TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire -05/28/12)- According to the Annual BMO Home Renovation Report, fewer Canadians are planning home renovations this year but are choosing projects with the greatest returns - a sign that consumers are scaling back and becoming more strategic on spending amid rising concern about household debt.

Half of Canadian homeowners (51 per cent) plan to renovate their homes in the next year, compared with 62 per cent in 2011. Single family homeowners far out-pace their condo-dwelling counterparts (62 per cent versus 41 per cent respectively).

Regionally, the report revealed:

"The scaled-back plans for home renovations likely reflect increased caution on the part of households as they continue to reduce discretionary spending to rein in debt," said Sal Guatieri, Senior Economist, BMO Capital Markets. "After averaging 9 per cent in the past decade, consumer loan growth has slowed to almost 2 per cent recently, suggesting Canadians are taking recent debt warnings to heart."

The study, conducted by Leger Marketing, also revealed the top five renovation plans for Canadians:

"Making home upgrades can add significant value to a home; however, it's crucial that homeowners consider the financial implications involved," Laura Parsons, Mortgage Expert, BMO Bank of Montreal. "Renovation projects come in different shapes and sizes and vary in return on investment. Homeowners planning to move forward with renovations should consult a professional to help balance wants versus needs and the overall value of the investment."

Ms. Parsons added that if the renovations are smaller in size and spaced out over a few months, a personal line of credit can give homeowners the flexibility to borrow what they need, when they need it. For larger projects, homeowners can consider a secured line of credit, such as BMO Homeowner ReadiLine.

HGTV.ca and BMO offer the following advice on which renovation projects provide the best return on investment to help Canadians make sense of their reno plans:

1. Painting: When done well and with taste, applying a fresh coat of paint to the interior or exterior of a home is a simple way to realize gains on your renovation investment. Return: As much as 300 per cent.

2. Kitchen remodeling: A kitchen renovation can be one of the most costly home improvement projects, However, careful planning, budgeting and shopping will help minimize expenses. Consider aspects such as whether or not the project is in line with the style and quality of the rest of the house and neighbourhood. Return: 68-120 per cent.

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BMO Home Renovation Report: Canadians Scale Back Plans for Spending in 2012

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire -05/28/12)- According to the Annual BMO Home Renovation Report, fewer Canadians are planning home renovations this year but are choosing projects with the greatest returns - a sign that consumers are scaling back and becoming more strategic on spending amid rising concern about household debt.

Half of Canadian homeowners (51 per cent) plan to renovate their homes in the next year, compared with 62 per cent in 2011. Single family homeowners far out-pace their condo-dwelling counterparts (62 per cent versus 41 per cent respectively).

Regionally, the report revealed:

"The scaled-back plans for home renovations likely reflect increased caution on the part of households as they continue to reduce discretionary spending to rein in debt," said Sal Guatieri, Senior Economist, BMO Capital Markets. "After averaging 9 per cent in the past decade, consumer loan growth has slowed to almost 2 per cent recently, suggesting Canadians are taking recent debt warnings to heart."

The study, conducted by Leger Marketing, also revealed the top five renovation plans for Canadians:

"Making home upgrades can add significant value to a home; however, it's crucial that homeowners consider the financial implications involved," Laura Parsons, Mortgage Expert, BMO Bank of Montreal. "Renovation projects come in different shapes and sizes and vary in return on investment. Homeowners planning to move forward with renovations should consult a professional to help balance wants versus needs and the overall value of the investment."

Ms. Parsons added that if the renovations are smaller in size and spaced out over a few months, a personal line of credit can give homeowners the flexibility to borrow what they need, when they need it. For larger projects, homeowners can consider a secured line of credit, such as BMO Homeowner ReadiLine.

HGTV.ca and BMO offer the following advice on which renovation projects provide the best return on investment to help Canadians make sense of their reno plans:

1. Painting: When done well and with taste, applying a fresh coat of paint to the interior or exterior of a home is a simple way to realize gains on your renovation investment. Return: As much as 300 per cent.

2. Kitchen remodeling: A kitchen renovation can be one of the most costly home improvement projects, However, careful planning, budgeting and shopping will help minimize expenses. Consider aspects such as whether or not the project is in line with the style and quality of the rest of the house and neighbourhood. Return: 68-120 per cent.

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REPEAT-BMO Home Renovation Report: Canadians Scale Back Plans for Spending in 2012

Belmond Hospital Administrator Nancy Gabrielson gave members of BIDCO a pictorial tour Monday night of the new $26 million addition at the Belmond Medical Center.

