April 2021 Buiilding Connections

T H E E - M A G A Z I N E O F T H E H B R A O F FA I R F I E L D C O U N T Y - A P R I L 2 0 2 1

UPCOMING

Member Mixer Ring’s End Inspiration Days Annual Awards Celebration

FEATURES Member News COVID-19 Resources Latest Updates

MEMBER BENEFITS mynpp.com NAHB Benefits

Your Monthly Newsletter Building Connections is a monthly digital magazine produced and published by the Home Builders & Remodelers Association of Fairfield County. Inside you will find the latest association news, legislative updates, upcoming events, and featured articles about the industry.

Contact Us:

hbra@buildfairfieldcounty.com www.buildfairfieldcounty.com @hbraffc (203) 335-7008

2021 2021 OFFICERS President Kim DiMatteo

DiMatteo Insurance

Sr. Vice-President John Hertz Hertz Construction

Vice President Rob Michaud

The Michaud Group

Secretary Steve LoParco

LoParco Associates

Treasurer Steven Roth

Elevator Service Company

Immediate Past President Anthony DeRosa DeRosa Builders

PWB Chair Stephanie Rapp

Stephanie Rapp Interiors

2021 DIRECTORS Luigi Altamura Altamura Homes

Propane Pete Battaglio Hocon Gas

Max Bender Bender Supply

Karen Bradbury

Closet & Storage Concepts

Ken DeLeo

Doherty & DeLeo

Brian Kurtz

Interstate Lumber

Peter Sciarretta

Hemingway Construction

Alex Shook

Pella Commercial

Michael Wood Wood Builders

LIFE DIRECTORS Joanne Carroll JMC Resources

Michael Palumbo ERI Building & Design

Jerry Effren The Greyrock Companies

Peter Gaboriault Bear Paw Builders

Gary Fanali City Carting

Terrence Beaty William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty

Peter Fusaro Preferred Builders

Chris Steiner Steiner, Inc.

2021.

L ET T ER F RO M TH E EXECUTIVE OF FICER

Hello Members, I am so excited we are able to meet in person again!

On May 5, we are having our annual member mixer at Two Roads Brewery. If you haven’t already, please be sure to register here: Member Mixer Registration Our award nominations are now open. We want to annually recognize members that have consistently dedicated themselves to the efforts that strengthen the residential construction industry in Fairfield County. We encourage you to nominate a member that you feel is deserving of this recognition. Nominate members here: 2021 Award Form Nomination Be sure to keep our online membership directory in mind whenever you are looking for a business: www.buildfairfieldcounty.com/ directory.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can do anything for you or your business. kerry@buildfairfieldcounty.com

Kind Regards, Kerry Brunn

Do you have news, project photos, or press releases to share? Please send an email to hbra@buildfairfieldcounty.com so they can be shared in upcoming newsletters.

U P COMIN G EVEN TS

May 5, 2021 | General Membership Meeting: Member Mixer Join the HBRA of Fairfield County for our May General Membership Meeting and annual Member Mixer, outdoors at the Hop Yard at Two Roads.

Enjoy local craft beer and an appetizer spread sponsored by Chloe Winston Lighting Design and EBM Inc. Network with the HBRA board of directors, committee members, and the businesses who make up the HBRA of Fairfield County.

HBRA Members: $25 | General Admission: $30 | Builder & Architect Special!: $10 Includes one drink ticket for beer or wine.

REGISTER HERE

WILL CONTENTO HUBER ENGINEERED WOODS

781.910.1763 william.contento@huber.com

© 2020 Huber Engineered Woods LLC. ZIP System, AdvanTech the accompanying ZIP System and AdvanTech logos and designs are trademarks of Huber Engineered Woods LLC. Huber is a trademark of J.M. Huber Corporation. HUB 82221 REV 4/20

APRIL 2021 HBRA of Fairfield County 7

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BEST PRICE IN STORE AND ONLINE

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N EW MEMBERS

A & J Generator and Equipment, LLC Anthony Boucher Jr.

A&J Generator & Equipment, LLC Is A Family-owned business offering the highest level of generator and transfer switch sales, service, installation, and repairs. We serve most of Connecticut from Stamford to Guilford including Fairfield and New Haven Counties.

Read More

Fulcrum

Brett Fagan, CGB, CGP

LEADING REAL ESTATE CONSULTANT Before entering into a development deal, Clients turn to Fulcrum for construction management consulting services designed to reduce risk and maximize profitability.

Read More

Waterware Showrooms of Plimpton and Hills Susan Montgomery

The Waterware Showroom has been creating design solutions for over thirty years in Connecticut. We invite you to come in and see the latest in remodeling and new construction trends.

In the Waterware Showroom you will find experienced sales consultants who will be able to lead you through all the technical questions specific to your project.

Read More

HOBI AWARDS HOME BUILDING INDUSTRY AWARDS

CONNECTICUT HOBI AWARDS November 17, 2021 | AQUA TURF CLUB

HBRA OF CONNECTICUT

Don’t forget! The HOBITHE EntryHOBI portal is open AWARDS ARE ON! The NEW HOBI Landing page allows entrants to apply electronically!

