October 2021 Building Connections by HBRA of Fairfield County

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 - O C T O B E R 2 0 2 1

UPCOMING

FEATURES

Holiday Party HBRA Directory

November GMM HBRA Directory 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.

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

2021 2021 OFFICERS President Kim DiMatteo ACBI

Sr. Vice-President John Hertz Hertz Construction

Vice President Rob Michaud

Michaud Development Group

Secretary Michael Wood Wood Builders

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

Lisa White

Breakwater Renovation & Design

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, It is so nice to be able to be out and see everyone again! We had some great events over the fall, including an economist in October and an inspiring speech from Barri Rafferty in November. Our Holiday party will be held Dec 1 at Pinstripes in Norwalk- don’t forget to register! We are still hosting our membership drive as well as a Members doing Business with Members contest. Don’t miss your chance to win some great prizes! 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

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Annual Holiday Party December 1, 2021 | 6-8PM

GMM and Holiday Party at Pinstripes Join the HBRA to celebrate the season at our annual Holiday Party at Pinstripes in the SoNo Collection Mall! This event features a full open bar (beer, wine & liquor) and dinner including grilled Italian sausage, pesto grilled chicken, housemade meatballs, ravioli with marinara, Caesar salad, and parmesan potato chips. Plus housemade cookies & Ghirardelli triple chocolate brownies for dessert! Show off your bowling and bocce skills! Grab one of Pinstripe’s indoor bowling lanes or bocce courts starting at 7pm and have some friendly competition with your fellow members! ‘Tis the season for ugly sweaters! Join in the holly jolly and bring out your “best” ugly sweater for our Ugly Sweater Contest! Prize will be awarded to the crowd favorite! Early Bird Pricing: HBRA Members: $90.00 | General Admission: $100.00 Week of Event Price Increase: HBRA Members: $100.00 | General Admission: $110.00 Sponsorships Available! CLICK HERE for more info. Help support those most in need this season! We will be collecting non-perishable goods to benefit the CT Food Bank - all items can be left at registration when you arrive. Registration CLOSES end of day Tuesday, November 30th. Absolutely NO additional attendees can be taken following end of day 11/30. If you are not sure if you are registered, email sarah@buildfairfieldcounty.com to confirm. OCTOBER 2021 | HBRA of Fairfield County 7

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2022 MEMBER DIRECTORY

Each year, the HBRA of Fairfield County publishes a Member Directory & Resource guide that is distributed to all current members and is made available throughout the year at events, in member’s showrooms, and by request. Your listing is included with your membership. We ask all members to complete the listing form to ensure the correct information is included and you are listed under the appropriate categories. We also have new advertising opportunities for our members. An ad in the directory is an investment that gives you year-round exposure to fellow members, industry professionals, and consumers. Plus the revenue generated from the ads helps the HBRA expand our services, events, and legislative advocacy opportunities so that we can better serve the members of the HBRA of Fairfield County.

Click here to finish your directory listing for 2022

The deadline to submit is December 31,2021. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at kerry@ buildfairfieldcounty.com or at 203.335.7008.

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H BRA EVEN TS

Thank you to all of our guests and speakers

Members Doing Business With Members

“Leigh Overland (Leigh Overland Architect, LLC) and Mara Skowronek (Torrco Design Center) Introduce yourself. Leigh Overland Architect. We have a small boutique architectural firm of four. I created a website called NextGreatAmericanhomes. com to start a discussion with the design industry.

What’s one thing you want the HBRA membership to know about you? I feel compelled and responsible to design environmentally sound, efficient beautiful homes.

What makes your company different? we specialize in concrete ICF homes. They are high efficiency, healthier, sustainable and safer homes. They can be designed in any style or size.

This project resulted in a home where my wife’s and my families, friends and extended acquaintances can gather for good conversation. A place where Nancy and I can revel in the natural beauty of the environment. At the same time, the Next Great American Home is more than a single building. I think of it as a movement that combines existing innovations to create a new type of home that is energy-efficient, resilient to climate change and more livable day to day.

What made this project different? A few major components, which I also like to specify in these homes, besides the ICF walls are SIP roof (no roof rafters), metal stud interior walls (factory made, delivered and set up in a few days per floor.) in floor radiant heat AND cooling and triple pane European doors and windows (cost less than a double pane standard window). All while costing less than conventional construction and saving 50 – 75% on utility and insurance costs. Why were you passionate about this project? I put myself in the client position and thought about what my hopes and wishes are at this stage of my career and life. This house represents a portrait of that.

On Working Together I had the pleasure of working with Leigh Overland on the Next Great American Home project on the primary bath, guest bath, powder room and kitchen. For the product we provided, Leigh was interested in efficiency and new technology, while incorporating modern style and working with local distributors. I worked with Leigh and his wife Nancy

on many aspects of the design process; vanity style and sizing, different options for smart and water saving toilets, as well as shower fixtures and bathtubs. A

specific request was the Japanese soaking tub in the master bath from Bain Ultra. Our focus in the kitchen was maximizing space, so Leigh used our highly rated workstation sink from Julien, called the Smart Station, which includes an integrated cutting board, drying rack and colander to make preparing and washing simple and functional. Overall working on this job was a pleasure to work with a fellow HBRA member, as well as an excellent learning experience. My name is Mara Skowronek, I work at Torrco Design Center in New Haven, CT. I have been with Torrco Design Center for a year and a member of the HBRA for a little over 3 years. I have been involved in the Professional Women in Building Council, as well as the Associates Council. Since graduating from UConn in 2016 I have worked in a few areas of the building industry including paint (residential and commercial) and building materials, specifically weather barriers. At Torrco we are highly dedicated to customer relationships and service levels. We are always looking for ways to help our clients, whether it has to do with budget and timeline constraints, installation, or job site issues. After sales service is of the utmost importance, we always stand behind the products we sell our clients. We are extremely knowledgeable in every aspect of the project, not just design but the technical function of our products and what is truly going to work best in our client’s space.

