What could be a better sign of spring than the 39th Annual Blue Ridge Home Builders Association's Home and Garden Festival, presented by Carpet Plus?  In its 4th year at the John Paul Jones Arena, 2012 proved to be it's best year in history!  Rebraded as a "Festival" with kids activities, wine tasting and more, the 2012 Home and Garden Festival offered patrons from around the area the newest and best innovations in building, gardening, and remodeling. With over 120 exhibitors and free GreenMatters Workshops, the Festival was once again a huge success.

Thank you to all our vendors, sponsors, volunteers and the people that attend the Festival.  We look forward to seeing you again in 2013.

Click the link below for photos from the 2012 Home & Garden Festival

http://lapdog.smugmug.com/Events/Home-Design

 

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BRHBA is partnering with Albemarle Housing Improvement Program (AHIP) and the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors (CAAR) on a critically needed community outreach effort to make emergency repairs that will keep seniors in their homes.

AHIP has diligently served our area as a home repair and rehab non-profit for 35 years. Jennifer Jacobs, AHIP executive director, shared some unfathomable scenarios with Thursday's audience. patients who weren't discharged from the hospital without a wheelchair ramp installed. first-time homebuyers who had a $400-per-month mortgage payment and a $600 heating bill. families whose houses were condemned because of unsafe conditions. a family who used a kerosene heater in one room for several years after their furnace failed.

"Homeownership matters, and it matters for the people who may not have the resources to make the critical repairs they need to stay in their homes," Jacobs said. "We help about 100 families and individuals a year. There's a lot of work to be done; there's about 350 families on our waiting list."

As traditional private sources of funding plummet, AHIP turns to partnerships like the one with BRHBA and CAAR. The combined total fundraising goal for all three organizations through Seniors Safe at Home is $25,000.

Donation Link below

https://secure.donortownsquare.com/SSL/process.aspx?ai=1358&qs=NMGLN&amt=0

BRHBA hosts its 4th Annual Economic Forecast Dinner

Members came out to Glenmore C.C. to hear David Crowe, Ph.D., Chief Economist and Senior Vice President at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), speak on the economic condidtions of our local community. Dr. Crowe is responsible for NAHB's forecast of housing and economic trends, survey research and analysis of the home building industry and consumer preferences as well as microeconomic analysis of government policies that affect housing. Dr. Crowe is also responsible for the development and implementation of an innovative model of the local economic impact and fiscal cost of new home construction, which has estimated the net impact of new housing in over 500 local markets.  Prior to NAHB, Dr. Crowe was Deputy Director of the Division of Housing and Demographic Analysis at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

 

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In partnership with the Local Energy Alliance Program (LEAP), the Blue Ridge Home Builders Association (BRHBA) will extend and enhance its GreenMatters Workshops in 2012, presented by UVA Community Credit Union. GreenMatters is series of residential workshops designed to help educate and inform the public on a variety of green building and design principles.

Workshops will be held at ecoREMOD: The Energy House located at 608 Ridge Street, Charlottesville VA. In addition, workshops will take place during the 2012 BRHBA Home & Garden Festival at the John Paul Jones Arena, April 20th -22nd.  All events are free and open to the public.

To learn more or register for any of the seminars hosted by LEAP, visit Local Energy Alliance Program.

Click on the GreenMatters logo above for a complete schedule of Workshops!