We are thrilled to announce the next HOBI Awards Dinner

Deadline to apply will be June 25, 2021! have exciting new categories year, including will beWe held on some November 17, 2021!

Be a part ofthis Connecticut’s COVID-19 related awards. Click here for more information. premier Home Building Industry Awards. With an audience of

successful builders, remodelers and land developers statewide, this is the ONLY event in Connecticut recognizing BEST in APRIL 2021the HBRA of Fairfield County 9

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P W B MEMBER SPOTLIGH T

Get to know the Professional Women in Building Council better. Each month we will be highlighting members who are active participants in PWB, the council where women in the building industry connect with each other through networking, education and peer support.

Mara Skowronek is a Design Center Sales Consultant at Torrco Design Center’s New Haven location. Her main clientele are builders, designers, and architects as well as their clients. She is passionate about helping the clients design their dream kitchen and bathroom while adhering to the budget.

She has had careers in different aspects of the industry including paint and building materials as well as design. Which helps her look at the design layout and guide her clients thru the process of picking out the perfect faucet, fixture and even paint color, to compliment the client’s home.

Since Mara joined the HBRA and PWB 3 years ago, she has found the relationships she has made have helped her find her path as a young professional, in an industry with many opportunities for growth. From the many professional relationships, she is able to stay in the know of the current design trends and what the clientele are interested in.

Mara Skowronek

Torrco Design Center www.torrcodesigncenter.com @mara.skowronek

Mara has lived in Connecticut her whole life, growing up in the Hartford area, and moving down to Fairfield county after college, she says it was the best decision she ever made. Mara now lives in Stratford, where she takes advantage of going to the beach very often. She loves working out and staying active as well as maintaining a healthy lifestyle. In 2016, Mara earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Communications at UConn.

Freya Bromwich works with contractors and suppliers to divert usable building materials from entering landfills. This is the job of a Recovery & Donations Specialist at the non-profit Center for EcoTechnology (CET).

When clients partner with Freya, she makes it easy to implement a sustainable and cost-saving solution to reduce waste: donating building materials. Donations reduce landfill waste streams and may yield valuable tax benefits for donors.

Prior to beginning at CET, Freya worked as a Photo Editorial Producer for Niche Media, Time Inc., and Conde Nast Publication in NYC. Freya left publishing to work in real estate and quickly worked her way up to become a Senior Real Estate agent at a boutique firm in Brooklyn Heights, NY. After over a decade of living in the city, she moved back to Western MA where she grew up. When she’s not working, she enjoys spending quality time with family and friends, traveling, cooking, hosting potluck dinner gatherings and gardening.

Freya Bromwich

Center for EcoTechnology Freya.Bromwich@cetonline.org centerforecotechnology.org 718.635.1312 APRIL 2021 HBRA of Fairfield County 11

Our Vision: “Building CT’s Economy, Communities and Better Lives One Home at a Time.” Our Mission: “Using Effective Advocacy & New Knowledge to Solve Our Member’s Problems.”

The HBRA of Connecticut, Inc. represents the home building, land development and remodeling industry in Connecticut. The HBRA represents Over 800 member firms employing over 30,000 people throughout the state. We are the statewide component of a federation of affiliated but distinct organizations, including the National Association of Home Builders (“NAHB”) (located in Washington, DC) and four local HBRAs in Connecticut. Our “Builder” member firms are engaged in new residential construction (both single-family and multifamily units), new light commercial construction, remodeling and renovation of existing residential and commercial buildings, and land development activities on residential, commercial, and industrial zoned land. Our “Associate” member firms are in businesses providing supplies, services, and expertise to the building, remodeling, and land development industries. The state HBRA’s Board of Directors, Senior Officers, committees, councils, and task groups, working together as a team with professional staff, offer HBRA members many opportunities to solve industry problems and promote its growth. We are a non-profit, 501(c)(6), professional trade association organized in 1960.

MORE INFORMATION APRIL 2021 HBRA of Fairfield County 13

HAVE YOU SEEN OUR COVID RESOURCES PAGE? Visit https://buildfairfieldcounty.com/covid-19-local-and-national-updates/ for the latest news

- Do you have news about your business that you would like to share with the HBRA membership?

Email design@buildfairfieldcounty.com to coordinate an instagram story or a newsletter feature.

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N AH B N EWS

President Biden to Announce $1.5 Trillion Tax Plan President Biden is expected to outline tonight in an address to a joint session of Congress his “American Families Plan,” which includes significant tax changes that would harm real estate.

Skyrocketing Lumber Prices Add Nearly $36,000 to the Price of a New Home

Soaring lumber prices that have tripled over the past 12 months has caused the price of an average new single-family home to increase by $35,872, according to new analysis Although the Democrats control the White House and Congress, by the NAHB Economics team. This moving a plan as ambitious as this will prove very difficult. No lumber price hike has also added Republicans are expected to support any of the proposed tax nearly $13,000 to the market value increases, and with the narrow margin of control in the House of an average new multifamily home, and Senate, this ambitious proposal may collapse under its own which translates into households weight. paying $119 a month more to rent a new apartment. Read More Read More

The White House projects that these tax changes will raise $1.5 trillion over 10 years; $700 billion of that would come from increased IRS enforcement and additional information reporting requirements from financial institutions.

