HIGHER EDUCATION

Peter Hussey, an associate professor of music-percussion at Lewis and Clark Community College, has been nominated for the Illinois Community College Trustees Association 2014 Outstanding Faculty Member Award.The association selects one faculty member from each community college as a nominee for Outstanding Faculty Member Award. As a winner, Hussey is invited to attend the Awards Banquet in June where the statewide winner will be announced.Hussey is creator and director of the Wind ODDsemble which features musicians who perform unique, custom and entertaining arrangements for percussion, brass, woodwind, string, and vocal performance.

CONSTRUCTION

The Home Builders Association of Greater Southwest Illinois has named its 2014 officers and board of directors: President Robert Dee Jr. of Homes by Deesign; First Vice President Chris Jones of C.A. Jones; Second Vice President Jeff Schmidt of RLP Development; Third Vice President Scott Dettmer of Dettmer Homes; Associate Vice President Mindy Schafer of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage; Secretary Jerry Yaekel, Jr. of Yaekel & Associates Inc.; and Immediate Past President John Snapat of Fulford Home Remodeling.The directors include : Tony Holdener of 1st National Bank of Waterloo, Jason Klein of Ameren Illinois, Michelle Null of Benchmark Title, Peggy Kory of Butler Home Improvement, Robb Treat of First Clover Leaf Bank, Kevin Timmerman of Heartland Homes, Joe Lanahan of Joe Lanahan Construction Services, Jason Huelsmann of New Tradition Homes, David Padgett of Padgett Building & Remodeling Co. Inc., Barbara Markham of Re/Max PreferredThe Markham Network, Dave Corbitt of Windoor Co. Inc., and Mark Vogt of Vogt Builders Inc.The 2014 Officer Representatives include: Joe Knox of Copious Technologies, Mark Fulford of Fulford Homes, Garrett Johnson of Garrett E.& Herschel E. Johnson RE & Dev., Ron Padgett of Padgett Building & Remodeling Co. Inc., and Chris Matteo of Pulte Homes/Centex.

BUSINESS

Glik Stores has promoted Veronica Johnson to social media and e-commerce specialist. She is also the company's fashion stylist and co-manager of the Granite City store. She was an assistant manager of the Farmington store in Maple Valley Center.

LEGAL

Randy Gori, partner at the firmGori Julian & Associates Inc.,has met the standards of excellence outlined by the American Society of Legal Advocates and was selected as a Top 100 Litigation Lawyers in the State of Illinois for 2014.The designation is shared among seasoned legal veterans with demonstrated excellence in their field and a sustained commitment to the profession.

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Business news for the week of Feb. 8

LevelV Design Build - A Toronto Based Custom Home Builders
Level V Design Build is a leading construction company in Toronto. It brings twenty-five years of experience with 100% customer satisfaction project in Tor...

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LevelV Design & Build - A Toronto Based Custom Home Builders - Video

Level V Design Build - Custom Home Builders In Toronto
Level V Design Build provide different construction services in Toronto since 25 years. some of them are :- Kitchen Renovation Toronto. Bathroom Renovation...

By: Joe Picao

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Level V Design & Build - Custom Home Builders In Toronto - Video

OLD LYME, Conn., Feb. 5, 2014 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Sapia Builders Corp of Old Lyme, CT has been awarded "Best Of Houzz" by Houzz, the leading platform for home remodeling and design. The third generation custom home, remodeling, and general contracting firm, Sapia Builders, operated and managed by Nick Sapia, was chosen by the more than 16 million monthly users that comprise the Houzz community.

The Best Of Houzz award is given in two categories: Customer Satisfaction and Design. Customer Satisfaction honors are determined by a variety of factors, including the number and quality of client reviews a professional received in 2013. Design award winners' work was the most popular among the more than 16 million monthly users on Houzz, known as "Houzzers," who saved more than 230 million professional images of home interiors and exteriors to their personal ideabooks via the Houzz site, iPad/iPhone app and Android app. Winners will receive a "Best Of Houzz 2014" badge on their profiles, showing the Houzz community their commitment to excellence. These badges help homeowners identify popular and top-rated home professionals in every metro area on Houzz.

