Next Stage of Green Building Industry: Water Efficiency

Over the next five years, water efficiency and conservation will become critical factors in green design, construction and product selection, according to McGraw-Hill Construction's latest SmartMarket Report. Architecture and engineering (A/E) firms, contractors and owners report that water efficiency is rapidly becoming a higher priority than other aspects of green building, such as energy efficiency and waste reduction.

According to the United Nations Environmental Program, buildings consume 20 percent of the world’s available water, a resource that becomes scarcer each year. Efficient practices and products provide significant opportunities for the A/E industry to respond to this trend and build high-tech, low-water-demand projects that will turn the tide on the water crisis and create the conscientious buildings of tomorrow.

The report covers involvement levels and growth opportunities over the next five years, as well business benefits, motives and obstacles encountered in this advancing market.

Highlights include:

• By 2013, 85% of industry reports that water efficiency will be an extremely important aspect of a green building.
• Owners are especially committed to water-efficient practices, with 42 percent reporting that more than three-quarters of current projects incorporate water-efficient designs; 50% expect to incorporate water-efficient practices in at least half of their building portfolios by 2013.
• Business benefits are the key growth drivers as companies focus on the bottom-line. Primary motivators include reducing energy use (87%) and reducing operating costs (84%). Respondents report that on average, applying water-efficient designs and products lead to 15% less water use, 10-11% less energy use, and an 11-12% reduction in operating costs.
• Increased government regulation and the desire to lower energy costs are also expected to trigger faster adoption of water-efficient products and methods. Seventy-three percent of respondents are motivated by energy cost increases, while more than two-thirds expect to respond to regulations on wastewater runoff (69%) and water efficiency (68%).
  

For additional information on housing in your area contact Joan@roglianorealestategroup.com.

Littleton Art and Music Festival This Weekend!

The Aspen Grove Lifestyle Center presents…
“The Sound Of The World”.

June 27th (10 AM to 9 PM) and June 28th (10 am to 5 pm)
7301 S. Santa Fe Dr. Littleton, CO 80120

The Art

Admission is free to this two day festival showcasing our nation’s fine artists. This show is a juried fine art festival. Each artist is hand selected to ensure unique, original, and first class artwork. Artists’ work will include painting in oil, acrylic, and watercolor, drawings in pencil, pastel, and charcoal, as well as elegant bronze, stone, metal, and luminous glass sculptures. In addition to functional and non-functional ceramics, there will also be one-of-a-kind jewelry, as well as black&white and color photography, and much, much more!

The Music

The musical theme this year will feature international artists and music.

Here are some of the musical treats on the venue:

- Interactive kids drum circle hosted by Community Drums
- SANTEMU - African storyteller and musician
- Musical Missions Of Peace
- Afro Samba world music ensemble consisting of guitar, bass, violin and drums
- Hot Summer Street Salsa Dance and Concert featuring Manuel Molina
- Latin alternative rock group CIKATRIZ del Che
- Peace&Love&Jigs&Reels - Celtic Trio
- Skanson and Hansen CD release concert

The Aspen Gove Lifestyle Center

This event will be held at Aspen Grove Lifestyle Center, Colorado’s premiere open-air retail village. It is home to over 50 of Colorado’s finest stores and restaurants. Located in Littleton, Colorado, Aspen Grove offers convenient storefront parking, mountain views and an atmosphere every bit as inviting as the stores.

For a detailed schedule of event visit: http://www.littletonartfestival.com/

5 Ways to Protect Your Financial Health in a Divorce

Don’t Become a Financial Victim
Whether or not you anticipate a divorce you should understand your financial picture and keep copies of all important financial records such as account statements for all assets and statements from all creditors. Watch cash in joint checking, brokerage accounts or cash value of life insurance so you understand your position as all times.

Recognize Your Common Enemy….the I.R.S.
Work together with a divorce financial planner or tax accountant to minimize the total taxes you and your ex will pay during separation and after divorce and share the money you save. Both parties are liable for taxes due as a result of audits on joint returns. Tax consequences also need to be considered when analyzing any settlements.

Use Computer Models to Evaluate Settlement Proposals
If you are trying to decide whether a divorce settlement is equitable and workable, you certainly want to know how you will be doing financially 3, 5 or 10 years down the road. There are many interactive factors you must consider including assets, incomes, budgets, maintenance and child support, taxes, retirement plans, investments and educational expenses. Specialized divorce computer models produce comprehensive and realistic analyses of your post-divorce lifestyle. This model should also include tax implications of any settlement.

Don’t Use Your Divorce Lawyer as a Financial Planner, Real Estate Agent or Therapist
Attorneys generally charge $200 to $300 per hour and are not skilled therapists or certified financial planners. If you need emotional support, career counseling, financial analysis or real estate advice utilize qualified professionals and save big money in lawyer’s fees.

