KieranTimberlake Associates -
Cellophane House
The Museum of Modern Art in New York
has put together a ground breaking exhibit
called Home Delivery that features a history of prefabricated housing. The exhibition also features five contemporary prefabricated houses constructed in the outdoor space to the west of the main Museum building. KieranTimberlake and Associates, who designed a line of homes for LivingHomes is featured in the exhibit with a home that they call the Cellophane House. To read more about the exhibit, visit http://www.momahomedelivery.org/.

The next time you are craving a Big Mac or a Whopper make sure to walk into the restaurant instead of using the drive thru. Not only are you pre-emptively burning calories but you are also saving gas money. It is estimated that Americans waste hundreds of millions of dollars of gas waiting in drive thru lines. Atlanta is even considering banning them! By walking into the restaurant you can feel a little less guilty about your fast food consumption.

Have you ever dreamed of seeing the first LivingHome as a 3D model? Thanks to Google Sketchup the opportunity has arrived. Click here to download a sketchup model of the first LivingHome and spin it around to see it in 3D. To download a copy of the Sketchup File, click here.

You will need a a free Google Sketchup Reader Application to read the file. To download Google Sketchup Reader, click here.

Remember this slogan: DRIVE 55! If the national speed limit was changed to 55, we would save 1 billion barrels of oil annually. Keep this in mind when you are driving on the freeway…55 is the most fuel-efficient speed. Not only will you save on gas but you’ll avoid those pesky speeding tickets as well!

To help the earth and still rock your ipod (or similar device) try using a solar charger to power your device. The Voltaic Solar Backback create 4 watts of usable electricity for quick charging your device. Visit: http://www.voltaicsystems.com/bag_backpack.shtml

The US Senate passed legislation HR 3221 on Friday, July 11. HR 3221 has moved back to the House for its final consideration. One of the key provisions in the bill is the homebuyer tax credit. As currently crafted, the tax credit will expire on April 1, 2009, missing the peak spring/summer buying season. The expiration date of the tax credit needs to be extended by as much as possible to capture this critical period.

To help extend this tax credit, please call your Member of Congress at 1-866-924-NAHB (6242) and ask him/her to:

Extend the tax credit expiration date as much as possible to capture the 2009 peak spring/summer buying season

Act quickly to pass housing stimulus in order for the bill to have the biggest impact on the housing economy

HR 3221 will return to the Senate one more time after the House passes the bill. The quicker the House passes HR 3221, the faster the Senate can approve the bill and send it to the President.

Please help put pressure on Congress and move us one step closer to providing housing relief to millions of Americans!

NAHB Legislative Hotline Instructions

Please take a moment to call the NAHB Legislative Hotline, at 1-866-924-NAHB (6242), and get connected, free-of-charge, to Capitol Hill.

When you call the NAHB Legislative Hotline, you will hear a brief message.

You will be asked to enter your zip code, and then you will be connected to your lawmaker's office.

Tell them who you are, where you are calling from and your connection to the housing industry (legislative offices want to know they are talking to constituents).

Inform them that you are calling on behalf of the National Association of Home Builders.

Tell them to extend the tax credit expiration date as much as possible to capture 2009 spring/summer peak buying season, AND act quickly to pass housing stimulus legislation in order for the bill to have the biggest impact on the housing economy.