"Almost all of our clients utilize Houzz through the course of their project. It's a place for clients to find inspiration and design ideas, and a platform for us to showcase our work when we're finished." - Nick Sapia, Owner, Sapia Builders

"Houzz provides homeowners with the most comprehensive view of home building, remodeling and design professionals, empowering them to find and hire the right professional to execute their vision," said Liza Hausman, vice president of community for Houzz. "We're delighted to recognize Nick Sapia and the Sapia Builders Corp team among our "Best Of" professionals for customer satisfaction as judged by our community of homeowners and design enthusiasts who are actively remodeling and decorating their homes."

With Houzz, homeowners can identify not only the top-rated professionals like Sapia Builders, but also those whose work matches their own aspirations for their home. Homeowners can also evaluate professionals by contacting them directly on the Houzz platform, asking questions about their work and reviewing their responses to questions from others in the Houzz community.

Follow Sapia Builders Corp on Houzz: http://www.houzz.com/pro/snsapia/sapia-builders-corp

About Sapia Builders Corp.Sapia Builders offers nearly 60 years of experience in the home building and remodeling industry. A third generation family business, our focus is on providing high end, uniquely designed, and crafted homes to homeowners throughout the Connecticut Shoreline. We pride ourselves on delivering original, masterful homes and one of a kind renovations that represent both the highest quality and craftsmanship in the area.

About HouzzHouzz is the leading platform for home remodeling and design, providing people with everything they need to improve their homes from start to finish - online or from a mobile device. From decorating a room to building a custom home, Houzz connects millions of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals across the country and around the world. With the largest residential design database in the world and a vibrant community powered by social tools, Houzz is the easiest way for people to get the design inspiration, project advice, product information and professional reviews they need to help turn ideas into reality. For more information, visit http://www.houzz.com

Media Contact: Nick Sapia, Sapia Builders Corp, 860-304-8383, nsapia@sapiacorp.com

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SAPIA BUILDERS CORP of OLD LYME, CT Receives Best Of Houzz 2014 Award

Published: Saturday, Feb. 1, 2014, 5:18p.m. Updated 9 hours ago

Controlling costs when building a home is a job that often hinges on per-square-foot estimates, allowances for each room, books that list the costs of everything even something like architect-builder-owner master classes.

But then, as builders Dan Meade and Joe Cortes say, the prices go up.

It is more an art than a science, Greensburg architect Lee Calisti says about the method of coming up with a cost for building a home.

Some costs are fairly consistent. If a buyer goes to a development planned by a builder and chooses one of the plans even customizing it to a degree the costs are rather well known.

But a custom design makes matters different. Then, builders, architects, even homeowners say it is important to control the unknown.

Come up with a realistic idea of costs and stick to it. Remember, when one room goes over cost, you probably aren't going to make up for it elsewhere.

Act as your own general contractor and keep a close eye on all the costs.

Get a builder involved early so planning can be discussed from a practical sense.

The secret generally is controlling the variables in design and construction, South Side architect Gerald Lee Morosco says. For instance, he says, is it fairly realistic to estimate a house can be built at $175 per square foot.

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Controlling costs of home construction requires diligence

Wausau, Wis. From contemporary to traditional, colorful to transparent, towering to expansive -- Kolbe's entrance doors are custom-designed to convey a homeowner's signature look. Kolbe's built-to-order options support those with vision. Each entry can be individualized with wide and tall sizes, unusual shapes, rare wood species, distinctive finishes, finely crafted glass and many other selections.

"No other feature on a home makes such a powerful statement and lasting impression as the front entry," says Cindy Bremer, Kolbe's vice president of marketing. "Homeowners with a respect for quality craftsmanship and innovative design also appreciate the opportunity to add their own mark, matching their home's presence with their personal style."

