trends please contact Susan Walter at Sofa Table Chair. www.SofaTableChair.com or (503) 557-0420.
Susan Walter/Sofa Table Chair with the REACH TEAM- Laura Recko, Anastasia Howard & Dana Fulkerson
Mary McMurray of Arts First Colors for Architecture & the famous Wendy Vaughn of Bolliger Window Fashions
The party would not be complete without James & Tony of Gene Darco Painting
Aleksey Mironov & Pavel Skobkarev of Huggybear Cupboards Inc & LaDonna Miller/Renovation Concepts
Steve Gemmel/EarthQuake Tech & Rick McCutcheon of THE WALL
A Special Thanks to Susan Walter at Sofa Table Chair
(April 26, 2010 • Renovation Concepts Member Party • 0 comments
Susan Walter and her staff at Sofa Table Chair hosted a wonderful Renovation Concepts event on Thursday. The Sofa Table Chair showroom was filled with wonderful new furniture pieces, the food, networking and ambience made for a really great evening.
Enjoy the photos of this Renovation Concepts event!
For more information on design and furniture trends please contact Susan Walter at Sofa Table Chair. www.SofaTableChair.com or (503) 557-0420.
Anne Kaplan, Susan Walter & Kendra- the famous staff of Sofa Table Chair
Lyle Fielmeier- Guest- Collier Arbor, Jessica Raffaele- Guest Steven's Printing, Stan Robinson/Pacific West Roofing/ Curt McKinney Land Services Inc.
Ron Walter & Denise & Tom Popiel of Architectural Resource
Aurora & Michael Ambrose of de la tierra, Inc.
Giovanni Angello- guest/Sorella Luna Ceramics and Fine Arts & Sharon Vieregg of Emma Shea Interiors
Susan Walter of Sofa Table Chair & Joan Mullen Woods
Residential Rooftop Solar Market Doubled in size in 2009
(April 20, 2010 • Green Building, Remodeling Updates • 0 comments
According to Eco Home Magazine, the Solar Industry remains a bright spot in the economy. I think that this is encouraging news and a bright spot as our country moves towards less dependancy on foreign oil.
“The solar industry in the United States added jobs and saw the residential rooftop solar market nearly double in size in 2009, according to an annual report released Thursday by the Solar Energy Industries Association.
“The solar industry added 17,000 new jobs coast to coast,” said Rhone Resch, president and CEO of SEIA. “Residential installations grew from 78 megawatts in 2008 to 156 megawatts in 2009.” One megawatt of electricity is enough to power 750 to 1,000 homes.
Resch credited the growth to increased interest in solar among consumers and the removal of a $2,000 cap on the 30-percent federal income tax credit”.
Sofa Table Chair offering 20% off one Special Order piece
(April 20, 2010 • Member Sales & Promotions • 0 comments
If you were one of the lucky ones to receive a tax return this year, come on in to either Portland or West Linn Sofa Table Chair stores, and mention this blog post to special order any “one” item at 20% off.
If you have been dreaming of a new sofa, table or chair (or anything else for that matter), now’s your chance to order and save!!
*This offer is not valid with any other offers.
*Expiration: April 30th, 2010.
–
Sofa Table Chair, Inc.
1916 NE Broadway Street
Portland, OR 97232
Phone (503)231-2782
Fax (503)231-2785
5656 Hood Street, Suite 109
Phone (503)557-0420
Fax (503)557-0421
RMLS Portland Real Estate Market Statistics for March 2010
(April 17, 2010 • Portland Real Estate Market • 0 comments
The latest RMLS statistics detailing Pending and Closed sales in the Portland metro market is very encouraging. Spring has definately sparked the buying and selling of homes.
The great news is that there is only 7.8 months of inventory on the market at this time.
____________________________________
March Residential Highlights
Sales activity in the Portland metropolitan area continues to improve in March 2010 compared to the same month a year ago.
When comparing March 2010 with March 2009, closed sales rose 51.9%. Pending sales jumped 46.7% and new listings increased 35.3%.
Comparing March 2010 with the previous month, February 2010, closed sales drastically increased
77.2% (1,799 v. 1,015) and pending sales grew 29.8% (2,402 v. 1,850).
New listings increased 27.8% (4,987v. 3,902).
At the month’s rate of sales, the 14,042 active residential listings would last approximately 7.8 months, the lowest of the year.