Like My Clients, I Am Uniquely Impressed.

Designer Lawrence Levy has a passion for making every project special. “When some fellow designers introduced me to Bender, I was amazed to find everything I needed right there to create my own unique space. Plus, Bender’s knowledgeable and eager staff went out of their way to bring my vision to life.

Another bonus was working with a talented builder like Chris O’Dell who sends his design/build clients to Bender. I love this collaboration for so many reasons”

Chris O’Dell The O’Dell Group

Lawrence Levy Interior Designer

bendershowrooms.com decorative plumbing | kitchen & bath cabinetry | tile & stone Hartford | New Haven | Norwalk | Waterbury © 2021 Bender Plumbing

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N AH B N EWS

Two Upcoming Webinars Explore Alternatives to Lumber in Home Building With the price of lumber reaching all-time highs and no immediate relief in sight, NAHB Education has scheduled two free webinars that will explore alternatives to wood-framed homes so that members can better educate themselves about available options.

Home builders are not likely to leave behind traditional “stick-built” homes without good reason. But with lumber prices now adding nearly $36,000 to the price of an average single-family home and with recent advancements in building technology in other areas, certain framing methods at least deserve a look.

Register now for these free information sessions to see if one makes sense for your business.

The Business Case for Building with Insulating Concrete FormsConcrete home - alternatives to lumber Wednesday, May 5, 2021, 1–2 p.m. ET

Read More

Is the Housing Market Too Hot? A number of unsustainable trends have developed in the housing market. The combination of a decade of underbuilding, favorable demographics, historically low interest rates, and a shift in consumer preferences have pushed single-family housing demand to the strongest levels in over a decade.

However, there is simply not enough resale inventory to meet demand. Existing single-family inventory in March stood at a very lean 2.1-month supply — less than half of what a healthy market needs.

Read More

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N AH B N EWS

Pre-Wiring for Electric Vehicle Charging: Prepping Your Homes for Future Demand Homes are built to last 50 or more years. No one has a crystal ball to know exactly how people will be using their homes that far into the future, but several features are strongly trending. Building professionals may want to consider voluntarily including such features in their homes today to set their clients up for the next 10 to 20 years. One of these up-and-coming features for single-family detached homes is pre-wiring for electric vehicle (EV) charging.

“It’s like in the late ’70s to early ’80s when we started to hardwire for cable TV in every home,” explained Darrel McMaster, owner of Sustainable Homes Inc. in Boerne, Texas.

Your clients may not own an electric vehicle today, but they may be interested in one in the future and appreciate the value that a home pre-wired for EV may provide down the road. As of 2018, the median length of time owners stay in their homes in the United States is 13 years, which suggests many current builds may be up for resale by 2030.

Read More

NAHB Continues to Engage the Administration, Congress on Lumber As lumber prices remain stubbornly high, NAHB continues to work relentlessly with the White House and Congress to seek solutions that will increase lumber production and bring prices lower.

NAHB CEO Jerry Howard and senior NAHB staff on April 29 held a productive virtual meeting with White House staff from the Domestic Policy Council, National Economic Council and the Office of the Vice President.

The discussion covered mill capacity issues, mill worker shortages, and how soaring lumber prices are exacerbating the housing affordability crisis and putting the American dream of homeownership out of reach of millions of households.

Affordable housing is an important issue for the White House and NAHB was able to hammer home the fact that the lumber price spike over the past 12 months has added nearly $36,000 to the price of an average new single-family home and $119 more a month to rent a new apartment.

Read More

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NAHB Spring Leadership Meetings Will Be Virtual The virtual meetinghe NAHB Spring Leadership Meetings, taking place June 14-18, will again be supported exclusively through virtual sessions. NAHB committees and councils, as well as the Leadership Council and Board of Directors, will meet virtually.

Subcommittee sessions, and some select committees, will meet in advance of the Spring Leadership Meetings, beginning the week of May 17 through June 11.

As the housing industry continues to lead the nation’s economic recovery and face unprecedented challenges with soaring lumber prices and the availability of other materials, these meetings are an important opportunity to connect with fellow members and receive important industry updates.

View a tentative schedule.

Registration information will be available shortly and will include participation details for all meetings.h Read More

Join the Ring’s End experts and their most popular vendors for the first ever Ring’s End Inspiration Days!

Saturday, May 8 | 7 AM – 2 PM Ring’s End – 181 West Avenue in Darien Browse outdoor vendor booths for tabletop demos, special offers, and exclusive sales. Plus raffles, giveaways, and food trucks for an extra special event experience! Visit RingsEnd.com for more details.

Ring’s End – Your Inspiration. Our Expertise APRIL 2021 HBRA of Fairfield County 19

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APRIL HBRA of Fairfield County 23 Have a sales question? Email Ed2021 at ed.schultek@sandler.com.

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RingsEnd.com

Lumber

Building Materials

Decking & Fencing Hardware

Your Inspiration. Our Expertise.

800•390•1000

Windows & Doors

Moulding

Kitchens

Paint & Design