For help in scheduling, protecting materials and ensuring that work gets done in a safe environment, builders increasingly are using software programs that deliver the specifics on job-site weather conditions.
Recent price spikes for framing lumber, wood structural panels and oriented strand board have led some Wall Street stock analysts to conclude that private builders are an endangered species.
No major window manufacturer's product line currently includes SPD-Smart Glass technology, but a SPD-Smart developer has licensed a handful of companies to distribute SPD-Smart windows.
A new study from market researcher The Freedonia Group forecasts that U.S. demand for kitchen and bath countertops will grow more than 2% annually to 467 million square feet in 2007.