Sale Prices
The average sale price for March 2010 fell 5.6% compared to March 2009. The median sale price dropped 3%. See residential highlights table below.
On a month-to-month basis, comparing March 2010 to February 2010, the average price increased 2.6% ($280,300 v. $273,100) and the median price grew a slight 1.6% ($238,900 v. $235,000).
For more information on Real Estate in Portland please contact LaDonna Miller-Broker with Oregon First Real Estate (503) 310-9076 or ladonnamiller@earthlink.net
Designer Bathroom & Kitchen work by de la tierra, Inc.
(April 14, 2010 • Design Trends, Green Building, Member Spotlight • 0 comments
de la tierra, Inc. a premier fabricator and installer of natural stone in Portland, Oregon provided a wonderful glimpse of the type of quality and top notch creative work that homeowners will receive when working with their firm.
Each of these projects highlight a wide array of natural stone choices that homeowners can select to create really wonderful spaces.
Aurora Ambrose provided the following detail on these projects:
“Working on this Lake Oswego project was a delight for us at de la tierra, inc. As fabricators and installers of natural stone, our goal is to provide customers with functional, enduring surfaces while highlighting their chosen materials’ unique characteristics in an artistic and natural form.
These pictures show three of the four marbles we fabricated, honed and installed: Corinthian Beige (Kitchen), Crèma Marfil (Utility Room) and Calacatta Gold (Master Bath and Bonus Bath). The homeowner selected natural stones that not only complimented the new cabinetry, but also showcased the antique chest retrofitted for the Master Bath vanity. The Cove Ogee edge detail and custom backsplash on the Master Bath vanity illustrate hand craftsmanship at its finest.”
For more information, please contact Aurora Ambrose- de la tierra, Inc at:
aurora@delatierra-stoneworks.com
de la tierra, Inc.
2312 nw 30th avenue : portland, or 97210
t (503) 720 6127 : f (503) 288 4168
www.delatierra-stoneworks.com
ccb-167799 : wa-delatlt944d9
or visit: www.RenovationConcepts.net
Strategic Partnership between Portland State University & PGE
(April 6, 2010 • Sustainability in Portland • 0 comments
This was a great announcement from Portland State University announcing a partnership between Portland State University and PGE. One of the new partnership’s goals is to enhance the study of energy and sustainable design.
Portland State is helping PGE with its plans to install 2,000 charging stations for electric cars. Portland is one of five test markets in the United States where Nissan is launching its Leaf electric cars in December.
Initiatives like these help keep Portland in the forefront of being a leader in sustainability. This is good for housing, remodeling and many other business sectors, because all of these initiatives create a very desirable quality of life in terms of our community.
News: President Wiewel formalizes partnership with PGE
It began with a simple request for a donation. Portland State University (PSU) needed money for science research. Portland General Electric (PGE) was willing to contribute, but its leaders wanted to do more than just write a check. The result: a new strategic partnership that will help push Portland to the cutting edge of innovation in electric vehicles and sustainable energy.
The partnership, formalized March 30 with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, aims to bring more resources, jobs, and recognition to the entire Portland area.“It’s not about moving PSU forward or moving PGE forward, it’s about moving the region forward,” President Wim Wiewel said at the signing ceremony. “That’s really what we’re about.”
The public university and the private utility have already teamed up on issues such as preparing for a major launch of electric vehicles in Portland.“We can take research directly from the lab right to real life examples,” said Jim Piro, president and CEO of PGE. “We can talk about it in a school or classroom or research area, but then we can immediately transfer that to business applications, which is really exciting.”
Portland State is helping PGE with its plans to install 2,000 charging stations for electric cars. Portland is one of five test markets in the United States where Nissan is launching its Leaf electric cars in December.“The introduction of the electric vehicle is a big thunderbolt, and we have to be ready in this region,” Wiewel said. “We are really jointly helping create the future.”
Piro said the University could become a center of excellence around electric vehicles as PSU researchers study how drivers access the charging stations, whether the stations are in the right locations, and other consumer issues.
One of the new partnership’s goals is to enhance the study of energy and sustainable design. “We hope the partnership will help the University continue to expand our expertise in the technology that lies behind sustainability,” said Kevin Reynolds, chair of the Chemistry Department. “One of those critical technologies is renewable energy, energy without a carbon footprint.” In order to hit the ground running, the PGE Foundation gave Portland State $50,000 to create a new Renewable Energy Research Lab. The new lab space helped the University recruit chemistry professor Erik Johansson from the California Institute of Technology to develop photovoltaic devices that are more efficient and robust.