The audience was able to see photos of four floors, from the basement to the roof, and just about everything in between.

Gabrielson said the final touches are being put on the facility. The elevators are finished and working. The helicopter stop on the roof has passed inspection. The initial cleaning has been done, but a more critical cleaning remains before patients can move in and the emergency and operating rooms can be put into service. There are several small jobs being finished, and several state inspections must be completed before the building can be occupied. While the kitchen is being finished, meals are being brought in from the Rehabilitation Center of Belmond.

We hope to move patients into the new facility by the end of May or first part of June, Gabrielson said. But Ive learned not to get to get my hopes up because there are always delays. We still plan to have our public open house sometime in June. We will be taking down most of the fence around the building and getting the parking on Main Street opened back up.

Gabrielson said extra volunteers are being sought for the next few months to work from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (hours are flexible). These volunteers will show visitors where to find things in the new addition.

A financial report from the first three quarters of the current fiscal year show that business at BMC continues to be strong. There have been 1,644 patient days in the hospital compared to 1,110 for the nine-month period one year ago. There have been 316 surgeries compared to 267 last year. Gross revenue is up over 18 percent.

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Hospital addition nearly finished

Construction crews and maintenance workers continue to work on the Wayland Baptist University campus in preparation for what could be record enrollment in the fall of 2012. The last two years have seen an increase in student enrollment on Waylands Plainview campus, and indicators show that the 2012-13 school year may be no different.

In an attempt to meet the needs of the students, several projects are taking place at Wayland this summer, including the completion of Jimmy Dean Hall. Along with the dorm, the University Center also is being renovated to make it more accommodating to students. Also, the Wheeler Building will be remodeled to add locker rooms for athletics teams.

The new mens dormitory, which was officially named Jimmy Dean Hall at a special announcement March 22, will take the place of existing McDonald Hall, which has fallen into disrepair. Wayland officials looked at the cost of renovating McDonald Hall, but determined that bringing the aging building up to code would not have been cost effective. Vice President for Enrollment Management Dr. Claude Lusk said the cost per square-foot to renovate McDonald would have been more than the cost per square-foot to build the new dorm.

Dean Hall also will provide an additional 250 beds. The added space for male students will allow Ferguson Hall to revert to a womens dorm, accommodating the growth of Waylands womens population.

Construction of the dorm is taking into account green technologies in all electrical and plumbing fixtures. The outdoor area also will be ecologically friendly. The courtyard of the dorm features four collection pools and tanks that will collect rain water as it drains. The water then will be used to assist in irrigation around the structure. The dorm also will feature increased security, making use of coded keyless entry systems and other precautions.

Although McDonald Hall will not be used as housing next fall, the historic dorm is providing much-needed office space during the summer. As part of the renovation and remodeling plans, Waylands University Center has been gutted and will be reconfigured to become more user-friendly for students. Due to construction in the building, all of the offices housed in the UC, along with the university store, moved to McDonald for the summer.

The University Center renovations include an updated cafeteria, giving students easier access to food and drink stations. The long table seating will be replaced by more intimate round tables to better simulate a dining experience. While changing the seating structure will remove some seats, the cafeteria will increase the number of operating hours throughout the day, allowing more flexibility in eating times for students.

Other changes to the University Center will include the remodeling of the student lounge area. Petes Place, located in the basement, will reopen as a coffee shop, serving Starbucks products to students.

The area also will house a grill and a stage area with lighting and sound systems. The south portion of the basement will be turned into offices for student activities and student government.

The courtyard area also will be remodeled, and actions will be taken to control the bird population in the outdoor area.

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Wayland's University Center getting facelift

COLUMBUS The 175 students at Shell Creek Elementary School werent the only ones excited when classes were dismissed for the semester last week.

Construction crews who have spent the past 10 months remodeling the K-6 school will use the summer break to make the final push toward completion of a $5.12 million expansion project there.

It will make things a lot easier, said Jeff Keating of Bierman Contracting Inc., the projects construction manager.

Although Keating said things went surprisingly well with classes in session, the absence of students will allow for unimpeded progress on the new wings and renovations planned in the old building.

Keating expects the project to be wrapped up around July 15.

Schedule-wise, were right where we need to be, he said.

The school, located just north of Columbus at 16786 280th St., will be a double-track facility with two classrooms for each of the seven grades when classes resume this August.