Develop a Post-Divorce Financial Plan
It is key to produce a realistic budget needed at the initial separation and through the divorce settlement. Many people start their post-divorce lives not fully understanding that their settlement must last a significant amount of time and in some cases the rest of their lives. Financial planning can help people transition from married to single lifestyle by prioritizing financial goals, developing realistic expectations and producing written plans for allocation of financial resources. Use experts in the area of financial and real estate planning to set up a plan that works for your individual situation.

Over the past 26 years, Realtor® Joan Rogliano has worked with many women going through the emotional and financial trauma of divorce and widowhood. For more information contact joan@roglianorealestategroup.com.

Location! Location! Location!

Real estate agents warn against buying a good house in an undesirable area, saying location trumps all. But because the price is often so appealing, it is a way for buyers to get some of what they want without spending a fortune.

As a curator of exhibitions for the New-York Historical Society, Kathleen Hulser is passionate about the past. She craved an antique home, but with her salary, she knew she would have to compromise.

That compromise is a freight train that blasts by just a few feet from her four-bedroom 1839 summer house on the Housatonic River in Cornwall Bridge, Conn.

It appears at 7:30 a.m. almost every day. “The house shakes,” Ms. Hulser said. “It rattles the pots and pans.” She bought the house last August for $255,000, reduced from $375,000, after it had been on the market for 10 months. “Without the train next door,” Ms. Miller said, the house would have cost double. “It made it much more affordable by putting up with that,” she said.

Indeed, she finds the train appealing. “The conductor always waves,” she said. “It almost counts as a charming defect.” The train is not roaring through hourly; it runs on average once a day, at most twice.

For more information about homes in your area or the value of your home feel free to contact Joan@roglianorealestategroup.com.

FREE FAMILY SUMMER CAMP

Looking for something fun for the Entire Family? Visit Bass Pro Shop’s free family summer camp.

Every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, through July 5th, Bass Pro Shops will host a free Family Summer Camp.

Each of these days there will be ten different 30 minute workshops about hiking, camping and fishing basics. Other workshops include bird watching, archery, animal identification, plants & insects, and even how to make campfire S’mores.

Kids will earn a free collectable pin for every workshop completed.

Every Saturday and Sunday stores will be offering free craft activities for the kids including decorating a fishing bobber, making key chains, designing their own birdhouse, creating plaster animal tracks and painting a souvenir wooden lure for Dad.

For more information and for a full schedule of activities visit www.basspro.com.

Metal Roofs Offer a Better Option to Homeowners Looking to Save Energy & the Environment

Recently, the U.S. Secretary of Energy encouraged Americans to paint their roofs white, in an effort to reduce global warming by both conserving energy and reflecting sunlight back into space.

A white roof is a good idea, but a highly reflective metal roof is even better. New technologies allow even darker colored metal roofs to absorb less heat through the use of highly reflective pigments that reflect solar energy.

In addition to energy savings, metal roofing is cost effective, more durable and longer lasting than most other materials. A metal roof can last a lifetime -- the average life of a non-metal roof is 17 years, often requiring repairs throughout its life.

No matter the kind of roofing style, there's a metal roofing style to match. Today's metal roofing looks just like common roofing material such as asphalt shingle, clay tile, cedar shake or slate. In addition, as opposed to non-metal roofing material that begins to deteriorate as soon as it's exposed to the elements, a metal roof will never deteriorate, and can withstand most everything Mother Nature throws its way.

The time is right for homeowners to choose a better roofing system that provides both long and short-term savings. The Stimulus Package signed in February 2009 states that homeowners who make energy efficient updates to their home, including the installation of a painted or coated Energy Star labeled metal roof, may be eligible for a tax credit up to $1,500 per home.

For more information about homes in your area or the value of your home feel free to contact Joan@roglianorealestategroup.com.

Good News in the Housing Market - Recovery is Underway!

The big economic news for housing last week was all about sales.

Housing sales and pending sales contracts are up, dramatically in some markets, and a rebounding real estate sector could soon start stimulating the broader economy.

Even Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress last week that essentially the worst is over, the housing market is stabilizing, and we're heading out of recession in the second half of the year.

Pending home sales jumped by 6.7 last month. That was the third straight month of significant increases, and the highest pending sale total for any month in the past seven years. In a handful of major markets, closed sales also are moving up sharply.

Low prices nationwide, combined with mortgage rates at near-record lows, have pushed the National Association of Realtors' Affordability Index into record territory. In April the index hit its second highest market ever, based median household income and the monthly payments needed to buy the median cost home.

On the mortgage front, applications to purchase homes continued to rise last week -- up by 4.3 percent -- according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

However, with the good news comes a dose of reality. It's becoming increasingly clear that low mortgage rates are not going to be around forever. Average thirty year fixed rates took their biggest jump in half a year last week on bond market jitters.

So, if you are seriously considering getting off the sidelines - now that prices are back to pre-boom levels in some markets and sales are on the upswing, jump in sooner rather than later, if you want the lowest mortgage rates.

Joan Rogliano is an expert in guiding her clients through the real estate transaction process. For more information email joan@roglianorealestategroup.com or visit her websites at www.roglianorealestategroup.com.