Wiewel and Piro agree that the partnership allows the two institutions to leverage their resources and bring in more partners and funding to do more for the Portland area. “What happens to this region is totally critical to our well-being as institutions,” Wiewel said. “And what we do as institutions critically contributes to the well-being of the region.”
For more information on Real Estate in Portland please contact LaDonna Miller-Broker Oregon First Real Estate.
www.RenovationConcepts.net or email: ladonnamiller@earthlink.net (503) 310-9076.
Exceptional Artisan & Tilesetter in Portland Oregon
(April 6, 2010 • Member Spotlight, Remodeling Updates • 3 comments
Dirk Sullivan of Hawthorne Tile is an exceptional artisan and tilesetter. His work is found in many fine homes throughout Portland. He has developed a solid reputation with designers, remodelors and homeowners alike for being an exceptional tilesetter. He has a passion for doing excellent creative work and is wonderful to work with.
I had the opportunity to work with Dirk Sullivan of Hawthorne tile on a small project in my own home. This was a smaller project in comparison to the intricate tile projects he works on typically.
Even though this was a relatively small project, the difference that this new travertine tile has made in this room was striking. This is a remodeling project that I still appreciate 1 1/2 years later. Every day, I still walk into this room and love how this fireplace looks. I searched for over a year to find the right tile and discovered a wonderful Travertine tile that I purchased at Pental Granite and Marble in Portland which is simply beautiful.
Based on my personal experience, I would highly recommend Hawthorne tile. I was so impressed with Dirk’s attention to detail and workmanship that this year, I am planning to work with Dirk Sullivan on a major kitchen remodel.
For more information please visit: www.Hawthornetile.com
or Contact Dirk Sullivan at (503) 231-1340 or info@hawthornetile.com
In addition please visit: www.http://www.renovationconcepts.net/building-and-remodeling-services/granite-tile-stone/
BEFORE: Original Builder Grade Tile
Health Care Reform & how new changes will Benefit the Construction Industry
(April 5, 2010 • Remodeling Updates • 0 comments
This was an article published in the National Association of Home Builders trade publication on the new landmark health care legislation that recently was passed in Washington.
One of the final changes incorporated in the second measure of the H.R. 4872 bill, strikes down a provision that was in the original healthcare bill requiring construction firms to provide health coverage if they employ 5 or more workers.
This correction was particularily needed for small business owners in the construction industry. As this article pointed out, in every other industry companies were exempt if they employed 50 workers or less. The National Home Builders Association lobbied that the same should be the case for the construction industry.
This past semester, I studied Health Care Reform at Portland State University. I am pleased to see that this correction will now be part of the Healthcare Bill.
The uninsured statistics are staggering with 47 million citizens/ workers in this country who do not have healthcare. This statistic coupled with the looming health care crisis that faces our nation, I am pleased that our elected officials were able to pass this needed Reform.
I believe strongly that the construction industry with many small business owners will be one segment of the market that will greatly benefit from a national healthcare system that will make healthcare more affordable for owners and workers alike.
____________________________________________________________
Here is the article for your review:
“Just one week after landmark health care legislation became the law of the land, President Obama on March 30 signed a second reconciliation bill with “fixes” to the health care measure that include the elimination of an onerous provision targeting the construction industry.
NAHB worked closely with lawmakers to ensure that one of the changes incorporated in the second “corrections” measure (H.R. 4872) would strike a provision in the original health care bill (H.R. 3590) offered by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) requiring construction firms to provide health coverage if they employ five or more workers.
Small businesses in every other industry are exempt from providing mandatory health insurance if they employ 50 workers or less. As a result of NAHB’s efforts, the 50-worker threshold will now apply to all construction industry workers as well.
The vast majority of NAHB’s members are small businesses that employ fewer than 10 people. Approximately 60% of NAHB’s members build fewer than 25 homes per year and 80% have less than $5 million in annual receipts.
“NAHB led the charge to ensure that the Merkley language that unfairly singles out the construction industry and threatens the viability of countless home building firms across the nation was stripped out of the final health care legislative package,” said NAHB Chairman Bob Jones. “If this punitive provision had not been removed from the final bill, many small builders across the nation would have seen their businesses face a difficult financial burden.”
For the complete article please click on the link above.