During the International Builders Show, Kolbe will exhibit examples of customized options available on Kolbe's entrances in booth #C2608:

Kolbe's Ultra Series exterior door delivers a stately appearance at 8 feet-tall and 4-feet wide. The door's extruded aluminum exterior is distinguished with bull nose casing and finished in a Silverstorm mica coating. On its interior, white oak wood is custom-stained to resemble barn boards. Insulated glass features a special pattern from Bendheim. Custom SOSS hinges practically are invisible for a neat, clean look complemented with a black Verona handle set.

Heritage entry

Kolbe's all-wood Heritage Series exterior door communicates a classic, welcoming entrance flanked with sidelites. Crafted from Alder, the 2-1/4-inch-thick door panels are stained with a custom Brown Cherry. The matching sidelites feature a 3-1/2-inch flat casing with back band and insulated Renova glass. The elegant Emtek Charleston handle set punctuates a luxurious greeting.

What began in 1946 as a two-brother team has grown into an internationally respected manufacturing company. Kolbe & Kolbe Millwork Co, Inc. remains a privately held, community-oriented business located in Wausau, Wis. Covering nearly one million-square-feet, its state-of-the-art facilities feature high-tech machinery and a design center to present the creative possibilities offered by Kolbe windows and doors.

Kolbe

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Kolbe's Custom-Designed Entry Doors Deliver a Memorable Impression

Saline resident and close friend pays tribute to Dennis Holley, who passed away Jan. 25

Looking out across Sunset Lake in the York Woods subdivision where I live, I can count four homes besides mine that were built by Dennis Holley, a Saline-area builder who passed away on Jan. 25.

Dennis legacy includes many other local custom homes in addition to the ones in York Woods, and I often told him that if I could go around my community as he could, pointing out the beautiful homes he had built, I would indeed feel proud of what I had accomplished in my life.

Dennis mark upon Saline as a builder began in 1965 when he helped his father, Eugene, construct the Thorncrest Apartments on Clark Street. Afterwards he worked at his trade as an electrician until he began his career as a custom home building contractor in the early 1980s.

He is well known for his show-stopping entries in the annual Showcase of Homes, which he participated in for 21 consecutive years starting in 1987. His were often the Showcase homes people most looked forward to visiting each year. They were houses invariably characterized by sumptuous quality, ingenuity and meticulous attention to detail.

I was so impressed when I visited the Holley 1992 Showcase entry that I was determined to meet and talk with its creator. It was then that I first met the team of Dennis and his wife, Joy, who turned out thereafter to be builders of one and later eventually two fine homes for me and my life partner, Jean Burns, as well as to become our longtime close friends.

I suppose its unusual for a customer to form anything like a friendship with his home builder, but thats what happened after all of us started working together. We had so many adventures collaborating about architectural plans, shopping together for building materials, and inevitably eating out at local and sometimes far-flung restaurants, that the process of building our homes became less than just a business deal and more like a creative lifestyle that we honestly wished at times would never end. And the physical results were outstanding residences that we, like so many other clients of the Holleys, have been thrilled to call our homes.

I remember Dennis talking with his hands. He was such a visual person that he often expressed himself by drawing pictures in the air with his hands. He would explain how he was going to do something, like build a curving staircase or attach a heavy wooden form to a 20-foot ceiling, and even though his visual explanations seemed clear enough, the reality of his finished products seemed to go beyond my comprehension of what he described. I would watch with wonderment as he worked his building magic, but I still couldnt quite conceive of how he managed to do the difficult things he did as a builder, and always did so well.

Dennis succumbed finally to a powerful and terrible illness called Lewy Body Dementia, which was strong enough to bring down even someone of Dennis tall stature. He will be greatly missed by me as his friend, and by the many people in our local community he served for so many years as an outstanding builder of custom homes.

Visitation is at the Nie Funeral Home on 3767 W. Liberty Rd., Ann Arbor, from 2 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 30, and a church service will take place 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 31 at the First United Methodist Church of Saline, 1200 N. Ann Arbor St., in Saline.