Students and staff began using five of the seven new classrooms a few weeks ago after the majority of work on the east addition was complete.

They were pretty excited that they got to be in the new classrooms, said Principal John Mlinar.

And thats just a portion of the benefits adding about 30,000 square feet to the school will bring.

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Shell Creek school project to be done in July

Summary: The system will handle about 45 percent of the electricity needs for the refurbished Lafayette Hotel, whose guests once included stars such as Ava Gardner and Bob Hope.

The Lafayette Hotel, a historic site in San Diego whose swimming pool was designed by Tarzan star Johnny Weismuller, has installed a 40-kilowatt ClearEdge Power fuel cell as part of a massive remodeling.

The cell should help the property save up to $30,000 annually in energy costs, according to the partnership that operates the Lafayette. It will handle approximately 45 percent of the electricity that the property needs to operate, according to ClearEdge Power. There are seven buildings on the site, hosting 131 guest rooms.

The ClearEdge Power fuel cell uses natural gas to produce its energy; the electrochemical process that takes place along the way generates enough heat to keep the Olympic-sized swimming pools temperature between 76 degrees and 79 degrees Fahrenheit year-round.

One of the key challenges in this renovation was finding an alternative energy solution that would preserve the buildings historic value, said Tara Hamacher, president and owner of Historic Consultants, in the press materials about the project. With ClearEdge Powers fuel cell system, we were able to comply with strict guidelines and qualify for energy upgrade rebates and tax credit incentives that help make this renovation a reality in one of the toughest real estate and hospitality recessions.

The energy efficiency measures embraced by the hotel, which should save $70,000 annually, helped the property managers qualify for tax credits that helped fund installation of the ClearEdge Power fuel cell system, which is housed in the basement of the main building.

Heather Clancy is an award-winning business journalist with a passion for green technology and corporate sustainability issues.

Writing publicly about what the high-tech industry is actually doing to help itself and the world get greener or more sustainable is one way I figure I can contribute more meaningfully to said effort. I am also a big OMG-kind-of-fan of smart leadership, which is why the goodly folks who publish this blog let me go on about this topic and why I am always on the hunt for forward-looking business management ideas.

My daily writing is focused on looking for topics for my blogs, GreenTech Pastures and Business Brains. I also write often about emerging technology trends such as mobile computing, unified communications and cloud computing. Occasionally, I will pop up at an industry conference in some sort of speaking capacity. In cases where a speaking engagement involves a sponsor that may be covered in this blog, that fact will be disclosed in coverage as appropriate.

My corporate writing work usually consists of crafting research white papers about some aspect of technology. In the event that my commentary (in written, audio or video form) mentions a company for which I have provided consulting advice, I will disclose that fact. However, there is no connection between these projects and the topics that I am covering in my blog.

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Hollywood hotel casts ClearEdge fuel cell in supporting role

ELKO Business is booming at the City of Elko building department, with nearly all categories reporting gains in April.

Permits issued for the month totaled 153, an increase from the 95 issued during the same month a year prior. Permit valuations were also up, with $6.7 million reported for the month more than double the $2.5 million reported during April 2011.

If we keep on this pace, were going to way outdo last year, said Elko Building Official Ted Schnoor, who added the biggest category continues to be residential single-family dwellings.

The number of single-family dwellings permitted this year is more than double last years figure 29, compared with 14 year-to-date in 2011.

In April, residential construction again posted the highest figures of the various application types, with 69 permits issued for 10 new buildings. The valuation was $2.1 million, an amount largely due to the permitting of an additional building at the Rabbit Brush Run apartment complex, which amounted to $1.1 million in permit valuations.

Valuations were on the rise across the board, with a heating, ventilation and air conditioning system upgrade at Northside Elementary School amounting to nearly $2 million, and at the Elko Indian Colony the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone is in the process of building a new education center, with a valution of nearly $1 million.

Rounding out projects resulting in high permit valuations are the commercial remodels of McDonalds and Walmart, both on Mountain City Highway. Each of these projects contributed nearly half a million dollars apiece in permit valuations in April.

Theres a lot of activity, said Schnoor, who added the number of commercial permits being issued by the building department continue to grow, particularly with commercial warehouse remodeling.

He expects to see the number of commercial applicants outpace residential as the summer season approaches.

With the number of applications being seen, the building department is reporting a wait of six weeks or longer to issue permits, depending upon the complexity of the project.

