How to 'go green' without remaking your building business.

One out of two ain't bad.

After only a year of a concerted effort to include energy-efficient features in many of its homes, Shea Homes San Diego is already receiving significant recognition for its efforts.

Among 1999’s top 10 areas in terms of sheer volume of new residential construction, only two - Atlanta and Chicago - have been able to build upon their totals through the first three months of this year.

Single-family building permits in 1999 reached an all-time record of 1,231,811 as GDP hit 6.9% in fourth quarter.

The top three states in terms of new residential permit volume - Florida, California, and Texas - accounted for 27.5% of all permits issued nationwide throughout the first three months of this year.

April 2000 total housing starts were at a seasonally adjusted annualized level of 1.663 million units, after averaging almost 1.8 million units (annualized during the December 1999 -February 2000 period.

In the first part of this series, we reviewed the ways builders can increase the sustainability of the homes they build by controlling air infiltration - a major culprit in reducing energy efficiency and homeowner comfort.

There's another new entry in the whirlpool bath industry: Sanijet, a Dallas-based manufacturer of a new, patented technology that produces a line of 'pipe-less' whirlpool bath tubs.