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SALINE: Home builder was known for show-stopping designs

Custom Home Builders in DFW | Call 817-713-4620
http://tiny.cc/CustomHomeBuildersinDFW Are you looking for custom home builders in DFW area? FWD Builders is a full service home building and remodeling comp...

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At its most accessible, a connected home can be created with consumer-friendly devices that require little or no installation--an approach largely popularized by the likes of Nest.

Take Canary: A home security product without a single wire that raised a staggering $1,961,862 on Indiegogo in July 2013 and is currently in pre-order.

One unified device is equipped with motion detection, temperature and humidity sensors, microphone and speaker--providing reassuring eyes and ears inside a home while you're away. Its key, however, is the sophisticated software it runs, according to Canary cofounder Adam Sager. Canary learns your habits, so it knows how to make the most of that sensor data--the idea is that it becomes smart enough to realize whether something happening in your home is normal or suspect.

Instead of just being a binary sensor, we decided to add a lot of intelligence to our device. We looked at building artificial intelligence and machine learning into the device, so when we came out it was a different approach to security, Sager says.

Sager believes Canary fills a gap in the market for a consumer-level security device. A solution so simple, he says it doesnt even classify as DIY. In other words, its not a solution geared for the Lowes weekend warrior--instead, you might one day find it at a big box electronics store.

[Canary] is designed for normal people to install and use, whether youre a renter or an owner or just someone who doesnt want to install a fully integrated system, he says. Thats the middle ground between the fully integrated model and the DIY model--the consumer model, and this wasnt being addressed at all.

The DIY model moves from single, simple devices to more complex, integrated systems. They typically include some kind of brain--either a dedicated device or computer running software--that gathers information from various sensors and then calls all the shots by sending commands to a slew of control devices installed throughout the home. Control devices are anything from a simple module plugged in between a lamp and the wall to smart light switches, HVAC, security systems, and whole-home media interfaces.

This DIY space has long been owned by the geekier among us, requiring comfort with hardware, programming, and electrical wiring. But thats starting to change.

Simpler, less costly smart devices that can wirelessly communicate to the brain have matured into reliable whole-home choices, making the decision to automate increasingly tempting for early adopters. Many of these wireless devices use an open-standard wireless technology called Z-Wave to communicate with other devices on the network. With technologies like Z-Wave, or other popular contenders like Insteon, DIYers dont need to mess with a hard-wired system or specialized programming to achieve the results they want.

Another emerging trend is simpler solutions to that all-important brain of the system. User-friendly, no programming required smart hubs, typically controllable from a mobile device, now offer an alternative to more technical choices.

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Will The Home Automation Revolution Be DIY?

From the suburbs to the heart of the city, homebuilders are crafting smart-growth communities where residents can park the car and walk or ride a bike to nearby parks, restaurants and shops.

Its a lifestyle youre buying as much as a location, said Jeremy Malone, a Realtor who owns a home in McKays Mill, a Jones Co. subdivision in Franklin with a network of trails and ponds that encourage outdoor activity.

A trip to the dentist or the grocery means putting on a pair of walking shoes, not getting in the car, he said.

Instead of watching television or playing video games, Malone, his wife Jinni and their two young children enjoy spending time outdoors.

Were close to everything we do, he said. And I can step 25 feet from my door and be on a walking trail that leads into the hills.

Sammie Baker enjoys having a clubhouse, pool and fitness center just steps from her door in StoneBridge, a master-planned community in Lebanon developed by Goodall Homes.

You just go home and you are in your own community, Baker said. I love to walk my dog by the pond.

In the core of the city, smart-growth developments are breathing new life into neighborhoods that were previously overlooked or in decline, said developer Mike Kenner.

His company, MiKen Development, is creating a 60-home subdivision on 60th Avenue North at Morrow Road in an area of West Nashville dotted with industrial sites. It will include a dog park and a commercial corner for local retailers.

Kenner believes his development will be especially popular with the same young buyers who have snapped up homes he has built in the Nations neighborhood next door. The Nations is around the corner from restaurants and pubs on Charlotte Pike.

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Walkable neighborhoods gain traction in city as well as suburbs