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City building continues strong upward trend

ELKO Business is booming at the City of Elko building department, with nearly all categories reporting gains in April.

Permits issued for the month totaled 153, an increase from the 95 issued during the same month a year prior. Permit valuations were also up, with $6.7 million reported for the month more than double the $2.5 million reported during April 2011.

If we keep on this pace, were going to way outdo last year, said Elko Building Official Ted Schnoor, who added the biggest category continues to be residential single-family dwellings.

The number of single-family dwellings permitted this year is more than double last years figure 29, compared with 14 year-to-date in 2011.

In April, residential construction again posted the highest figures of the various application types, with 69 permits issued for 10 new buildings. The valuation was $2.1 million, an amount largely due to the permitting of an additional building at the Rabbit Brush Run apartment complex, which amounted to $1.1 million in permit valuations.

Valuations were on the rise across the board, with a heating, ventilation and air conditioning system upgrade at Northside Elementary School amounting to nearly $2 million, and at the Elko Indian Colony the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone is in the process of building a new education center, with a valution of nearly $1 million.

Rounding out projects resulting in high permit valuations are the commercial remodels of McDonalds and Walmart, both on Mountain City Highway. Each of these projects contributed nearly half a million dollars apiece in permit valuations in April.

Theres a lot of activity, said Schnoor, who added the number of commercial permits being issued by the building department continue to grow, particularly with commercial warehouse remodeling.

He expects to see the number of commercial applicants outpace residential as the summer season approaches.

With the number of applications being seen, the building department is reporting a wait of six weeks or longer to issue permits, depending upon the complexity of the project.

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Double the dollars; City building continues strong upward trend

ELKO Construction valuations in Elko County surged in April to slightly more than $8 million, or nearly double the $4.15 million in valuations for April 2011, thanks to a major project at Cactus Petes in Jackpot.

That $4.5 million project almost doubled valuations, said Thomas Ingersoll, Elko Countys director of building and safety.

He said Cactus Petes has gutted 89 rooms in the Granite Range tower for the remodeling project, so those rooms are closed to the public.

They want to get it done in June so its a big push, he said.

Building permits totaled 200 in April, up from 110 in the 2011 time period, and permit applications totaled 80, up from 56 in April 2011. Permit fees rose to $75,022, compared with $49,791 last year.

We had an almost 100 percent increase in residential for single-family dwellings, Ingersoll said.

New residential applications totaled 21, up from 11 the prior year, and residential permits totaled 98, up from 50. Residential accessory permit applications also were up, to 33 from 18 last year, and residential accessory permits totaled 57, up from 30.

Ingersoll said the jump in accessory permits really shows a strong economy.

The April list of permits issued in Elko County, including the owners name, location, description, valuation and builder:

Commercial, miscellaneous accessory structures W.H. Gibbs, Gibbs Ranch, telephone equipment, $5,656; Spring Creek Christian Center, 285 Spring Creek Parkway, detached garage, $21,841, Esprit Construction;

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Jackpot project boosts county construction

Visitors to the Vernon County Courthouse will be greeted with new signs and sturdier stairs in the near future.

At the April 17 county board meeting, Vernon County Board supervisors approved a resolution, which included spending $60,000 repairing the stairs at the south and east entrances of the courthouse, as well as installing new signs at the courthouse and Banta Building.

The signs were budgeted by the county to cost no more than $10,000 for both buildings and will help direct visitors to county offices and the Vernon County Circuit Court, housed within both buildings.

The courthouse basement will also be painted, but first the basement has to be tested for asbestos and mold.

The countys buildings and facilities committee approved $1,481 for the cost of the tests at its May 3 meeting.

We want to make sure the white fuzzy stuff coming out of out of the cracks isnt mold, its just some calcification or something, Carter Arndt, of MSA Professional Services Inc., said.

The tests will cover the basement and where the stairs at the south entrance of the courthouse will be replaced.

Committee chairman Jerry Cade asked Arndt about testing for asbestos and mold in the countys other buildings.

We can do specific point assessments of areas of concern, Arndt said. Secondarily, if the county wanted to institute a countywide asbestos management plan we know other consultants school districts for an example do this, it is a requirement of state law so there are firms actually out there who will do a management plan and basically help you manage your asbestos.

But if we have to end up doing some remodeling over there [at the Erlandson Building], weve got to check this out ahead of time, so if you can come back with a price for that, Cade said.

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County makes plans to replace stairs at courthouse entrances