July column for Builder & Developer magazine now online

My monthly column for the July issue of Builder & Developer magazine is now online. In this article, entitled "Gold Nugget Winners Evolve," I discuss how the demand for smaller and more energy-efficient homes has returned some builders to their roots as artisans and not just providers of commodities. You can read the entire article by clicking here.

An excerpt:

For months we’ve been reading and hearing about how builders have been downsizing both the size and specification levels of the homes they build to cater to today’s more frugal buyers. In the first stage of that transformation, it was a practical move, and often catered more to function than form.

But now that industry architects and building pros have become more comfortable with homes that are smaller yet also more affordable, urban-oriented yet energy efficient, these second-stage homes are showing the type of creativity that win awards.

At the 2010 Gold Nugget Awards this past June, however, the winners demonstrated that only the right combination of form and function will ultimately win the accolades of the most important judges – the buyers...