This was a unique project for many aspects. Leigh truly wanted to make the space distinctive and efficient, from the shower fixtures to the type of toilets, everything was very well thought out. One of the most unique aspects is the Japanese soaking tub from Bain Ultra. It has a traditional round footprint and is very deep, but also has modern aspects such as air jets and a heated backrest. Leigh and Nancy had a strong sense of style and design but were always open to my suggestions and ideas. Since coming to Torrco last year this was by far one of my biggest projects. It allowed me to use knowledge that I gained from extensive training at Torrco, as well as learning many new things as the project was planned and progressed. Working with an HBRA member, who has been welcoming to me since day one in the organization, meant a great deal. The HBRA has allowed me to connect with some of the very best people in the industry and it was a pleasure to work with Leigh on his own home. I have a love for customer service. From the simplest question to having to research a project, order, or product from a while back, I am always happy to help. I believe this is what has led me to succeed in my career as well as building relationships in the organization.

JOB BAN K

Available Jobs:

These opportunities are offered by the HBRA members listed in the specific advertisement. Please do not contact the HBRA regarding these listings.

Part-time Community Manager Role: HAYVN is looking for a part-time community manager for approx. 3 days a week, 20-25 hrs per week. Do you love people? Enjoy collaborating with many types of enterprising professionals, plus thrive multitasking and digging into the details? HAYVN might be your perfect fit — your place to shine! Please email your resume plus a paragraph or two on why you are the perfect match to jobs@HAYVN. com. Job Description: https://hayvn.com/careers-hayvn-coworking Private Offices for Rent- HAYVN has 3 beautiful, state of the art, fully furnished offices to rent including amenities. Here are the details: https://hayvn.com/private-offices/

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL JOB LISTINGS CLICK HERE TO POST A JOB

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NEM (CT Modular Homes | Kai Young

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H BRA MEMBERSH IP

Membership Renewal Raffle Sponsored by the HBRA Membership Committee, the Membership Renewal Raffle acknowledges current members who renew their memberships on time. Each month one winner receives a free half page ad for them or their company in our e-magazine, Building Connections. This month’s winner is below!

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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

Join NAHB for a Free Webinar on 2021 Energy Code Changes On Wednesday, Nov. 17, NAHB is hosting a webinar free to members that covers the significant changes to the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) in its 2021 edition. Changes in the recently released model energy code represent the largest overhaul of residential energy code provisions in nearly a decade, and will require design and construction changes to homes in all climate zones across the United States. The code was published earlier this year after a fraught development process. NAHB codes staff will walk members through the changes and introduce the 2021 IECC Code Adoption Kit, a resource for members and HBAs to use locally as code bodies begin to evaluate the code for adoption.

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Materials Prices Post Record Year-to-Date Increase According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report, the prices of goods used in residential construction (excluding energy) climbed 0.8% in October, following two months of declines. Building material prices have increased 12.2% year to date, after climbing 4.5% over the same period in 2020.

2021 MEMBER RECRUITMENT

CHALLENGE

SPIKE BIG | WIN BIG Invite new members to join the HBRA

All HBRA members are invited to participate in the 2021 Member Recruitment challenge during the months of October and November! The top winner gets an ipad mini, 2nd gets a $100 gift card, and 3rd gets a $50 gift card. Winners will be celebrated at the HBRA Holiday Party in December.

Members Doing Business With Members Members will use the form provided here to check off who they do business with. The top 3 will win a $100 gift card after verification. Contact information for any of these members can always be found on our member directory.

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N AH B N EWS

House Passes Infrastructure Bill, Measure Includes NAHB Win on CIAC n the late evening on Nov. 5, the House passed the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill approved by the Senate that includes a key measure championed by NAHB that will restore an exemption for water and sewer contributions in aid of construction. President Biden will sign the measure into law shortly. The vote was 228-206, with 13 Republicans joining a majority of Democrats to get the measure across the finish line. Six Democrats voted against it. NAHB supports the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, which will make much-need improvements to the nation’s roads, bridges, broadband and public transportation network.

Prospective Buyers Frustrated by Bidding Wars, but Continue to Search Home buyers have not only struggled to contend with double-digit price hikes; they’re also having difficulty purchasing homes because of bidding wars. For only the third time in the history of NAHB’s Housing Trends Report, the top reason buyers are struggling to buy a home is because they are getting outbid (45%).

This bill, titled the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, will help connect more Americans from their homes to their places of work and within their communities. It contains several provisions that will boost housing affordability, including one sought by NAHB mentioned above that will restore an exemption for water and sewer Read More contributions in aid of construction. Read More

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